Truth Tellers begins at Part One HERE.

Part Nine

Station 4 is only a mile away from HQ and Finny was looking forward to a good, hot shower when his phone chirped.  It was Danny, one of the investigators working the fire.

“Hey, Finny….it’s Dan,”  in his usual salutation.

“What you got, Danny”

“You’d better get over here, pronto,” he answered, never saying why before he disconnected.

With a sigh of frustration, Finbar made a right turn and started on the 15-minute drive to Spinoza’s house.  And he was wondering what all the thumping sounds were in the background of Danny’s call.

Read Part Ten HERE.

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Truth Tellers begins at Part One HERE.

Part Two

One by one, all the neighbors were awakened by the steady droning of the pumping engines, keeping their pressures up against the relief valves.  As they went to the bedroom windows to look out to see what the noise was all about, their vision was obscured by a thick, dirty gray smoke that kept expanding into the neighborhood.  The dancing flashes from dozens of red lights kept shooting through the smoke giving it a surreal effect.

Most of them had never seen anything like this before.  As a chill went through them when they realized what was happening, and some locals started gathering along the curb, they saw what looked like a raggedy city-owned car that hadn’t been washed in weeks threading its way between the firetrucks and then park in one of the driveways across the street.

Read Part Three HERE.

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Our fourth Mystery Minute story begins today.  In this adventure we will meet Captain Finbar Lonnigan, an old-school fire marshal who always gets results.

Truth Tellers

Part One

Nobody heard the screams.

Read Part Two HERE.

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Thunder and Lightning begins at Part One HERE.

Part Twelve

I came to on my back, lying on the sidewalk in the pouring rain.  My legs ached like hell. I tried to sit up but was too dizzy.  I put my head back down.  Man that storm was raging all around me and it was a whopper.  At that moment, my buddy John drove by, saw me lying there and slammed on his brakes.  He leaped out of his car and ran over to me.  John started smacking the top of my head for some reason, I remember wishing he would stop that, because my head felt like it was gonna explode.  John was saying something about my hair smoking and he was putting out the fire where the bolt had hit me…. Hey, where did all of the firemen go?

John said, “Stay put, I’ll call for an ambulance..you ought to have your head examined for standing out in a storm like this, next to the flag pole drinking coffee.”.. Coffee? I looked at my hand. My index finger was still hooked tightly onto the handle of a white ceramic mug…. it was marked “Firegeezer The Digital Day Room”…hmmmm.

The End

Mystery Minute will take a break for the extended holidays and
return in early January.  Thank you for joining us in this literary experiment.

You may read the first two Mystery Minutes by following these links:

Mystery Minute 01 – The Legend of Old Red – HERE.

Mystery Minute 02 – Off the Map …. – HERE.

Thunder and Lightning begins at Part One HERE.

Part Eleven

I was awakened from my daze by the sound of the Chief ordering his men into formation in front of the station. A photographer rushed into position with a camera…a really old camera…and set up to take a photo. They all sure looked nice…matching dress uniforms, they even had a couple of the member’s kids in dress uniform… weird.

The photographer yelled, “Everyone ready?  On three!   One –  two –  three!”  The flashbulb went off and blackness enveloped me.

Watch for Part Twelve here tomorrow.

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Thunder and Lightning begins at Part One HERE.

Part Ten

The group of old timey firemen I had seen earlier were standing next to the fire truck, now parked in front of the bay doors. The chief began a speech telling the small crowd about the history of the department, and told how it was so important that Torrent Hose Company was to have it’s very own fire station after years of being housed in the barn belonging to a local businessman. Torrent Hose Company???? This station hasn’t been called that since the 40′s. What the heck was going on?

He went on to give thanks to the President of the United States for the efforts of the WPA, that the station could never have been built without federal assistance. Now that the country was headed out of the depression, we could all look forward to better times and new jobs everywhere. He explained that there was even talk of paving the major roads in the county with work crews provided by the Works Progress Administration…..

