The Ponyville Volunteers

July 10, 2017

A crew of air crash investigators had just left the Friendship #2 fire station around noon after doing some final interviews with firefighters who had responded to the crash of Imperial Equestrian Airways Flight 822. They were close to figuring out a cause, and wanted to collect more eyewitness testimony before they departed for Canterlot. At the firehouse, Applejack, Annan, and Apple Fritter had been talking among themselves about the day when they heard an interesting call come in through the scanner in the rec room of the firehouse. Annan asked Apple Fritter, "What was that?"

PONYVILLE COUNTY FIRE CONTROL FOR WINSOME FALLS FIRE, WINSOME FALLS RESCUE, CAMP FOWLER FIRE FOR AN ENGINE, CAMP FOWLER AMBULANCE, MEDIC ZONE 3, RESPOND TO 6720 FALLS ROAD, 6720 FALLS ROAD. IT'S GONNA BE A DELTA RESPONSE FOR A WORKER WHO FELL DOWN A SILO AT THE LOCATION AND IS UNCONSCIOUS. WORKERS ONSITE WILL GUIDE YOU TO THE LOCATION OF THE SILO. TIME IS 1210 HOURS, DISPATCHER 33.

"Worker fell down a silo," Apple Fritter replied as she tuned the scanner to the Town of Camp Fowler's fireground channel. "This should be interesting."

As Applejack and Annan gathered around the radio, Car 22-01 radioed, "22-01 to Fire Control, I'll be en route, do you have any information about what's in the silo?"

"The workers did not specify," dispatch replied. "But they did say it was a chemical silo."

"10-4," Car 22-01 replied. "Can you go ahead and start me a 10-80 as a precaution?" He had requested a hazmat response to the scene.

"10-4," dispatch replied. "10-80 transmitted at 1211."

"We're going on that," Annan replied as he walked out of the rec room to the apparatus bay. "It's gonna be us, the airport, and Thunder Lake, plus Blacksmith Road on standby." As the three of them walked out and began to put their gear on, they heard their tones go off as the hazmat assignment came in.

PONYVILLE COUNTY FIRE CONTROL FOR THE PONYVILLE COUNTY AIRPORT, FRIENDSHIP FIRE COMPANY 2, THUNDER LAKE, BLACKSMITH ROAD ON STANDBY, COUNTY FIRE/EMS COORDINATORS, AND MEDIC SUPERVISOR 1, RESPOND TO A DELTA RESPONSE 10-80 AT 6720 FALLS ROAD, 6720 FALLS ROAD, IN THE WINSOME FALLS FIRE DISTRICT IN THE TOWN OF CAMP FOWLER, FOR A WORKER WHO FELL DOWN A CHEMICAL SILO AND IS NOW UNCONSCIOUS. TIME IS 1212 HOURS, DISPATCHER 33.

Immediately, the three hopped aboard Rescue 2-31 as Annan radioed from the front, "Friendship Base acknowledging the call." Little did they know what would befall them next.

At 1241, Rescue 2-31 had arrived. Its 6 personnel were dropped off at the staging area while several Winsome Falls firefighters readied a rotary saw and two Camp Fowler firefighters readied a hand line. Confused as to what they were doing, Applejack turned to Annan and pointed over to the group. "What are those guys doin'?" The scene was a farm near the eponymous waterfalls nearby, and the silo in question was at least 60 feet high and composed of metal. Many emergency services personnel had descended on the farm by then.

"Huh," Annan replied, equally curious and confused. He then turned to the staging officer, Camp Fowler's captain, and asked him, "Hey, what are those guys doing over there?"

"The plan right now is to use a saw to cut a hole in the side of the silo," the captain told him as he pointed out where the spot to be cut was. "They're gonna use a hand line to prevent sparks from flying."

Annan and Applejack were both immediately concerned by the reply given. As Annan turned back around to Applejack, he asked her, "That don't sound right."

"Yeah," she replied. "It doesn't." She then looked back over and saw the Winsome Falls firefighters get ready to make the cut. Due to the hazardous materials inside the tall metal silo, all three using the saw were on air, as well as the two Camp Fowler firefighters on the hand line. As they made their first, second, and then third cuts, it looked like their gamble was about to pay off.

Apple Fritter said to herself as she looked over, "Maybe they really were onto somethin'." Suddenly, however, Annan and Applejack's fears were realized, just as they began the fourth cut.

As the saw was halfway through the fourth cut, a deafening explosion occurred, blasting the five firefighters back several feet as flame engulfed them for a split second and then retreated, followed by screams of pain. The top of the silo was blown off, and flew a good hundred meters before coming to a rest in a cornfield nearby. The loud blast caused everyone in staging to recoil before they turned back around to a chaotic scene of firefighters walking around with various injuries, internal and external.

