Notes from a Rookie Firefighter...September 1, 2009

I can't believe a week has gone by since this happened.

I was eating pizza at an outside table at Arminio's in Chatham, NJ where I work and a truck made a tight turn around the corner very close to my table. A cylinder (probably propane) popped off the truck and started hissing with flames shooting out. I went inside and told the owner to call 911 and then went back outside to make sure people didn't walk near the cylinder. The truck driver took about ten minutes or so to locate his fire extinguisher and doused the flames.

So what's interesting about that? People with BABY carriages walked by like it was nothing. Even after the police came and the cylinder was on the ground with foam around it, they just kept walking. That's what I couldn't believe.

Denise Broesler
NJ Rookie Firefighter