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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spokane Valley

Poetry stylings of a fire marshal

In reaction to last night's kitchen fire at Station 6, Spokane Valley Fire assistant fire marshal Bill Clifford put pen to paper to write up the incident in a poem pattered after the classic "Twas the Night Before Christmas."

A few notes before we begin. There is not actually a location of Fifth and Oak in Spokane Valley. Call it poetic license for rhyming reasons. And a yelp is apparently the name of a specific setting on the fire deparment sirens. (You learn something new every day.)

So without further ado, here is "Twas Almost the Night before Christmas" by Bill Clifford. (Click to read the extended post.)

'Twas the night before Christmas at the west end of town, the pagers and speakers echoed, blaring their sound

We sprang from our recliners and raced to the call, only to help Grandma up from her fall

We went back in service from 5th and from Oak only to back into the station to see and smell smoke

Chris saw a glow from the kitchen and said to his crew; grab your gear, air pack and a fire extinguisher too

Dave knocked back the flames and Joe pulled out the truck; Chris radioed dispatch and said "We have a fire in the kitchen, send me another truck"

An 11F was requested for addtional help, the battalion chief's came screaming with their sirens in yelp

As the crew looked through the window they saw no more flames, Chris cancelled all trucks as the dishwasher was to blame

With the fire investigated and the flames were dead, Captain Neumann called (Station) 1 and said "Move over, we're coming to bed!"



Nina Culver
Nina Culver is a freelancer for The Spokesman-Review's daily newspaper and weekly Voice sections.

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