And the Wind Cried Mary

The evening started off slowly. We did our rigs checks and hung out at the station for a little while. I was at home when the tones went out for a tree that crashed into a power pole knocking it to the ground. We were on Spring Street for a while making sure people did not get close to it. Before too long it became clear that we were just starting.

The wind was blowing very hard. It was getting worse and worse. Trees were falling all over town. Power poles and power lines were getting damaged and we were getting called to places all over the place. We went to Campus Street followed by B Street, and it did not stop there. Soon the power was out all over town. Only the campus had power. We had no way to open the bay doors. We did not have the radio system as the repeaters were down. For a while we had to use phones for dispatching purposes.

We were out on the road until nearly four in the morning. I was just getting to bed and pulling up the covers when the tones went off for another problem. That one was up on Center Street we were on scene for nearly an hour waiting for Avista to cut the power so we could put water on the little fire in the tree that was trying to start. When the power was cut the fire went out. We were cleared and ended up doing nothing.

I was so tired. I was ready to get home and go to bed.