Tuesday, December 29, 2009

The sort of night firemen fear

It's at least -5 degrees Fahrenheit out there, with a sustained windspeed of 20-30mph...ice cold, clear night, with everyone in the whole state firing up their woodstoves to keep warm. This is the sort of night where improperly sealed chimneys have their seals freeze and crack, leading to housefires. And then the firemen get cold, slip and fall on ice, and wind up swearing like sailors.

I've got my BDU pants out, with long underwear, an extra warm coat, gloves, hat, boots, AND a thermos for hot cocoa if we get called out.

Last time we got a fire in this weather, it was a (thank god) uninhabited house, the propane tank blew up, and 10 firemen fell over like penguins on an iceflow from surprise. It was hilarious, but only because nobody was hurt. I was tucked up in the ambulance, watching from a "safe distance".

May I state again, for the record that it's EXTREMELY cold outside? It's also cold in my BEDROOM- 33 degrees F to be precise. I'm beginning to think that there's something wrong with the insulation. And possibly that, due to our wood stove being very efficient, they dont turn the heat on in the house, so it never reaches my bedroom.

2 comments:

LivingDeadNurse said...

brrr....glad everyone was safe

UNAUTHORIZED. said...

Glad your long underwear didn't catch on fire. haha It's funny I used to live in a significantly cold area, what you're describing is COLD. What's hilarious is now that I've moved, my friends here really don't understand the definition of cold weather. They think a breeze on the beach is chilly. If they only knew. lol