Firefighters Keep Going on Little Sleep

Flames don’t stop on their own,  so firefighters keep going.

“Any sleep in that time?  None.“, says Roanoke County firefighter John Hubbard.

Hubbard was here at 6 a.m. Monday, didn’t leave until Tuesday night at nine and was back at it again at 6 a.m. Wednesday.

“I would give anything to be on the side of the mountain digging in the cold and rain instead of sitting in here.“, says Hubbard.

He works on his laptop to keep his mind ready.  John is the EMT on duty and can’t leave here unless he’s called.

“People getting orders to do stuff and I’m just in here.“, says Hubbard.

“I’m tired. Very tired.“, says Roanoke County firefighter Charlie Ferguson.

Ferguson tries to catch,  “A little cap nap here and there.“, inside his truck.

“This one right here is very comfortable.  We’ve got some that are not so comfortable.“, says Ferguson.

“So you got lucky?  Yeah.“, says Ferguson.

It’s a good thing, because Charlie is two hours away from 48 straight.

“I’m waiting on 6pm.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.“, says Ferguson.

The Red Cross brings in more snacks to take along. There’s hot food to re-fuel and the one thing they are guaranteed to learn about their fellow firefighters is how they take their coffee.

“How much coffee do you think you’ve had?  Oh (laughs). Gallons to stay awake.“, says Hubbard.

“Probably a couple of pots to be honest with you.“, says Ferguson.

Charlie grabs another cup and should be good to go for a couple more hours, until he finally gets to go home.

But at this point, an entire pot of coffee can’t make up for what these guys really want.

“A shower and some sleep would be nice.“, says Ferguson.