BULLETS
Locale: small, rural village
Weather: freezing rain, sleet
Time of day: late afternoon into night
� You could smell the smoke 1/4 mile away. There were 4 firefighteres in town at the time of the tone, and a 1st alarm was requested immediately.
� Upon arrival, the first firefighter saw heavy black smoke coming from all 4 sides on the second story. A bystander said there was no one inside, other than 3 cats. FF: the cats are going to have to wait.
� As calls go, it wasn't a bad one. One of the first FF on scene lost a knob on the regulator pack (that had been checked just before the fire), which held the first interior attack crew up enough so they weren't inside when the roof and part of the second story came down on the stairs.
� At one point, the 1st FF on scene noted to another that there seemed to be an unusual amount of aerosol cans in the house as things were pinging and popping all over the place.
� Two weeks later, (yes, they got the cats), they returned to finish burning down the building.
� The owner walks by the FF who had been first on scene, mumbling something about bullets in the beams. The FF approaches the owner, and asks what he's talking about. The owner tells the FF that the beams were full of bullet holes - he had no live ammo left.
� AEROSOL CANS??? Nope. Not this time.
� Later, enroute back to the station, the FF happens to mention that while roofs coming down on us is a known occupational hazard if things turn south, the FF would definately have taken exception to being shot by a house that wasn't even holding a gun.