Waiting for the Boom

We get a large amount of calls for "the smell of gas", which is usually vague and most often unfounded.  They are routine and I don't think much of them other than an easy way to rack up the call numbers.

Every so often it is something.  I was on a call the other day and we pulled up, the fire chief parked directly across from the house.  We parked down a little bit and wandered over to see what was up.  It was a live one - vacant house, some bank people stopped by to change the locks and were overwhelmed by the smell of gas. 

My partner, ever the over-dramatic one, backed away all the way to the rig, in case the house exploded.  There is a whole science to gas-fed explosions - it has to be the exact right amount, too much or too little gas in the house and no kaboom.

The truck arrived, they aired out the building and we left.  The gas company would later secure the property and gas line.

Later that evening at an informal gathering at the squad, my partner pointed out to the group that I was a little disappointed that the house didn't blow up.

I looked around the room and asked how many of them had ever thought for a second that a building should just explode and get it over with.  I asked how many of them have rolled up to a fully involved house fire and just for a second thought to themselves "cool"*.  One by one every member in the room nodded, acknowledging that there was a little bit of sick and twisted in each of us and silencing my partner.

*for the record, I have been in the rig with more than one different member and heard them actually say "cool" when we rolled up on a working fire.