Chasing Flames

By Murray Man

You don’t choose the life that you are handed whether good or bad however given the opportunity you can change your path. When all you know is a life of hardships and hustle you’re instincts are in survival mode 24/7. It leaves you making choices that may not always be the best. Stuck in an endless cycle going nowhere fast things had to change and I had to be open to embracing it. Using the experiences in life and exposure to more positive surroundings and individuals I now have gained the ability to ultimately change my path ….my life…. my future…

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 13, 2018
• ISBN: 9781984562654

Murray Man

to follow

Book preview

Copyright © 2018 by Murray Man.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Rev. date: 11/07/2018

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

782409

Breathing heavily, I began thinking how the hell they expected us to climb this mountain when it went straight up. It was hot, and I got on all this gear: hard hat, safety glasses, gloves, long-sleeved shirt, pants, and boots. I also had a tool in my hand. Yet the captain expected us to climb this mountain, and I could barely stand up. This was crazy. How did I get myself into this? Step-by-step was the only way to the top, and I was sweating so much from my shirt all the way down to my socks. I was soaked. Man, I wanted to give up and just go sit in a cell somewhere. But I was ten more steps from the top, and I noticed that if I took small steps, then my legs didn’t hurt as much. I let out a long breath of release once I reached the top. Hey, where is everybody? Haha. This is just the beginning. That’s why they call this the wall and beyond. I looked around, wondering where the captain was at. As I looked up, I saw a figure in yellow. I thought, What, way up there? You got to be f—— kidding me. I’m just going to wait right here till he gets back, but nope, that’s not how it works. He’s going to go to the top and wait for us. The captain was standing there, staring down at us with a big grin on his face like this s—— was funny. Exhausted, I asked, Why did you bring us way up here?

To see the view of course, he responded sarcastically, with a big-ass grin still on his face.

Man, f—— that. That’s why they got helicopters and airplanes, for there’s no way in the world we should be walking way up here. I sat down on the mountaintop.

Every Wednesday was a training day to the captain, and it was the best day of the week. He was gung ho. He was like a kangaroo or something, just hiking away and skipping all the way to the top like it was nothing. I didn’t even think he broke a sweat. My feet hurt. I was tired, and to top it all, I still got to walk down. It took us about an hour and a half to walk down, and once it was over, I told myself it really wasn’t that bad. We got back into the CCV with everybody clowning and joking about how isolated I was at the top of that mountain.

We were almost back to camp, then we looked up at the mountain far out beyond the city. Without rain, lightning struck the mountainside, and instantly, there was smoke. We tapped on the window and pointed it out to the captain. He called it in on the radio and hit the sirens while driving like a bat out of hell, cutting through traffic. He was running through the red lights, and you could see him smiling. This was what he lived for.

The swamper was the inmate that sat up in front with the captain. He was scanning the map, trying to figure out what roads would get us there the fastest. The crew could be up to seventeen men, but we only had fourteen right now. And we were all in panic mode, trying to put on our PPE. We finally got close enough to smell the smoke, and the captain pulled up into this gully and jumped out, putting his personal protective equipment gear on. We were already suited up and ready to go. The drive up made us both excited and nervous, but it was go time. The swamper opened the back door and yelled out our tool and number. The swamper called, First P!

The inmate answered, Got it.

As we filed out, the guys handling the chain saw and gas can from Dolmar jumped out first and started the chain saws up.

One by one, we got into place as the swamper handed us our tools: three Pulaskis, four McLeods, and one super P. Being trained, we knew how important it was to have a sharp tool. A sharp tool is a safe tool. So we all examined our tools and waited on instructions. When the captain finished on the radio, he ordered us to hook it up. We all fell in a single-file line and followed the captain into the gully in between the mountains. After about forty-five minutes of hiking, we began to see the smoke clearly. The captain analyzed the situation and ordered for the chain saws to take lead in cutting the bushes, stumps, and trees, clearing a path for us to follow then.

The Pulaskis chopped up and broke up the path where the chain saws couldn’t reach, mostly into the dirt. The dirt could dull the teeth of the saw. The McLeods scraped the earth to bare soil, removing fuel from the fire’s path. The fire was about a foot away, and it was hot. The wind would blow the fire away from us then, out of nowhere, back at us. A few times, I had to retreat from the heat and had to catch my breath. There was so much smoke in my face, and I had the second McLeod, which meant I was two feet away from the fire’s edge. So I scraped and scraped as fast as I could. I was trying to make sure that by the time the flames hit the fire line, I was long gone.