Deepdean

[aggienaut]

The siren wails, as we cruise through Birregurra's small downtown at a brisk but not reckless speed. From the high cab of the firetruck I see the people seated outside the cafes downtown look up as we go past. I'm seated behind the driver, trying to attach the neck-guard to my yellow helmet. Indeed I'd only just ripped the plastic off all my gear when the call out and come on my phone a few minutes earlier, and I realized I probably should have unboxed the gear already. Across the radio other fire trucks from surrounding areas are checking in in a sort of precisely mandated incantation: "vic fire Deans Marsh Tanker One on scene" "Vic fire Birregurra command vehicle en route" "vic fire barwon downs tanker one en route" * and a bit of more specific traffic such as "Barwon downs tanker one this is Deepdean control could you stop the traffic at..." There's three other firefighters in the truck with me, they conduct themselves in a brisk businesslike manner, no one is joking, someone died at the last car crash we were called out to just the other day.

I haven't been remembering dreams lately but weirdly I do remember having drempt I was driving a firetruck the night before -- and had returned it to the wrong station. And then I'd had a bad dream which is extremely rare for me. I was standing on the dock watching a sailing race go by, primarily big schooners. The boat I used to sail on, the Hawaiian Chieftain, was in the lead with her tanbark (dark red) mainsail clear and distinct -- she hadn't even had that sail any more when I knew her. I was talking with a former captain I liked. Suddenly a small sailboat about cracked in half not far from the dock and went down immediately with the two crew members. I jumped in after them and had to swim down to get them. I used to be a lifeguard so this part of the dream was no doubt informed by actual memories, I got to them, they gripped me wildly, I calmly pushed them away and got them in a manner where they were both facing away from me and couldn't accidentally drown me. Upon coming to the surface... they were both dead and the woman looked like she had been dead a long time, was falling apart. I woke up at this point and lay there listening to the rain, feeling weirdly disturbed, thinking "but they were just alive!"

Later on, telling my dear friend Kori about the dream she remarked "Chiefie's tanbark sails are no longer fit for use at all, they are rotting in the laz" referring to a dark dank storage area down near the bilge of the ship. I found the reference to rotting in a deep dark place an unsettling reminder of other parts of the dream.

I happened to be home working on my computer when the app the fire brigade uses began its urgent beeping on my phone. Minutes later I was piling into my car.

This was the third serious accident at this intersection (near a place called Deepdean?) a few km from town in five days. Two country roads intersect perpendicularly right after both come over a rise. One has stop signs the other doesn't. Both are fairly straight and people cruise along at about 60mph... and apparently tend to blow right through the stop signs. (I heard one firefighter saying "I was in the States once, did you know they have intersections with stop signs on all four sides? Who has right of way! No one knows!")

There was a serious collision on Christmas Eve. Day after Christmas there was one fatality and six people hospitalized. And now this was two days later and as we approached I could see two smashed cars both fifty feet off the road in the fields. A wheel and part of the ganglia that should attach it to the car sat in the middle of the intersection. As we approached the other men in the truck exploded with things like "fuckin hell! It looks just like the last one!" Several trucks and police vehicles were already there.

We came to a stop on the road near one of the cars, jumped out, powered up the pump and ran out the hoses. Nothing was on fire or smoking but we had a person standing with a hose on either side of the car just in case. The car was in long dry grass so it seemed a good precaution. I was one of these two people.

After awhile someone told me to let loose with the hose onto the unremarkable grass nearby and I wasn't sure he wasn't just trying to make the new guy look like an idiot but then he explained the water in the hose heats up and can cause the pump to come unprimed or something if you don't occasionally let out some water.

Two adults were put on backboards by the paramedics (I asked if we were supposed to render any medical aid if we arrived first and was told "nope we don't touch em, we're just [volunteer] firefighter" "not even a tournequit?" "Not even a tournequit"). I couldn't see the two injured adults because they were far side of the car from me. "If they look like the two people who died in my dream...!" I thought to myself but fortunately they did not. Amother adult from the car seemed to be fine and there was a five or six year old little girl who fortunately seemed unharmed. Later saw a grizzled old firefighter carrying her like a koala, and another brought her a teddy bear from somewhere. A medivac helicopter eventually arrived, landed a few hundred meters down the road, and the injured adults who had been put in an ambulance while waiting for it, were driven over and transferred to the helicopter

About three hours after call out the cars were taken away on flatbeds and we returned to base and dispersed. Apparently this Sunday there'll be a big press conference with politicians and all about the accidents. The intersection already has as many warning signs as one could come up with and rumble strips on the approach of tho road wits stop signs. I reckon they need to offset tho two sides of that road so it's not possible to fly on through.

