2:30 AM, July-ish 1983Wake up!....huh? I say
WAKE UP!......Engine 7 is stuck at Barrett pond!...my dad leaves my room..he means get up and get dressed now! I was 19.
I get up, throw on something and we walk out the door.
My dad had been retired from the FD for some time now, but they all knew what he could do, and what he could do with that truck.
We start driving...he's not saying much, and I'm not awake....but I know where we're going, and he is not happy about the situation he was just told about...but he's quiet.
We get to Barrett pond, Engine 7 is at the other side beyond the access road so we walk around the pond.
They had just dredged the pond, and it was 15 feet deep in places, Engine 7 was on a call, and was trying to navigate an off cambered path right next to the waters edge, and every time they tried to move forward, the truck would slide sideways towards the water....They didn't know what to do next, so they called my dad.
We got there...everyone backed up and he looked over the situation...and he got a lot less stressed....still wasn't saying much.
He looks at 4 firefighters,and then me and says " Dave, anchor the winch cable to a tree, You guys...Follow him! " Oh crap...time to wake up!
The Four firefighters snap to and we hauled the cable over to a tree I chose, and I told them how to hook it up...never even got my hands dirty!....They were all over it.
Dad got in the truck, engaged low range 6 wheel drive and the front winch which was driven off a PTO. Now at low range and 1st gear, the winch speed just about matched the truck speed perfectly.
He let out the clutch, and just drove right out of the predicament it was in as pretty as you please.....he stopped, shook the shift commanders hand, and we walked right back out...
"Thank you!" and he never said a word all the way home. Never heard about it again....that old picture made me remember that night though.
Dave