Only YOU Can Prevent Fires

Life is what happens when you aren't blogging. OK. Quicky post on how I became a volunteer firefighter.
Ummm, no not really. But I know some volunteer firefighters, does that count?
Last Tuesday it was hot and dry here and windy too. Even though the week before it was torrential rain, the mulch at the new town centre garden was completely dry. This spring the irrigation drip line was heaved up and visible so we put a lot more bark mulch on top trying to hide it, but this means that when it is hot and dry, even though the soil beneath is wet from the irrigation, the mulch stays dry. The town centre square is right next to a bus stop, where people smoke cigarettes until the last possible moment before they board the bus. Are you getting the picture yet? Last Tuesday we got called twice about the garden being on fire. The first time we just used a small bucket of water to put out the smoldering bits and had a laugh with the commissionaire who managed the parking at the centre.
The second time we came equipped with an actual fire hose and hooked up to the fire hydrant and hosed it down for an hour. Do I have a great job or what? How many people other than firefighters can say that they regularly open a fire hydrant for work? Anyhoo, I always think an episode like this is just another piece of street theatre. I treat such public displays like I'm on stage, because you know people are watching. People on the street at open air cafes, at the bus stop, getting in and out of their cars in the parking lot are the audience. I make a production everything from getting out the hose and finding the pipe wrench to carefully avoiding spraying people waiting for the bus and rolling the hose up and putting it all away. Just my little performance to educate the public on the hazards of smoking and not properly butting out their cancer sticks. Do you think they get it? Nope, we had another fire Wednesday night, which the actual Volunteer Fire Brigade had to answer. There were flames. Smokey the Gardener says, "Only You can Prevent Garden Fires."