Had to be a dream…a really really vivid “in-living-color” full blown hallucination, yeah that’s it… I’m in a coma at the hospital and I’m dreaming about the dedication of the station in 1935.

Read Part Eleven HERE.

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Thunder and Lightning begins at Part One HERE.

Part Nine

As I pondered the date issue…a fireman came upstairs and announced that the ceremony would be starting in a few moments, and that we should head outside. Okay, they had my attention now.

I got back outside and found that about 50 people had assembled near the flagpole. A guy in a Chief’s uniform told us to take a seat and they would get right to it so we could get back to our day’s business.

Read Part Ten HERE.

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Thunder and Lightning begins at Part One HERE.

Part Eight

I made my way over to the refreshment table.  After all, I had just been struck by lightning, I needed a drink! ….Was I struck? I couldn’t remember for sure now … and I seemed to be okay. By this point, I was expecting Rod Serling to appear out of thin air and start into his bit…”You’re traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind….a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination….your next stop..the Twilight Zone…”

I picked up a white ceramic mug and filled it from the coffee urn.  Maybe they rented out the meeting room for a wedding and I didn’t see the memo. No, that wouldn’t explain the antique truck downstairs and all the changes around the station. As I took a sip from my cup, my eyes wandered towards the cork board on the wall. Ahh that’s it, I’ll check there. Surely there is a notice that the hall had been rented out for a special ceremony or something. Seeing nothing official looking, I decided to check the calender to see if there were reservations posted there…but something didn’t look right. It was the same calender from the funeral home up the street that had been hanging in that spot for decades…but it was for 1935!

Watch for Part Nine HERE.

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Thunder and Lightning begins at Part One HERE.

Part Seven

In a kind of a daze, I walked up stairs and into the meeting room where I had spent so many evenings debating the merits of rapid water, RIT teams and dozens of other modern day firefighting tools and techniques.

What I found on the second floor astounded me. The room had long been the repository of numerous chiefs portraits, plaques, trophies and mementos from years gone by. It was difficult to even SEE the wall in places because of all the history that hung there, but now the walls were completely bare and the old glazed tiles gleamed like they were brand new. I knew this room now. I had spent countless hours looking through my department’s scrapbooks. I had seen this site before. It was exactly what the company’s meeting room looked like the day the station was dedicated.

Read Part Eight HERE.

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Thunder and Lightning begins at Part One HERE.

Part Six

I opened the door and stepped into the station. The smell was totally different. What was this all about? One of the things that made me feel at home there was the smell of diesel fuel, rubber tires and smoky turnout gear. That “firehouse” smell was the same the world over…but it was missing now. At this point, I knew something most certainly was amiss. The old station, nearly 100 years old was now looking brand new and wait…..the truck..that was most definitely NOT my fire truck. Someone had taken my 2004 Pierce and replaced it with an antique! OOO nice restoration job on that old pumper! I was starting to get really confused at this point. I was pretty sure I was alive and awake. I could pinch myself and it hurt. If this was a dream, then it was a dandy!

I moved on into the apparatus bay to get a closer look at the old truck when I noticed several other people in there. They were all dressed in class A dress just like the guy I saw leaving a minute ago. Okay, I’ve been on the receiving end of enough fire house jokes in my time, and I’ve certainly been party to enough…but this one was waaaay beyond anything I could imagine.

At that moment, one of the firemen walked over to me and said,  “ The ceremony will be starting at half past the hour, you are welcome to go up to the meeting room upstairs and wait. We have some refreshments set out”.

Read Part Seven HERE.

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Thunder and Lightning begins at Part One HERE.

Part Five

Wait….something didn’t look right. It was then I noticed that the cars going by out front were classics! Beautiful old cars from the 1930′s and not a mark on them. I remember thinking that there must be a car show in town or something. About that time, a woman with a couple of kids in tow came walking past me…and were openly staring at me like I had just stepped off of a UFO or something….maybe my fly was down or something. Why were they acting like that? I noticed she was wearing a dress and a matching hat too, not common nowadays in small towns. Everyone is normally in jeans or shorts. Wait, that’s an old dress too…hmm maybe she was with the car show.

