Big Fin's relatives at it again

[cowboy]

NORWEGIAN FIRE DEPARTMENT
One dark night outside a small town in Minnesota , a fire started inside the local chemical plant and in a blink of an eye it exploded into massive flames. The alarm went out to all the fire departments for miles around. When the volunteer fire fighters appeared on the scene, the chemical company president rushed to the fire chief and said, "All our secret formulas are in the vault in the center of the plant. They must be saved. I will give $50,000 to the fire department that brings them out intact."

But the roaring flames held the firefighters off.
Soon more fire departments had to be called in as the situation became desperate. As the firemen arrived, the president shouted out that the offer was now $100,000 to the fire department who could bring out the company's secret files.

From the distance, a lone siren was heard as another fire truck came into sight. It was the nearby Norwegian rural township volunteer fire company composed mainly of Norwegians over the age of 65. To everyone's amazement, that little run-down fire engine roared right past all the newer sleek engines that were parked outside the plant.

Without even slowing down it drove straight into the middle of the inferno. Outside, the other firemen watched as the Norwegian old timers jumped off right in the middle of the fire, fought it back on all sides. It was a performance and effort never seen before.

Within a short time, the Norske old timers had extinguished the fire and had saved the secret formulas. The grateful chemical company president announced that for such a superhuman feat he was upping the reward to $200,000, and walked over to personally thank each of the brave fire fighters.

The local TV news reporter rushed in to capture the event on film, asking their chief, "What are you going to do with all that money?"

"Vell," said Ole Larsen, the 70-year-old fire chief, "Da first thing ve gonna do is fix da brakes on dat focking truck!"

 

[noharleyyet]

Garrison Keillor coudn't have done it better...good one.

 

[JMG]

Now that one is funny. Thanks, I appreciate that one.

 

[Big Fin]

Funny stuff. Reminds me of the stories and reputation of the Big Falls Volunteer Fire Department of my childhood.

Their motto ......."Never lost a foundation yet."

Really. My Uncle's house was on fire in the late winter of 1979. The VFD had bought a new (used) fire truck and this was the first call to action. They raced the three blocks from the fire station, had the new truck hooked up to the hydrant within a couple minutes.

And then things went south.

In the frenzy of activity, they were pumping all the water out the bottom of the truck. While the volunteers were smashing out windows and putting holes in the roof, the folks running the hoses were scrambling to get the water to go out the hose, rather than onto the ground.

Within about ten minutes, the guys with pickaxes and wrecking mauls had opened up some good holes, providing enough draft that the entire house was engulfed, endangering the lives of many. No water was coming out the hose and people were getting rather stressed.

An old boy, Vance, an experienced fire fighter from WWII, walked up the road, one block from his tarpaper-covered house, to see the commotion. Seeing the struggles of these younger folks, he calmly caned himself over to the controls, hit a lever, and "Presto!" Water was now coming out the hose.

They saved that foundation.

From my bedroom window, I watched MNtaxidermist's grandparent's house burn down. Before the fire truck even got there, some volunteers had opened up gaping chasms to get a good flow of air going. This beautiful old house was charred cinders before the truck ever delivered a drop of water.

But, the foundation was still intact.

I could list a dozen houses that were lost in my little berg during my childhood. Everyone of them still had a remarkably good foundation still present, slightly blackened, possibly flooded with water, but still usable to rebuild.

Not sure what homeowners insurance cost in that town, but if adjusted for risk, it would have exceeded most mortgage payments.

Don't laugh. I'm not making this up. A few guys who hang out here, come from the same little town. They will vouch for it.

Jereep's Aunt and Uncle lost two houses over the course of about five years. Still confused as to why all their guns. fishing gear, and taxidermy were stashed out in their RV at the time of the fire.

In Big Falls, an RV was a 1960-vintage Bluebird school bus that had been converted to a camper, or as we called them, rural assault vehicles. Camo or olive drab was the preferred color, allowing you to park them very near to the duck blinds. School buses at auction went for more than most homes in our town.

I'm telling you, those Duck Dyansty guys don't have anything over the crew of Big Falls in the 1970's. I had pictures to prove it, until they all burned up when my Dad's trailer house incinerated in the winter of 1985. They only saved the axles on that one.

Dad lost two homes from 1973 to 1985. In the trailer fire his rifles were toast, but his taxidermy was at a local pub, so I now have that restored and hanging in the Randy Room.

The current VFD in Big Falls is very organized. I think this new group is fully capable of saving structures, rather than just foundations.

True story, and I am only providing a few examples. The original post made me laugh out loud and got me to thinking about my local VFD when growing up. I could fill pages of this kind of stuff, but don't want to bore you with the small town details.

 

[jryoung]

My mom grew up in Grand Rapids. She said Big Falls wasn't at the end of the world, but you could see it from there.

 

[webejmn]

OMG that's good! Sorry to laugh at peoples losses but ya gotta admit, That's some funny stuff!

 

[Papa-Zulu]

Randy, your stories are hilarious...still remember your stories during the 2009 Nevada elk hunt!

 

[jerreep]

Ahhh, the Bluebird schoolbus. We have always felt divine intervention in the savings of those precious family items. Who could have thought that the firearms would be moved at precisely the right time...coincidence is ironic!

 

[MNHunter]

I’m telling you that if Randy wanted to he could create a sitcom focusing on Big Falls and have all the material he’d ever need. The stories he and jereep and others can tell…they’re hilarious!