the rix mix

Considered walking downtown this morning to have a look at the outdoor part of the funeral for Elizabeth fireman Gary Stephens, killed in a tragic accident - run over by a backing fire engine, in the middle of a cold night, just after arriving at an abandoned house to fight a blaze started by a homeless man trying to keep warm. I figured there would be 1000 firefighters in full dress uniforms & white gloves, & hundreds of others who needed to be at St. John's Episcopal Church near the county courthouse, but police would keep merely curious onlookers well away & would be in no mood to let you get closer. & that's how it was & why I didn't go. I live a few blocks from EFD headquarters, & the worse the weather & later the hour the more I hear the familiar old-fashioned sirens. Many of those late night responses are to apt buildings with faulty alarm systems. But then there's real fires, in tinder dry old wood frame two & three family houses, so close to other houses that an entire block would burn down if the firefighters didn't act in seconds. & they can never be certain how many people are in a house, even when it's supposedly vacant - in some poorer neighborhoods especially when it's vacant.

Labels: Elizabeth NJ, obituary