Firefighters' Practice

At last a perfect spring day. We awoke to sunshine and it warmed up quickly. The summer season officially opens at Spring Lake over Memorial Day weekend, and there was still plenty of activity there today. 

The Waterpark*, a sort of floating bouncy non-castle was up and looking like it had been toned down a bit since last year when not even the most nimble of kids could negotiate certain parts, and some less nimble fathers and grandfathers actually injured themselves and had to be rescued on the lifeguards' surfboards. Rather an ignominious departure as the swimming lagoon as it is known is neither large nor deep.

The lifeguards were just taking up their posts after walking around and checking out their domain. I have to say I'm very impressed with the ability of most of the lifeguards to maintain order without being too overbearing. As they were setting up, a tractor was raking the sand and a man was wading around in fishing boots with a metal detector. I wonder how many wedding rings or hundred dollar gold pieces he has found? 

As we headed back to the parking lot we saw five or six fire trucks in the parking lot and a number of companies of firefighters in full gear assembling on the lawn to learn how to deploy their emergency shelters and get underneath them in seconds. OilMan's comment was that he would rather run for it, and mine was that if that was an option surely they would too. Even on a beautiful spring day on a green park lawn, it was sobering to see...I don't think anyone who hasn't experienced it firsthand can possibly imagine the speed at which flames can travel, driven by high winds. Like mountains, wildfires can create their own winds.

On the other hand, it was also good to know that everyone is doing everything in their power to be better prepared, since we're being told that the conditions presage another dangerous fire season.

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