Blackburn

Hearing the tones I head down to the bay and gear up before getting into the officer's seat of the Ladder. Seeing everyone is on board I mark us responding as I check the notes on this call.

Patrol: 201 - Deputy Allen 206 - Deputy Hawke 207 - Deputy Barrillo 209 - Deputy Rogers 210 - Deputy Caldwell 211 - Deputy Wagner with Deputy Bagley 220 - Sergeant Bruno Traffic: 251 - Deputy Dempsy 252 - Deputy Clarkson K9: 230 - Sergeant Patterson 232 - Deputy Jones

Even after I ordered something to go from Denny's it seems I'm the first to arrive for the shift. Well I guess that's fine as I take a seat in the Duty Room and get to work on the Grand Slam breakfast of pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage.

With a coffee cup in hand and a yawn I enter the parade room ready for the shift. 'Here'

Seeing the fire in the bushes as the engine comes to a stop I hop out and pull the bumper line as I get close to it. As Valentine charges the line I open up the nozzle and soak the bushes until the fire is good and out. Setting down the line I head back to the engine and grab the can before heading back to the bushes for overhaul. After checking the area for a good few seconds I start turning back. 'Looks out to me, Brush can deal with the monkey'

'Barillo, you're in unit 206'

Well, here we go again I think to myself as I leave the store and listen to what dispatch has to say. 'What?' Climbing back into my seat on the engine I ponder if what I heard dispatch say was correct. 'Did they really say a monkey?'

"213, negative, we've had new calls come in but no new additional information to go with them."

Listening to the radio as I continue traveling south I hear the questions from Bruno to dispatch and man, that one does not like dispatchers. Or anyone for that matter. Hearing 213 also responding I hear Wagner request SWAT be on standby and I almost want to call that off immediately but this might be an active so it's probably not a bad idea. "200 to 220, 213. If your first to arrive block off the scene upon your arrival. I want that scene clear for EMS immediately."

With 220 seemingly done asking questions I can hear others responding to the call again. "Copy 213, marking you responding"

"Negative 220, this is the first time we're hearing about it as well" Ok, I see the Sheriff's Department has that asshole in 220 today I think to myself with a sigh.

"Copy 200 & 220, marking you responding. Gunshots are now being reported being heard in the area around half an hour ago. Victim is a black male in their mid-30s wearing a Cincinnati Reds jersey. No additional info to go on beyond that." Seeing M1 hit their acknowledge button on screen I mark them en route.

Well at least I had lunch before being called out to anything I think to myself as I pull out of my space and head towards the call. Should only be 5 minutes away as I pull out from the KFC parking lot and head south on Bay Street. "200, responding" Letting go of the mic I flip on the Silverado's lights and sirens.

((2x SHERIFF UNITS PLUS SUPERVISOR, M1, THIRD STREET SOUTH ALLEY, FT. SHANNON, MAN BLEEDING OUT)) "911, where's your emergency?" "There's, oh, uh, I'm in an alley off of Third Street South, near West Side Drive, in Ft. Shannon" "What's your emergency?" "There's a Reds fan, I mean he's wearing a Reds jersey, bleeding out a lot here." "Is he responsive?" "Well, he's still alive, he's breathing heavily but he's not saying anything. Just kind of staring off into space here." "Ok, can you just stay on the line so I can get more info, I'm dispatching some Sheriff units and EMS"

"Copy M1, marking you ALS and responding" The fuck is up with that? I wonder to myself.

After helping pack up the gear I get back into my seat on the engine as we get ready to leave after this good quick call.

