Actually, last week is really just a blur. I took off Wednesday to get some things ready for Thanksgiving and to go see the doctor. Unfortunately, when I arrived at the doctor’s office, they were closing early for Thanksgiving….they told me to come back Friday morning. The rest of the afternoon was spent at home, getting things ready for Thanksgiving. Since we had no services on Wednesday night, I spent it at home with my family.
Thanksgiving lunch was spent at my sister-in-law’s house, eating ham, turkey and all the fixings. It was the normal routine…eat…nap…watch some football…eat some more…nap…watch football. At around 2 pm, I decided to head home and watch football on my TV. In all actuality, I laid down on my bed to watch TV and fell asleep. I woke up at around 4 pm and started getting the family ready to head up to Edmond to visit with mom and dad and my sister and her family. We pigged out once again, watched some football, had dessert and just enjoyed each other’s company.
I was up early on Friday morning, so I could be in line at the doctor’s office early. You see, this doctor takes walk-ins in the morning, along with those that have appointments. So, if you don’t have an appointment, you just have to wait. I have no patience when it comes to waiting. I got in line outside the doctor’s office at 7:45 am (and it was cold!) and stood in line, in the cold wind, for 45 minutes. When they finally opened the doors, it was nice to feel the warmth in the office. I sat there from 8:30 am until 10:30 am…..2 hours. Then, when I finally got in to an examination room, I had another 45 minute wait. All total, I was at my doctor’s office for 4 hours. That shot my entire morning.
I went and got some lunch and then headed over to Hibdon’s to have a couple of new tires put on my truck and a front-end alignment. I waited for 3 hours at Hibdon’s to get my truck out. So, if we add this up, I spent a total of 7 hours on Friday, waiting. Yes, I got many things accomplished, but my Friday evaporated. After I left Hibdon’s and headed home, I came upon a non-injury accident at I-240 and Western, so I stopped to assist them.
Saturday was an errand running day……lots of places to go and lots of things to take care of. Saturday afternoon, I was sitting at my house, checking some things on my computer, when I heard the fire department get a call about a grass fire. The grass fire was just south of me, so I grabbed my camera and headed out the door. I was able to get in and get some really good, close-up pictures, so I was happy about that. At one point, I was helping the OCPD with traffic control along S. May Ave. After the fire was put out, I headed home to rest. At around 5:30 pm and left my house and headed to the north side of town to a friend’s apartment to watch the OU/OSU game with him and some other friends. We enjoyed a great game, great snacks and a great time of fellowship.
It was hard getting up Sunday because I was so tired. I did finally make it to church, but there was a very small crowd there. After church, I headed home, at roast, took a nap and then headed back to church for choir rehearsal. Sunday evening was spent on the computer…and watching more football on TV.
I decided I wanted an extra day off to get some things done, so I contacted my supervisor and got approval to take Monday off work. I went by the tag agency first thing and got my business there taken care of. Then, I went to the north side of town, to the apartment of one of my REACT team members. He was going to install my new PA speaker in my truck. Plus, I had a light bar that wasn’t working properly, so I was going to leave it with him and see if he could repair it. We finished with my truck at around noon, so I headed back to the south side of town, went by KFC for lunch and then headed to the church to do some computer work. While I was at work, another of my REACT team members sent me a text message, informing me of a huge grass fire at Reno & Martin Luther King…and OCFD were requesting traffic control.
I rushed out of the church and headed to the scene. I got to SE.15 & Eastern and could not see the interstate because of the thick smoke. When I arrived on the scene, one of the fire department district chiefs had his vehicle blocking Reno going west. I knew he had other places he needed to be and since OCPD had not shown up yet, I pulled over, approached his vehicle, identified myself as a Central Oklahoma REACT unit and offered to assist in traffic control. By the time he gave me an assignment, OCPD finally had a few units show up. They blocked the west bound traffic on Reno, while myself and another REACT member blocked the northbound, left-hand lane on MLK. We spent two hours assisting OCFD and OCPD with traffic control. I was so happy I was off work and able to do this. I wanted to take some good pictures, but since we were there for traffic control, I could not very well leave the intersection to go take pictures.
