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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 1989)
Don't Be Caught Without A Costume on Halloween! (fringe l Vtttel Fringe and Tassel has' costumes, make-up and accessories for all of your Halloween needs. We have hundreds of costumes for you to choose from. Costume Rental Halloween Hour* starting October 17: Mon-Frl: 10am-9pm Saturdays: 10am-5pm Sundays: i2pm-$pm Ending October 31 735 "O" St. (Under the Viaduct) 475-9861 (Station 1 reacts to public’s dema nds By John Payne Staff Reporter The sign at the City/County Welfar eBuilding read as follows - ‘You may pick up food stamps today if the last number of your social security card ends in 1-2.“ On the floor, in the corner of the office, lay Delbert, an elderly man who was suffering from what was initially thought to be a heart at tack. A crowd of welfare and food stamp recipients looked on as the poor derelict was attended to by the men of Engine 2, Fire Station 1. Joe Millard, trained extensively in cardiac monitor use, was the team’s Emergency Medical Team Defibrillation technician He ad ministered oxygen while his part ners Mark Munger and Glen Kempf checked Delbert s vital signs. By the end of my 12 hours at Fire Station 1 I would be used to the routine. Engine 2 would be dis patched to the scene, assess the situation, gather preliminary infor mation for Eastern Ambulance, who would in turn shuttle the pa tient off to the nearest hospital assisted by a Lincoln Police Depart ment escort. My day at Station 1,1801 Q St., had begun two hours earlier, when Assistant Fire Chief Dale Boettcher introduced me to the men of C shift. They were on their last day of duty awaiting what fire fighters call Kelly Days, an eight-day period of rest named for a Chicago fireman who pleaded with city officials for a pay raise for fire Fighters. Chicago legislators refused to grant Kelly the salary increase, but to give at least some compensation for the long hours they gave the firemen week-long furloughs. Today, on a yearly average, fire fighters put in about a 56-hour work week, 24 hours on, 24 hours off for 12 days straight. The medicaiqtM that dispatched oar engine to the Welfare Office had come during the Fire Depart ment’s semiannual business in spections. Joe, Mark, Glen and I had just payed a visit to “King Tut’s,’’ a Mediterranean grocery store at 17th and O streets. Every thing seemed up to snuff, Fire pre vention-wise, and so we were on our way to check out a couple of local theaters. Proprietors are not always thrilled about these routine inspec tions, which seems silly when you consider that the recommenda tions made often save their busi nesses as well as their lives. “It’s not our job to drive people out of business," Millard told me. “We simply look for hazards and make recommendations. We al ways give them ample time to fix the situation." As for Delbert, his ailment seemed to be a little more than an acute side ache, and so as the Eastern Ambulance crew hurried him off to $t. Elizabeth Hospital we returned to the station. Engine 2, Glen told me, was among the 25 busiest rjgs in the nation, averaging about seven calls a day, Glen Kempf is a 26-year veteran of the department, a regu lar history book of fire fighting tradition, whom Millard claims is older than God. The fireman tradition of wash ing the engine’s tires, fo? instance, began in the days of horse-drawn rigs. Horse manure would be picked up by the wheels, so in order to keep it out of the station house, firemen would wash them off in the driveway. At 3 p.m. we were back at the station, where Mark Munger punched up the afternoon reports on the office computer, while the rest of the crew chatted with me about their jobs. They are family men mostly, who make bad coffee and good conversation. Many have second jobs during their Kelly Days, like Scott Thompson who runs his own house-painting busi ness. Others spend tneir free time pursuing arr education. Munger is finishing up on his degree in busi ness administration wnile Millard soon wm oe a licensed real estate broker. All of the men at Station 1 agree that one of the nicest benefits of the job is the Kelly Days, which allow them to do other things. It v/as about 5 p.m. and we wrere all about to sit down and chomp on some hamburgers when another call came in on the station speak ers. The City/County Building, which channeled all emergency calls and dispatched the appropri ate engines, gave us the word. A fire at 1915 Garfield St This was the one I had been waiting for, a nice juicy fire. Some