It's summer again. I know this because the temperature outside is currently somewhere between "Good GOD, it's hot! - and "Surface of the Sun!". I also know this because the critters in the CSRA are out in force. My station is located in an area that is bordered by "woods" behind the station, and is often frequented by unexpected and unwanted visitors. A few shifts ago, this little guy was crawling around the bay looking for an easy lunch. A friend and fellow firefighter almost stepped on him. Last year around this time, another firefighter at the same station came face to face with a scarlet king snake! Just FYI, The scarlet King snake is a very small, very harmless snake, that looks remarkably like a very small, very harmful snake, and all of this happened at 3 am, in the kitchen of the station!! The snake the king snake resembles is a coral snake, and is the most venomous snake in North America. In the parts of the southeast where you may encounter this snake, we teach the children a little rhyme: " Red touches yellow- kill a fellow. Red touches black- friend of Jack." Thinking about the encounter is amusing to me; but then, I've never had to remember that rhyme at 3am, groggy with sleep, when all I really wanted was a glass of water. Both situations remind me of a similar one in my past, where I fought a structure fire with what was most likely an equally surprised, and quite upset, spider inside my turnouts. The nasty little creature remained quiet and immobile until we arrived in the room of fire origin, and I opened the nozzle. Then springing from her hiding place in a perfectly coordinated attack, she proceeded to bite me at the junction of my shoulder blade and neck, ( the only place I couldn't reach with my gear on) at least three times. Adding to the confusion, my Officer began questioning me, quite loudly- and with an ample smattering of scalding and unrepeatable adjectives and adverbs, as to my previous history of seizures and/or Tourette's.
The short version of the story ends with a dead spider of unknown species, and a firefighter wandering the station for the rest of the day wondering whether or not he was imagining being nauseous, and a myriad of other signs and symptoms.It's almost as funny as encountering a snake of indeterminate species on the floor of the kitchen at 3am. While all of us understand the importance of staging your gear in a manner which allows for quick deployment, I now find myself more aware of the manner in which I stage mine. Prior to the "spider incident of '03" as it's commonly known; ( at least by me) I would stage my gear on the floor of the bay, with boots and pants, jacket and helmet, outside of the pump. Not so now. Having fought one fire with the "volunteer spider" is enough for me. I'm very careful now as to the condition of my gear, and how it's staged. And you should be too. But I'm also reminded of this: We are all aware of the common dangers we face on scene. We all respond to the issues we think could affect us when we're in "firefighter" mode. But what about the little things around the station? What if my friend Rocky had stepped on that copperhead? What if the spider in my gear had been a "Black Widow" ? We can't control all of these things, but we can be more aware, and take steps to insure they are less likely to occur. Even more profound is the way in which this impacts my observations on faith. I do my best to be on guard against the big things that could shipwreck my faith. But what about the little things that creep in unaware? Today I'm aware of the comparison between these stories and the little things that have crept into my heart...The way "little foxes" spoil the vine.( Song of Solomon 2:15) How perspective changes, and the place where we feel most safe may be the place where we pick up an unwanted hitchhiker -- hurting us in our own house, or making us ineffective as we strive to help others.