Applejack, Annan, and Apple Fritter all ran over to help, catching one of the Winsome Falls firefighters just as he was able to collapse to the ground. As they gently lowered him to the ground, they ripped his mask and air pack off to let him breathe fresh air before also beginning to strip him out of his turnout gear to check for injuries. The disoriented firefighter asked, "What? What did...?"

"Sir," Applejack told him. "There was an explosion. Y'all got knocked back a bit by it. Can ya hear me?"

"Yeah," he replied. Since he was wearing his full personal protective equipment ensemble, he only had several minor burns, as seen by the three of them when they examined his body for injuries. Once he was out of his gear, the three of them picked him up by their forehooves and carried him towards a waiting Winsome Falls Volunteer Rescue Squad ambulance.

As the two ponies on board Ambulance 20-41 rushed over, the driver asked, "What are the extent of his injuries?"

"Minor burns," Annan told him. "Looks like some pretty bad bruising all along his front. Could have been a lot worse without his gear." He then turned back around to the firefighter. "Sir, do you know what day it is?"

"It's a Saturday, right?"

The response was concerning, as it was a Monday. "Okay, how about this? What is your fire company's name?"

"Winsome Falls," he groggily replied as he felt his forehead with a hoof. "My head fucking hurts."

Apple Fritter said to the crew, "You guys need an Intermediate to get on?"

"Yeah," the EMT on board replied. "My driver's only a CFR, and I'm only a Basic."

"I'll get on then," Apple Fritter replied as she took her air pack off and jumped aboard the ambulance. "Captain, I'll call y'all when I'm all set at the hospital!"

"Got it," he replied as he, Applejack, and the two ambulance volunteers placed the injured firefighter onto a stretcher before loading him up on the back of the ambulance. Once he was loaded, Apple Fritter closed the back doors just as a sheriff deputy-medic hopped on from the side door carrying an ALS bag, having seen the earlier events nearby. As the ambulance then sped off, Annan and Applejack turned around to face the scene once more in shock.

"I knew that would happen," Applejack quietly said to herself. "I fuckin' knew it. Cuttin' into the side was a terrible idea." She then picked up Apple Fritter's air pack and put it on her back to carry it back to the rescue. As she climbed aboard the rear and put it and her own air pack back in the cab, she saw the scene before her and shook her head in disbelief, hoping inside that nobody got critically injured or worse, killed. As she walked out, she grabbed a box of medical gloves for her forehooves, getting ready to switch gears to EMS rather than firefighting or hazmat.

July 14, 2017

In the fields of Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack tallied up apple trees along a row by hoof, counting along with a tablet as she went along. While for years such tasks had been done by pencil and paper, the addition of technology was proving to make such tasks far easier than before. As she finished the row, she pressed an enter key on the screen and sighed. "It's so much easier now," she remarked to herself. Then, she heard a scream from nearby that made her drop the tablet on the grass in fright. "What the hell?!" She rushed away from the row, not caring about the tablet.

In the barn, Daisy Jo and another cow who was also a Friendship volunteer were standing outside as Applejack ran up to them. Daisy Jo directed Applejack in as the other cow had dialed 911 and was speaking to a dispatcher. "In here! In here! He got shocked by something! I disconnected the power to the equipment he was handling already!"

Inside, Applejack saw an Earth stallion, about in his mid 30s, that had worked for them for the past 7 years. He was not moving, and seemed to not be breathing as well. Applejack quickly began a primary assessment of his body, confirming that he was in full cardiac arrest. She also saw several electrical burns from where he had contacted exposed wires. "He's in full arrest! I'm beginnin' CPR!"

As Applejack began performing CPR, Big Mac ran to her and joined in, carrying a combination EKG Monitor/AED as they heard their pagers ring in their rucksacks. Applejack's pumping of his chest resulted in the sickening crunch of ribs breaking, a sign that she was pushing deep enough to reach his heart. Additionally, a small amount of vomit began to spill from his mouth, the result of his stomach being pushed down. After about 30 compressions, Big Mac shaved off two patches of hair on the stallion's chest with a razor in the AED kit and then attached the AED pads to the worker's chest. "It's analyzin' his heart rhythm." Then, the AED lit up. "Shock advised! Clear!" Applejack then held her forehooves up as Big Mac applied a shock, making the stallion's chest rise. Then, Big Mac said to her, "I got a better rhythm now. He ain't in v-fib anymore."

As Applejack began to check the worker's airway/breathing/circulation, Car 2-01 arrived on scene. Marble Mark jumped out and grabbed an EMS bag from the back of his car before running in. Daisy Jo told him, "They shocked 'em already! He's not in v-fib anymore!"

"Got it," he replied as he joined Applejack and Big Mac. The three then began to work tirelessly to save the worker's life as they heard Ambulance 2-41 call en route over the radio, hoping their efforts would not be in vain.