RED SKY AT DAWN

RED SKY AT DAWN

This morning, unlike most others,
the sky was a murky red, a glow
to the west that took me a minute
to register the reason.
The scanner cracked with the news.

That red sky at dawn was
no phenomenon of nature;
there was a wildfire not far away
and it was spreading fast.
I grabbed my clothes and dressed.

At the station, I climbed aboard
one of the trucks along with the
other men; we were the last truck
to leave the station;
two of our tankers had gone ahead.

The call had gone out to other
departments, more help was coming.
The wildfire had already engulfed
more than forty acres of timber,
and showed no sign of control.

We arrived at the command site
in time to relieve some of the men;
faces burned and blackened,
they made their way out, choking
and sickened by the acrid smoke.

We pushed forward, dragging line,
aiming the spray of water at the flames,
dousing the ground and trees around;
setting up more hose, chopping our way
through underbrush to the heat of the fire.

It would be days before the fire
was brought completely under control,
with a lot of help from a heavy rain;
finally the fire was quenched and
we returned to the station, conquerers.

There is nothing that will strike
fear into the hearts of a firefighter
than to get the call, the news that
there is another wildfire raging,
another morning with a red sky at dawn.

Countrymom
2/4/06

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