High water: life lessons from the VFD

Don't even think about it

The endless rain this week has reminded me of  some life lessons I learned in my short and inglorious career on my hometown volunteer fire department, which was often kind of a flood department. Here goes:

*DO NOT try to drive through water;

*Candles are evil;

*4 wheelers want to kill you; and

*Try before you pry.

Most of these should be pretty obvious, but the last one may require some unpacking. A lot of the gear of firefighting is about forcing entry into a burning building or a wrecked vehicle--and it can be really cool to use. But sometimes you can just open the door...