"I feel like a Kentucky Fried Idiot"

Two examples of why I do this job, both in the same night, both on the same call, both quite different.

At the tail end of making dinner, we responded to a report of a Level 1 Hazmat at a gas station in the district. Most likely a gasoline spill of some kind. We were advised en route to look for a Jeep leaking fuel. Yep. Okay, easy enough.

We pulled up to the station and found the Jeep. A friendly and very apologetic young woman met us and explained that she was filling her tank and the fuel was just shooting through straight onto the ground.

 (Like this but underneath, not out the fill pipe)

So we crawled under the car (now moved from the pump to a parking spot). There was a (maybe) 5" round spot of fuel on the ground and a small spot under the tank that looked like it might have dripped. Not at all the deluge that was described. We inspected the gas cap and what we could see of the fill pipe and all appeared normal. Her gas gauge still read 1/8 tank and the car started fine. It just didn't add up. 

She was afraid of running out of gas if she drove home and was going to call for a tow. We had her pull back up to the pump so we could see what had happened. She went to the same pump she had used before and there was no fuel on the ground. Hmmm.

She got set up and as soon as she squeezed the handle gasoline went flooding out from underneath the car. She stopped immediately of course but I then noticed the gas station attendant standing nearby watching us suspiciously as if to say, "What's wrong with you? Why would you have her do that AGAIN?"  Well, you never unless you try, right? Seems she must have a broken gooseneck between the tank and the cap that wasn't visible. The spill from the first attempt had just evaporated in the meantime. That was a bit surprising considering it was freezing cold that night.

She had called for a tow and was informed it would be over an hour. She was still worried about running out of gas if she tried to make it home. My captain told her that she could try to make it home and hope for the best, wait for the tow here in the freezing cold, or she could drive the few blocks to the fire station and wait there where it was warm. She took option three and let the tow company where to meet her. 

We were about to eat of course and as we finished making dinner, we set a place for her too. She initially declined but as the food arrived and no eta on the tow truck she gladly joined in. So we were able to take a bummer of a situation and unpleasant evening and turn it into a hot meal (udon noodle soup and shrimp, perfect for the cold night) and a pleasant wait for this poor kid. She was very happy and thankful and that's the outcome we want. So, good deed done and superior customer service rendered.

BUT....

Before we could leave the gas station and lead her back to the firehouse we had one other situation to deal with.

We were heading back to the engine and noticed a lot of brake lights just before the overpass by the gas station. The firefighter suddenly said, "That's a turkey!" And sure enough, a HUGE, wild turkey was running around in traffic jamming it all up. This is in the middle of a very urban area by the way.

My captain said, "Hang on let me get this thing off the road." He headed off to go chase it away and I went to the rig to grab a flashlight and deal with traffic to make sure he didn't get run over while in pursuit of the turkey.

The turkey, as you can imaging was having none of it. It easily evaded the captain and continued trotting through traffic, not leaving the roadway. The captain gave chase for a bit and then figured that it just wasn't going to happen.

He radioed into dispatch and gave a report of the turkey and the traffic issues and that it was last seen trotting North on Hardin in the left lane. Dispatch responded that they were aware of the turkey and that PD had been attempting to corral it all day long (which was awesome). As Rocky's trainer Mick said, "If you can catch this thing, you can catch greased lightning." Well, apparently no one could.

Routine, that's why I love this job.