'Thinking the same, looks good to me'

MEDIC 1 - Eastland Mall, Oxnard - Broken Leg "911, Where's your emergency?" "Eastland Mall's parking lot, my friend is an idiot." "Ok, miss, what is your emergency?" "Well, he decided to have fun in a shopping cart, hit a pothole, and spilled out of the thing. Now he is bitching that his leg is hurting pretty bad and he can't get up. We think it's broken." "Is the wound open?" "Not sure, can't tell because of his jeans, we don't want to move him so we don't make it worse, it's definitely bending funny" "Ok miss, I'm dispatching EMS, stay on the line so I can get further info"

With help from Valentine I roll the line back up and place it back in it's spot on the bumper. Hearing Dave's question I ignore figuring Noel or Anderson can answer that one as I don't care. Should've been faster. Heading back over to the brush for overhaul I glance at it and move some burnt grass around with my foot as I quickly look for spots that might not be quite out yet.

Seeing the nod back to me I look back at the fire and open up the nozzle to the line. As water spews out from the nozzle I keep it aimed at the small fire on the bushes and grass until it's all out. Closing the nozzle up I give a thumbs up and look back.

'Yes, Ma'am' Is my simple response to Noel responding that she doesn't care what I use to put the fire out. Bumper Line it is then. As we pull up on scene I glance out the window to see a bush or two on fire along with the grass in between them. 'Yeah, this will barely be 5 minutes' I say more to myself as the Engine comes to a halt and I hop out. Heading to the front of the engine I pull the line off the bumper and get in position to knock down the fire. Looking back to Dave I give him a nod to let him know I'm ready for the charge when he is ready to give it.

Mentally cursing to myself with a bunch of non-existent words within my head I take the full brunt of the Commissioner's verbal backlash. Well shit, maybe I would have looked if I wasn't an intern easily fire-able and wasn't at all concerned if the contents were confidential above my pay-grade. All I was told is they were important and needed to be signed by Commissioner Burke. Want to throw this shit in the trash now cause of course it was a prank. Fucking sigh. Hearing Burke then go off about my appearance I hold myself back as much as I can until he gives me a chance to talk. However he doesn't give me a chance as he just walks away with another intern. 'Fuck' Putting the receipts back in the satchel I decide to just leave the Ops area and head to see if my Cavalier is still on the side of the road where I left it. It's the only place I want to be right now. Of course after I leave the area I take off my polo shirt as it was pointed out I don't want to stain the name of ERT anymore than I have apparently. Stuffing the discarded polo in the satchel I guess it's a good thing I wore a black tank-top underneath today.

"I'm sorry, who are you? Can this wait? I'm kind of in the middle of something here." Fucking sigh. Did I not say what department I am with and that this was important. 'Megan Ludlow, with the Administrations Offices. They sent me over here with something to sign and they did say it was important. Just take a da--... a look at the papers and decide if it's important after that. Please.' Yeah, I'm buying a fucking Viper for this shit. Don't care how much it puts me in debt or if I get audits on my ass for it.

My khaki pants and polo shirt are definitely getting all muddied up as I walk the terribly battered streets of Kimberly with an umbrella over my head and important paperwork to be signed in a satchel strapped over my shoulder. Thankfully I'm only a half a mile to my destination of the Flood Relief Ops Area as this trip here from Ft. Shannon has been hell. Curse the Administration Office for sending me out on this endeavor and not giving me an office vehicle to use. Oh my poor old 92 Cavalier. It barely lasted a mile into town before the rear axle just completely fell off after hitting pothole after pothole. With how things are now it's probably being washed into the river with all the flooding going on here. Bye bye Chevy, I sigh as I let down my hair from the bun it was tied up in, if I'm going to look a mess then I might as well look like it. Reaching the ops area I am almost stopped by someone but being to fed up to care I just flash him my badge as I walk on in looking for Burke. Thankfully the Commissioner is an easy man to find as he is out and about moving from area to area. 'Sir, sorry to bother but the Administration's Office sent me because they need your John Hancock on these documents they sent with me.' As I say this I pull out the paperwork from the satchel and proceed to try and hand them over. This better not be a damn prank from my bosses. 'They didn't tell me what they were, just told me they were important and needed to be signed now.'

'Sounds like a plan then. Can't imagine it being that big of a fire unless it's in that large grove of trees between the memorial and the Mustang's parking lot. I'll pull the bumper line unless it looks small enough that it looks like a can will do the job.'