thing a big-time journalist could sink his teeth into. Glen, Mark and Joe darted to the end of the dark corridor to the brass poles that plopped them down right in front of their rigs. ' I had been briefed earlier on the propei techntaue for descending me ?u-rooi poms so rwu old Hat for me. Besides, the boys had no time to wait around while I took - the suirsand this was, after all, big time journalism. So, with my trusty pad and pen wedged between by teeth like the bit in the mouth of a Clydesdale,! slid with a precision that would be the envy of even Batman and Robin. Within seconds of the call we were roaring down 16th street’s rush hour traffic, the “Stress Ex press" among firemen. For anyone .who has ever thought that a pass ing fire engine is loud, I suggest riding in one. The sirens are deaf ening. But automobiles these days, with their sound proof doors and Blaupunkt speakers, make it hard for drivers to hear the sirens and so they often fail to pull over. "Out of the way civilians!’’ I implored from the back of our rig. “Can’t you see we’ve got a job to do?T t Joe looked a little worried about my overzealousness. He was right, I suppose. Perhaps that eighth cup of coffee had made me a bit edgy. When we arrived at the scene ( Engine 8 and Truck 8, from the overlapping 17th and Van Dorn station, were already there and on their way to the second-story blaze. Chief King, from our station, had cleared the way for us. The chief plays a supervisory role in these situations, directing the dis persal of water and positioning the men strategically. King was down the pole and out of sight ahead of us all. Amazing quickness for a man who had played football for Lincoln High school during the days of the single-wing offense. The fire itself was rather anti climatic. It seemed some woman had been a bit inattentive with her Teflon skillet and, after discovering that it was on fire, decided to throw flour on it A bad idea, Chief King told me, because of the flammable properties of flour. The problem had been extin guished by the fire fighters of Engine ana Truck 8 by the time we enough to keep me wired all the way back to the station house. The mood between calk is incredibly relaxed, but still there are always things for the men to do. "The days of sitting around be tween calk is long gpne," Mark Munger said. 'Today the public expects a certain amount of per formance for their (tax) dollar.” As a result, what Munger calls the fire fighter’s "realm of respon sibility” really has grown over the last decade, including various fire prevention and CPR training pro grams. Station 2 runs much like a regular business between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m., and there is no “sitting around” between those hours. The rest of the night was un eventful, save for one medical call shortly before the kickoff of Mon day Night Football. Engine 1 was dispatched to the Lincoln Plasma Center at 126 N. 14th St, where an unfortunate donor was haying a , peculiar reaction after hiving the wrong blood type put back into his veins. We’re talking lawsuit. I made the mistake of identifying myself as a reporter and quickly was es corted to the lobby by a very snotty nurse and one of LPD’s finest. Back at the station the rest of the men had begun their Monday night ritual earing up their leftover rations before they went on Kelly Days. They had whipped up sev eral snacks for the gaipe, ranging from hot popcorn to hard-bouea eggs to Saltines smeared with va nUTa frosting. As we smacked away during the opening kickoff, a few of the men had decided to turn in early. But as Munger had told me “you never really rest at.a fire station, you always wake up tired. “ The fire fighters of Station 2 invited me to spend the night, but I declined, feeling secure in the knowledge that my neighborhood, at least, was protected. By 11:30 p.m. moot of the men had gone to bed with only one ear to the pillow, while the Bears had easily covered a 3-point spread, which made me happy for certain financial reasons. • Dennis Ktuk of Station 1 washes down the spilled oil and anti-freeae at 18th A Q sjrerts after a tw<v • car accident - ■ -■ J ! 2 Soft Shell Tacos! ! and a i | Small Potatoe Ole! | $1.99 | I Not valid with I s' I PABST BLUE RIBBON <t/i dQ I I warm case*.•••••••• BLACK LABEL M I warm case.. * * * * * * . * Southern Comfort. 750 ml...$5.99 Kahlua.750 ml.$10.99 Yukon Jack.750 ml.$8.99 Sun Country Coolers warm 2-liter.......... $2.99 Seagram's Wine Coolers warm 4pk.••••••.••••••••••. 2 for $5 and much more thru 10/11/89 A 27th & Vine 177-7516