I turned towards the station…having momentarily forgotten the storm.  It was then I noticed the building. It looked brand spanking new. The bricks looked like they had been laid yesterday, not the last century. I knew the city was talking to a contractor about some remodeling but wow, this was some great work! That was when the door opened and out walked a fireman in dress uniform. He headed down the street, but he too was looking at me funny. Hey who was that guy? I’ve been a member at this department for 30 years…and I don’t remember ever seeing this fellow. His uniform looked old school too. I thought about stopping him and asking him what was up but the way he was looking at me, I figured either he or I must be crazy, so I didn’t chance it.

Read Part Six HERE.

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Thunder and Lightning begins at Part One HERE.

Part Four

At this point I was not sure I could safely get out of my jeep and make the dash for the door but I could see heavy rain headed in my direction so I took the chance, opened the car door and started a mad sprint for shelter.

I was almost to the station’s door when another lightning bolt hit the flag pole right next to the sidewalk I was running up. I felt my legs tingle and then my eyesight went black and I knew I was most likely, human toast.

I became aware of my surroundings sometime later. It had become a beautiful sunny day. I was standing there next to the fire station and I seemed to be okay….hell, I wasn’t even wet!

Read Part Five HERE.

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Thunder and Lightning begins at Part One HERE.

Part Three

Since the storm was approaching so quickly, I decided I would head straight to the fire station and stand in the bay and watch the storm go by. As I pulled into the lot, a fantastic lightning bolt hit the bell on the side of the building, causing it to ring louder than I had ever heard it. The building became enveloped in an electric blue haze and the light bulbs in the fixtures on the front of the station exploded with a loud pop and a shower of sparks.

I thought to myself “Oh great, there go all of our computers and radio equipment.” The station’s wiring was antiquated and wasn’t going to stand up to this kind of power surge. Heck, maybe we would get lucky and the station would burn down and insurance could build us a new one!

Read Part Four HERE.

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Thunder and Lightning begins at Part One HERE.

Part Two

Just 12 miles north of my home, was an incredible supercell unlike anything I’ve ever seen east of the Mississippi River. It stood totally alone. There was no other radar return within 100 miles. This looked more like a great plains monster than a wimpy great lakes storm. The storm’s core was a deep purple on the radar display, and the lightning icons were flashing constantly. This storm was an electrical powerhouse!   I grabbed my camera and ran for my chase vehicle.

I headed for the interstate but had to pass through town to get there and that path lead right past the fire station. Coming through town, I noticed that the streets were deserted. Well, for once, the public must have heeded the Weather Service’s warning and taken shelter.

The storm was getting close to town now, the sky to the northwest was as black as night and the air had become very still…never a good sign around a storm. Cloud-to-ground lightning bolts were getting close too, it was apparent that I would not have to chase this monster, it was going to chase ME!

Watch for Part Three here tomorrow.

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Our third Mystery Minute story begins today with a true story from Steve Marshall, Meadville (PA) Fire  & Rescue:

Thunder and Lightning
by
Steve Marshall

Part One

Long before I became a professional storm chaser, it had been my habit to head for the fire station when severe storms threatened. Having grown up in northern Virginia, I was used to afternoon thunderstorms in the summer heat causing numerous “alarm bells sounding” and lightning strikes.

When I moved north to Pennsylvania, I thought that was all history. They just don’t get storms like Virginia…or so I thought.

On one unusual day in June a few years ago, Mother Nature and Father Time teamed up to mess with my head in a serious fashion.

When my weather alert radio sounded, it caught me by surprise. As a television news storm chaser, I stay on top of the weather situation and there was a near zero chance of severe weather today. I immediately fired up my trusty computer to check the our weather radar.

What I found on the radar display was completely unexpected.

Read Part Two HERE.

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