In other related news, just prior to the call out actually, Pandora introduced me to this sad song about firefighters I quite like:

Comments

[wpadmirer.livejournal.com]

I do not envy you the time spent working with auto accidents. They are horrible things, and it sounds like that intersection is just made for them.

I've quit using the interstate that runs through Gainesville because it's having such a rash of really horrible accidents. It's six lanes, and still people can't manage to drive them without running in to one another.

That dream is scary.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

I suppose wrestling with people deep under water who are trying to drown you and turn out to be dead might sound scary, but the biggest contrast between that and when I actually got on the fireground was that I've been underwater with a drowning person trying to drown me many a time and I felt calm and confident during that part of my dream, whereas in real life I arrive at the accident site and fortunately nothing urgent was going on but I felt very "uhhhh what do I do now??"

the dream was definitely unsettling though.

[wantedonvoyage.livejournal.com]

I heard one firefighter saying "I was in the States once, did you know they have intersections with stop signs on all four sides? Who has right of way! No one knows!"

Theoretically, everybody is supposed to stop and whomever got there first goes first. If two cars approach at the same time at right angles to each other, they both stop and the one on the right goes first. If they approach from opposite directions and one is turning left, it yields to the one who is not turning.

Apparently at one time in the books in NJ the law said at an uncontrolled intersection, "Both parties shall stop and neither shall proceed until the other has." This could take some time.

Glad this one wasn't worse and I hope they figure out some way to put a lid on the collisions.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Yeah I thought their confusion about our intersections was a bit silly. It's funny how skeptical people are of things they'er not familiar with.

[wantedonvoyage.livejournal.com]

By the way, I see in the Otego Daily Times that the RMS Queen Mary 2 went on from where you saw her to New Zealand, calling at Dunedin on 28th February.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

That would definitely be a fun way to get from here to New Zealand!

[cactus_rs]

(I heard one firefighter saying "I was in the States once, did you know they have intersections with stop signs on all four sides? Who has right of way! No one knows!")


Yet somehow we manage ;)

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Somehow! (:

[jaiden-s.livejournal.com]

I think we'd all kill ourselves if we didn't have 4-way stops. The car on the right has the right of way, or the car who arrived first.

[picadelphon.livejournal.com]

Speed Bumps Work Great, they use them on the rt-541 in Atco NJ cross road..

[mexpatriot.livejournal.com]

There are speed bumps all over Mexico. I've figured this means that when people won't listen, you have to force them physically. It's a shame when people can't just act decently on their own.

[picadelphon.livejournal.com]

Humans act decently on their Own, hahahaha.. Speed bumps or ruts work to wake them up..

[mexpatriot.livejournal.com]

That's fucking intense, man!

"I was in the States once, did you know they have intersections with stop signs on all four sides? Who has right of way! No one knows!"

Fucking idiocy! I see it all the time, but I'm in the Third World. I wouldn't expect this nonsense in Australia. But what do I know? Everyone stops at the 4-way intersection! The one who comes to a complete stop first has right of way (can proceed first). But, everyone stops!!!

I am also not so cofortable with these Aussie rules. OK, I can see where some idiot could really fuck things up (e.g., move someone with a spine injury), but it still makes me feel weird.

You know how to get a driving license in Mexico? Ask for one. That's it. No test whatsoever. I've never even seen a cop stop anyone...in 13 years!

You're doing some good work, man! Volunteering is cool!

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

I asked about driving licenses in Guinea in West Africa after seeing a suspiciously young boy on a motorbike. The person I had asked just kind of shrugged and was like, "if you can afford a car or your parents can and trust you to drive it, then you can drive."

And in the rules, usually the States are famous for litigation fear but at least there's "Good samaritan laws" that protect you from liability if you're voluntarily trying to help someone!

[pundigrion.livejournal.com]

Thought this was going to be a zombie story at first!

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Haha fortunately not! But I can't guarantee my new experiences in emergency response won't be integrated into some zombie story in the future! ;D

[skimmed-miilk.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's intense. Is it a new road, or are these accidents not a new occurrence? I'm glad that at least the one you were on scene for had no fatalities.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

No it's not a new road at all! But what I think _is_ new is that traffic along this section has increased a lot lately compared to what it was years ago.