Guns and First Aid kits and bug out bags
If you watch the news from Fort Worth tonight.....
This afternoon at work our office was rocked by a series of violent explosions, four in a row about 1.5 seconds apart. Then more following. The sound came from our south and sounded very close. We went out the south door and there was a giant black plume of dense rolling black smoke about two blocks away and a huge fireball roaring up into the sky.
Quickly following there were more and more explosions and fire balls and the smoke column got bigger and blacker. Within 10 minutes, ambulances and fire trucks were sreaming down our streets. Shortly after the ambulances came the helicopters, four at least were hovering directly over us.
This went on for 45 minutes, the fire actually growing larger and getting worse and worse and more explosions and huge fireballs rolling up hundreds of feet high, and then there were electrical arcs in the fire and our electricity went out. As the fire balls rose up in the sky we could feel the heat. I looked on a map later and scaled it off, and we were 3,000 feet north of the explosion. The wind was blowing away from us so we stayed and watched in complete awe, but soon after our power went out the air began to get foul from fumes that were working up against the wind to us. At that point we all decided to go home and watch on TV instead of up so close. I got into my truck and headed home praying that no one had been seriously injured or killed in the explosions, I was really worred for the fire fighters because those explosions were seriously intense.
Within two miles of leaving the office I drove up on a traffic accident just seconds after it happened. Glass was still falling out of the windows, although I had not seen it happen. There were two pickup trucks involved, a large one and a small one. The large one was still in the road but the small one had been pushed onto the railroad tracks. A Lady had stopped at the same time I had, and she went to check on the driver of the larger truck, who was not visibly injured and seemed coherent and I heard him telling her that he was OK.
I ran over to the smaller truck, which was jammed across the railroad tracks and the drivers side door was smashed in badly. The front tires were bent around badly and were straddle of the far rail. There were two women in the car, the driver who was unconcious and bleeding badly and a younger woman who was no bleeding but was screaming and crying and obviously in shock. I looked around to see what the situation was and there was a train about 1/2 mile away and coming down the tracks right at us.
I got the passenger out of the truck and to the side of the road, ran back to the truck and tried to open the driver's door, it was cratered in and wouldn't budge. I ran around to the passenger side to see if I could drag her out that way but her legs were pinned in from the way the cab was crushed in on her. There was blood everywhere. The Lady (petite and about 60 years old) who had checked on the first driver asked what to do, I asked her to get on the cell phone and call 911 and try to get them to stop the train. It was still coming. It was either stop the train or jump back and watch because I couldn't move the truck, and couldn't get her out of the truck. Some of the bystanders also got onto the tracks and were waving their arms and rags, trying to get the engineer's attention. I was afraid that he would be focused on the large black column of smoke from the explosions at the chemical plant and not see us.
I could hear the Lady on the phone telling the 911 dispatcher that the train hadn't stopped yet and that "By God We Are Staying On These Tracks And If You Don't Somehow Stop That Train It Will Be On Your Concscience That We Were All Killed Too!" She was a Tiger! She was Magnificient! She was giving them a blow by blow account of everything. She actually did get the train stopped about 100 yards from us. All this time I was still pulling on that damned door, and prying at her legs and trying anyway to figure out how to get the woman out of the truck to safety.
Once the train stopped I went into first aid mode and got the bleeding stopped with some gauze and clean rags that someone had found (by this time there were dozens of people around) and kept her from flailing around too much until the EMTs got there. She was semi-concious by now but in very bad shape. When the fire department and ambulance showed up I went to the passenger who was still screaming and crying, and I just hugged her held her, and got her to talking until she calmed down. All of those people there and no one was even attempting to help her out. When the EMTs finally put her in the ambulance I left. I drove home in something of a daze, came in and washed the blood off. I had a beer then, and it was as good a beer as I ever had.
During this whole ordeal I was very aware that I had a pistol on me, and that I did not have a first aid kit with me anywhere, and I needed a first aid kit badly. I am going to get a first class first aid kit for each of my cars. It was absurd for me to think to have a gun, but not think to have a first aid kit. I strongly recommend that everyone have a good first aid kit in their vehicles.
I also have a renewed and genuine respect for our first responders. Those men and women are the absolute best.
I think there is a bad moon following me today. I am going to get under my bed now and hide for awhile.
