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By Jim Swettenham(c) June 03, 1986

The following was written between 0430 and 0505 hours on June 03, 1986 while I was manning the alarm room at my fire station. It is is written roughly to the tune of “It’s Four in the Morning” by Faron Young…

It’s three in the morning

And once more the warning

Of a fire alarms coming in.

The guys they come smart

The trucks they all start

The phones ring above all the din.

“Where are we going?”

“What have we got?”

Guys wonder as they get dressed.

“Jump on the trucks and

Head down to Main…

Guys, I’ll radio you all the rest.”

The alarm room is busy

With lights and phones going

As the trucks begin to roll out.

“Is it a big one?”

“What about lives?”

We can hear as all our minds shout.

The trucks make a streak

As they roll down the street

The radio crackles real loud.

“1 – 2 – 3 Main…

I’ll repeat it again…

They say there’s a pretty big crowd.”

Guys masking up

Put their nose in a cup

As the sirens continue to scream

We see the sky red

As we look up ahead

For now we arrive on the scene.

Hose lines are laid

Attack plans are made

To knock down the raging blaze.

“Everyone’s out!”

We hear someone shout.

“Thank God it’s one of those days.”

The flames are knocked down

People stand all around

Sometimes they get in the way.

Carrying ladders and pulling long hose

Black crap coming from our lungs and our nose

We fire fighters earn all our pay.

People wonder why

Guys and trucks stand by

But hot spots often flare up.

It could have been worse

Guys are hot and they thirst

Drink water without a nice cup.

“Make up the truck load

We’ll head down the road,”

The order comes from the top.

With that work all done

We make our return run

Only to have one more stop.

Cars have hot wires

Which often cause fires

And now here’s one on the street.

As we are flagged down

We step to the ground

This one won’t be hard to beat.

We arrive back at base

Black hands and black face

No time to go and wash up.

Trucks back in service

The people deserve us

Now comes time for a cup.

As we sit around grinning

We hope we are winning

We wonder when will it end.

‘Cause it’s six in the morning

And once more the warning

Of another alarms coming in…