After a while, the traffic department arrived and put up barricades to block the road off. When they did this, two OCFD units left, leaving us with just one unit. Once the other unit left, it was up to our REACT team to continue to divert traffic away from the fire. I was able to eventually drive west on Reno and get a few pictures, even though the fire was already out. By around 16:10 pm, we were finished and we all went our separate ways.
Last evening, I went and got my hair cut. Yes, I know that today is the last day of the month for no-shave November, but I had to get my hair cut…it was really bothering me. After my hair cut, I met Karla and Stephen at McAlister’s (where Gayla works now) and we had dinner. After I finally got home, I had to answer a bunch of emails and send a summary to the REACT Board members on what our team had done to assist OCPD and OCFD during the fire. While I was typing the summary, I received a text from another REACT member, advising me of another large grass fire at SW.59 & Harvey…..this was around 9 pm. I had thrown both of my reflective vests and my jacket in the washing machine earlier because they still smelled like smoke from the grass fire at Reno & MLK. So, I grabbed my wet vest and headed out the door. When I arrived on the scene, the fire was out, so I went back home.
This morning, it was back to work. I got up early, showered and shaved my head. It feels sooooooo good.
REACT News:
(This report submitted to the REACT Board of Directors, 11-29-10)
Traffic control assistance- grass fire, Reno & MLK...
I received a text message this afternoon @ 13:25 pm from Central Oklahoma REACT member Mike Weiss, informing me there was a huge grass fire just west of E. Reno and Martin Luther King Ave. He advised me they were needing traffic control, due to the large amount of traffic the fire was attracting.
I was at SE. 29th and Lindsay when he called, so I immediately headed that way. As I approached SE. 15 & Eastern, I could not see I-40 because of all the smoke. I arrived on the scene at around 13:35 pm and saw a district chief's vehicle parked at Reno & MLK, blocking west bound traffic. There were not any OCPD units anywhere, so I approached the district chief's vehicle and identified myself as a member of Central Oklahoma REACT. I informed him that Mike and I were there to assist with traffic control, if needed.
He asked me to move my truck and block the left-hand turn lane on MLK, where it turns west onto Reno Ave. So, I turned on my emergency strobes and blocked the left-hand lane. About that time, a couple of officers arrived on the scene and OCFD turned the traffic control over to them. They went ahead and block west bound Reno,and asked Mike and I to continue to block the left-hand turn lane.
Many emergency vehicles were entering the area, so several times, Mike and I had to stop traffic to allow the emergency vehicles through. One of Mike's National Weather Service friends from Texas was there and he had strobes on his vehicle as well, so he assisted us with the traffic control.Many times, motorists tried to run the barricades and each time we stopped them.
Finally, the Traffic Division from the City of Okla. City arrived on the scene with barricades. Since there were still fire hoses stretching across Reno, they decided to go ahead and block all west and east bound traffic. Once the barricades were set up, all OCPD units, except for one, left the scene. We stayed and assisted this police unit because we still had people trying to go through the barricades. During this time, the OCPD and OCFD units continually thanked us for assisting them with the traffic control.
After the last police unit left, it was just the REACT team providing traffic control. Central Oklahoma REACT member David Spaulding arrived on the scene and started assisting us with traffic control. At around 16:00 hours, the fire department removed the barricades on the west side of the fire and left the scene. Since they had opened all east bound traffic, we went ahead and moved the other barricades so all lanes were opened.
After a short briefing, we all left the scene at around 16:10 pm.
Keith Sossamon,
Central Oklahoma REACT Unit 706
http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/OCFD_Citizens_Fire_Academy_Alumni_Association/home
http://www.okcentralreact.org/
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