"Mom I've gotta go I'm running to get my flight, sorry." Luckily my fitness was up, else it would be a breathless one-way conversation, with her doing all the talking.
"Jamie, what's your flight number so we can come to get you?"
Mom was insisting usual, she's a force to be reckoned with at times, but I love her. Now a little breathless I answered, "I arrive at 04:45, Mom I'll get a Uber! gotta go really."
I was almost full sprint thru the terminal building, plus trying to shove my cell phone back into my pocket without falling ass over, guess that's why I always use a backpack for carry-on, so I can run and make the damn plane, haha.
Looking down the terminal I saw it my goal Gate 12, "shit" the last call was on the display. Somehow I cracked out a bit more pace, finally coming to a screeching halt at the boarding gate. All hot, sweaty, puffing like I'd run a marathon, fumbling with my pockets I found it and thrust my Frequent Flyer Card at the cabin crew member standing there, she silently smiled and scanned it. At least she had a smile on her face, sure she's thinking, 'god here's another one come on guy, it's not like we moved the take-off time.' "Am so sorry guys, I got held up along the way," apologizing for making them wait. I quietly stood there catching my breath as 'Melanie' scanned my card through.
"Thanks, Mr. Spence, you're in sixteen delta, welcome aboard."
I smiled and took my card back, "thanks, my bad that was cutting it close, huh?"
She nodded to her offsider and me with a smile. "Your all good Mr. Spence, the ticket kiosk said you were running down here."
I smiled, taking my card back and headed through the doors toward the aircraft. As I was walking down the airbridge they closed the doors to the gate lounge, okay that was close I must have been the last one, oops...
Quickly I took my seat and buckled in, Simon one of the Cabin crew kindly showed me to my seat and stowed my bag for me. I think it was more they needed to get me settled in fast as no sooner had I buckled in the aircraft pushed back.
..o0o..
Laughing at my own 'delayed comment, ' well I was a bit more than delayed was more a firefight, literal one. I'd decided to do the morning briefing before heading off, that was all good. The plan then was to do a proper hand over to Corey with all the crews and congratulate him in front of everyone on his promotion to Acting Commander.
We were coming to the end of the briefing, when all hell broke loose, pagers started to go off all around, then the automated dispatcher system started rolling out advice that the fire had jumped the containment lines in a few places. Everyone jumped to their feet and assembled crews quickly and relatively quietly for the number of people in the community Hall we'd taken over, there was upwards of two hundred and thirty people in the hall at the briefing.
The cause of all the drama became apparent in moments, there was a hush as the aerial intel maps and ground observer reports were collated in real time and displayed on the large overhead projector beaming an 8mx3m image. An unexpected wind change ripped through a thirty kilometer stretch of the fire front, causing it to flare up, switch direction and was now on the move towards a large number of homes and farms.
The guys that formed my old IMT 'Incident Management Team,' were re-deploying crews all along the fire line, sending in resources to quickly pull the fire front up before it gathered much more momentum. It was hard going for them because of course, this all happened during crew changeover. The absolute worst time for this to happen, as your firefighter levels on the ground are at their lowest it's all a balancing act of weather, time and fire activity, you obviously don't pull crews out in the middle of a firefight, more you time it for that quiet time just before dawn when it all slows a little.
Seeing I was pretty much spare now I thought I could help out for a little bit, maybe do some resource planning if the needed it. So I walked over to the IMT and quietly tapped Corey on the shoulder. "Hey Corr, can I helpmate? I can hang about for a few hours before heading off to the airport if you like?"
The look of relief on his face and a few of the other guys said it all, I couldn't go and not help. "Fantastic Jamie, can you grab that strike team of medium water tankers, and patrol along this area here?" pointing to a flat grassland that leads into a small gully. "Were worried about the fire getting into this area, your front-line experience would be a godsend mate."
We were being tasked to check the containment lines on the North-West edge of the breakout area, doing some field observation's to provide the Commander center with Intel. "Sure mate-Acting Commander."
Smiling at each other we all shook hands, "for god's sake Jamie, please don't miss that flight the boss will have my ass if you do." I turned away from Corey and the planning group, smiling, "Promise I'll do my best to make it Corr."
As I headed back across the room where Strike Team Echo was gathered, reading through their recently changed movement orders, "Come on guys, you're with me." Waving at crew "let's see what's at the bottom of the smoke."
When had been driving along in mild smoke for about ten minutes, when we crested one of the smallish hills where the grasslands started to make their rise into the ridge of hills behind us. On the other side of the gully and ridge are two townships; both with populations ranging between thirty-five and fifty-thousand people. Let alone the hundred family farms in the direct path of this flank of the fire.
That's when we spotted a further outbreak, the wind change had pushed a small line of fire down the NTH-EST side of the ridge, once the fire was in there with normal wind flow from the NTH getting behind it, now driving it along like a freight train. My first thoughts were 'Fuck.' I grabbed the radio and jumped straight on to the command channel.
"Western Plains Control, Strike Team Leader Echo, Commander Spence-FIRECALL."
"Strike Team Leader Echo, Commander Spence send with your FIRECALL."
"Fire sighted, heading along the following Grid Bravo 124028 658475, Traveling in a North Easterly Direction. Further, Western Plains Control, Send community Warnings. We will deploy along the Western Flank. Send Heli Tac when available, out."
"Strike Team Leader Echo, Western Plains Control Rodger Wilco."
The fire had really jumped the containment line, and the bastard thing was racing away down a gully, towards more priority assets. Telecommunications towers and the first of two township's, now less than two kilometers away. We'd stopped with the fire to our right and slightly right off center. "Spence to strike team, action plan to follow, record details."
"Spence to Strike team, Action plan..."
"Copy all... Tanker one, to attack the mid-point of the western flank with Tanker three in support."
"Rodger Tanker One received."
"Rodger Tanker Three received."
"Copy all, Tankers Two, four and five, to attack the head of the fire from the western flank."
"Rodger Tanker Two received."