Best dinner in ages!

[bae]

Last night was fun...

7PM page - nicest marina on the island is on fire...

Got home at 3:30amish.

Main building at the head of the pier was fully involved. And full of huge propane tanks, and hazmat storage. And the gasoline/diesel lines for the fuel dock ran right under the structure. Spent a good part of the night on the beach on one side keeping things cool enough so they wouldn't explode, warm enough to let the propane "gently" cook off (good thing it started at low tide, we have a 13 foot tidal range here, and it would have been trickier while treading water...).

https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/t1/1601599_863688560324749_242344054_n.jpg

Amazingly, we saved the bulk of that building, kept things from going BOOM, and didn't let the fire move down the pier to the other buildings (restaurant and store), or the expensive yachts.

The people on those boats were stuck for the duration, unless they decided to untie and get the heck out of Dodge, which I surely would have elected to do!

We got to use the fire boat, and teams from several other islands came over to relieve us, it was a great morale booster when they came ashore all clean and fresh in the middle of the night.

But, one of the highlights of the night was about 9pm, when our "fire auxiliary", which is about a dozen grandmas and their family, who showed up on scene with vats of coffee, 4 kinds of soup, some stews, sandwiches, fruit, ice cream, more coffee, baked goods, bacon(!!!), sausages, and a whole darned roast of beef. They stayed there for the duration, keeping us warm and fed at the rehab station.

Go grandmas!

(I was especially happy to see them as I'd skipped lunch, and hadn't yet put dinner on the table when the pager went off.)

[Lainey]

That's fantastic that a community pitches in like that.

One of my co-workers was involved in a similar crisis investigation in the middle of something like East Elbow, midwestern U.S.A. They had gotten there early in the day and around noon were wondering where the heck they were going to find lunch, when here comes a pickup truck down the long dirt drive. Turns out the sheriff's wife had rounded up some of the local women who had set to making these guys a hot lunch, and proceeded to serve it off the back of the truck. And wouldn't take a dime for their troubles.
A tailgate party to remember!

[bae]

The morale boost is incredible - there you are, either overheated or frozen, or both at once, soaked to the bone, covered in sludge, tired, and some nice cheery lady hands you warm stew and coffee, and smiles.

Doesn't take much!

[Jilly]

The other place I lived had problems several times each year with the water mains. The worst was right in our front yard, so I got to see those guys often. In the warmer months there was iced tea, hot coffee, fruit and other sturdy snacks on the front entryway. When it was cold, rainy or freezing there was hot coffee and tea, soft drinks, a crock pot of soup, a big box of buttered slabs of bread, fruit. Oh, and another crock pot of hot chocolate.

I did it because it was a small community and over the years of flooded street and yard I was able to, well, not exactly know and hang out with the town workers, but to recognize them at the market and church. I never really thought about it as being more than the price of admission for me to sit and watch them work. :/ Nice guys, all.

I do not have any chance to do anything like that here, in this tidy city, but I do put out coffee and hot cocoa thermal pots for the guys the landlord pays to do the shoveling. I also let them inside to warm up before they go to his next property. Sometimes they drink the stuff, sometimes not.

[iris lilies]

I wonder what time they started cooking, once they figured out you guys would be there for a while. They had to be on top of it to be there with food two hours later. I seldom have soups in my freezer and of those I do, people don't like them. This shows me that I should make some emergency chicken noodle soup and freeze it.

[razz]

Community support in all its forms is priceless and wonderful to see. Thanks for sharing.

[catherine]

That is a wonderful example of community!

[new2oregon]

Thanks for sharing that great story.

[Gardenarian]

I'm glad you got it all under control.
You live in a wonderful spot!