Sunday morning about 6:30 a.m. -- after fielding more than three times as many calls as usual -- many firefighters just wanted to get through the last 90 minutes of their shift and go home. That's when an emergency dispatcher's voice blared from the PA system, telling them a hospital on East Las Olas Boulevard with 25 patients on ventilators had no power.
"That's the absolute worst time for that to happen because everyone is [punchy] at that time," Fire-Rescue Lt. Dennis Bambach said.
The patients' "lives were literally in our hands because without power, they weren't breathing," he said.
The crews helped the hospital staff until FPL workers restored power to the building around 9 a.m. When they got back to their stations, the commanders asked many of them to continue working, because more than 14 firefighters scheduled to start Sunday morning live in Palm Beach County or points north and could not make.
Lt. Matt Adams shuttered his Weston home to make sure his wife and 2-year-old son were safe before heading to work. The accordion shutters on his house were easy to put in place, so he helped three other families board up.
"It was just easier for me to do it than watch them fumble," he said. He hopes, too, that if he helps other people, they'll help his family when he's at work.
As rain from remnants of Hurricane Frances pounded on Station 2's windows on Northwest 2nd Street Sunday morning, Adams and Bambach were already focused on Hurricane Ivan, the next storm that could be headed to Florida. Adams is supposed to sail on a Caribbean cruise Saturday, and he's worried Ivan is going to ruin his plans.
At noontime, the firehouse cook and a few helpers started fixing lunch. They had lots of canned soups, some food they'd been given Saturday by the manager of the shuttered 17th Street Publix, and several pounds of hamburger donated by Driver/Engineer Pat McGee after his house lost power Saturday night.
Moments later, a fire alarm rang and several crews jumped in their trucks and headed to the call. It turned out to be a false alarm, but responding to even routine calls -- like the elderly woman with no sense of smell who feared her gas stove was leaking but couldn't tell -- was dangerous with the driving rain, debris-ridden streets and malfunctioning traffic lights.
Working during heavy storms "takes a toll on you," Adams said. "It's being away from your family and not knowing what's going on with your house."
