Monday night, all quiet. It had been a busy day, eleven or twelve runs since 0700, nothing serious, just enough to keep us rolling. At 2325 hrs. Engine 6 got a call for a box alarm at one of the apartment buildings on Westminister Street. I couldn’t believe my luck; I was certain I was going out when the tone went off and blow lights filled the station. I did the “ladder roll” when the lights went out and was instantly asleep. Seconds later, the phone rang. Once, twice, a half ring…Henry got it, lights out again. A minute later I was called to the apparatus floor. No rest for the wicked.
When Engine 6 left the barn some asshat thought that the open door was his invitation to rummage around the station. Luckily, Chris Wright, who hours earlier had made perhaps the finest Fajitas I have ever eaten, saw somebody enter the station before the door closed and called from the engine to warn us. When Henry got to the floor he saw a wiry Hispanic guy rummaging around the rescue. We shook him down, he didn’t have time to steal anything, and tried to throw him out. The guy went into a crazy routine, acting like he was Jesus Christ and carrying on for a while before we grew tired of his act. Henry’s prior employment at the Adult Correctional Institution (ACI) showed through as he handled the perpetrator perfectly. I radioed for the police when the guy started acting aggressive. A few minutes later a cruiser showed up and put the guy in the back of his car.
The guy was a street hood with a lengthy record who had just been released from prison in Ohio. His specialty was breaking and entering and robbery. In a strange twist of fate, his brother, also a cheap hoodlum is recovering from stab wounds he got during a fight a few streets from the Hartford Avenue station. I think I had him in the rescue.
The cop took him away, we checked the locks and waited for the next call. I hate it when the sanctity of our station is invaded. This is our home when we’re away from our families. It isn’t perfect, but it’s all we’ve got between us and them.