If you watch the news from Fort Worth tonight.....
This afternoon at work our office was rocked by a series of violent explosions, four in a row about 1.5 seconds apart. Then more following. The sound came from our south and sounded very close. We went out the south door and there was a giant black plume of dense rolling black smoke about two blocks away and a huge fireball roaring up into the sky.
Quickly following there were more and more explosions and fire balls and the smoke column got bigger and blacker. Within 10 minutes, ambulances and fire trucks were sreaming down our streets. Shortly after the ambulances came the helicopters, four at least were hovering directly over us.
This went on for 45 minutes, the fire actually growing larger and getting worse and worse and more explosions and huge fireballs rolling up hundreds of feet high, and then there were electrical arcs in the fire and our electricity went out. As the fire balls rose up in the sky we could feel the heat. I looked on a map later and scaled it off, and we were 3,000 feet north of the explosion. The wind was blowing away from us so we stayed and watched in complete awe, but soon after our power went out the air began to get foul from fumes that were working up against the wind to us. At that point we all decided to go home and watch on TV instead of up so close. I got into my truck and headed home praying that no one had been seriously injured or killed in the explosions, I was really worred for the fire fighters because those explosions were seriously intense.
Within two miles of leaving the office I drove up on a traffic accident just seconds after it happened. Glass was still falling out of the windows, although I had not seen it happen. There were two pickup trucks involved, a large one and a small one. The large one was still in the road but the small one had been pushed onto the railroad tracks. A Lady had stopped at the same time I had, and she went to check on the driver of the larger truck, who was not visibly injured and seemed coherent and I heard him telling her that he was OK.
I ran over to the smaller truck, which was jammed across the railroad tracks and the drivers side door was smashed in badly. The front tires were bent around badly and were straddle of the far rail. There were two women in the car, the driver who was unconcious and bleeding badly and a younger woman who was no bleeding but was screaming and crying and obviously in shock. I looked around to see what the situation was and there was a train about 1/2 mile away and coming down the tracks right at us.
I got the passenger out of the truck and to the side of the road, ran back to the truck and tried to open the driver's door, it was cratered in and wouldn't budge. I ran around to the passenger side to see if I could drag her out that way but her legs were pinned in from the way the cab was crushed in on her. There was blood everywhere. The Lady (petite and about 60 years old) who had checked on the first driver asked what to do, I asked her to get on the cell phone and call 911 and try to get them to stop the train. It was still coming. It was either stop the train or jump back and watch because I couldn't move the truck, and couldn't get her out of the truck. Some of the bystanders also got onto the tracks and were waving their arms and rags, trying to get the engineer's attention. I was afraid that he would be focused on the large black column of smoke from the explosions at the chemical plant and not see us.
I could hear the Lady on the phone telling the 911 dispatcher that the train hadn't stopped yet and that "By God We Are Staying On These Tracks And If You Don't Somehow Stop That Train It Will Be On Your Concscience That We Were All Killed Too!" She was a Tiger! She was Magnificient! She was giving them a blow by blow account of everything. She actually did get the train stopped about 100 yards from us. All this time I was still pulling on that damned door, and prying at her legs and trying anyway to figure out how to get the woman out of the truck to safety.
Once the train stopped I went into first aid mode and got the bleeding stopped with some gauze and clean rags that someone had found (by this time there were dozens of people around) and kept her from flailing around too much until the EMTs got there. She was semi-concious by now but in very bad shape. When the fire department and ambulance showed up I went to the passenger who was still screaming and crying, and I just hugged her held her, and got her to talking until she calmed down. All of those people there and no one was even attempting to help her out. When the EMTs finally put her in the ambulance I left. I drove home in something of a daze, came in and washed the blood off. I had a beer then, and it was as good a beer as I ever had.
During this whole ordeal I was very aware that I had a pistol on me, and that I did not have a first aid kit with me anywhere, and I needed a first aid kit badly. I am going to get a first class first aid kit for each of my cars. It was absurd for me to think to have a gun, but not think to have a first aid kit. I strongly recommend that everyone have a good first aid kit in their vehicles.
I also have a renewed and genuine respect for our first responders. Those men and women are the absolute best.
I think there is a bad moon following me today. I am going to get under my bed now and hide for awhile.
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