STAKEOUT
Ahh, here's one more ... from 1980 ...,
I got a call from the dispatcher around 9:30 one evening; a warehouse in a
neighborhood was having problems with an explosive chemical that was chemically reacting when it shouldn't have. It was supposed to be stored in cold storage, but the idiots in the shipping company decided the dock of their warehouse in 100-plus degree weather would be just fine. It overheated, of course, and explosion was imminent.
The police called a disaster alert; evacuated nearly one square mile of the neighborhood and fire crews set in to watch and wait while a bomb squad unit was called in (nearest one was 150 miles away, in Corpus Christi). I was up all night on that one, well into the next morning, on stakeout with the fire and police crews. Ended well, luckily; they were able to figure out a way to secure the chemical drums and transport them out.
Funny things still happen in the middle of a crisis, though. One green police rookie was near the location where I was covering the event. When the bomb squad got there, everyone started moving fast, getting last-minute preps done and getting all non-essential personnel out of the area in case it blew. This rookie was detailed to stay at a nearby intersection so no one could try to sneak down the roadway back on to the scene. The poor kid was totally clueless. He had no idea what was going on, only that there was a "little explosives that the bomb squad was going to take care of" (the explosives in question were in an amount powerful enough to blow up one entire city block to a depth of twenty feet, should they all go off at once ... I regret I didn't write down exactly what the chemicals were, but I may be able to find out if I can ever get my videotapes uncovered.).
We're like, two blocks away from the warehouse in question.
So, little boy blue got into his patrol car and cranked it up, then quickly whipped it around and turned the nose facing away from the warehouse. He got out of the car and left the motor running. Some firefighters and I were just standing there, watching all the action from this guy, with these silly smiles pasted on our faces. Finally, I couldn't stand it, no one else wanted to ask, so I did ....
"Just exactly what are you doing…?" The cop looked at me like I'd lost my mind (which was almost not debatable considering where I was at that moment, LOL!)
He says "I'm getting the car ready to go, of course!! If that thing blows, I'm outta here!"
We all started laughing! The cop's now looking at all of us like he'd like to take us ALL into protective mental custody. One of the firefighters finally stopped laughing long enough to tell the guy "if that warehouse blows, you're not going to be able to get into the squad car; the explosion alone will shove that car right up your ass and you'll both get blown into the next county before you can blink!!"
The cop was not amused.
Laredo, Texas, USA
Patty Waits Beasley (Doc)
I got a call from the dispatcher around 9:30 one evening; a warehouse in a neighborhood was having problems with an explosive chemical that was chemically reacting when it shouldn't have. It was supposed to be stored in cold storage, but the idiots in the shipping company decided the dock of their warehouse in 100-plus degree weather would be just fine. It overheated, of course, and explosion was imminent.
The police called a disaster alert; evacuated nearly one square mile of the neighborhood and fire crews set in to watch and wait while a bomb squad unit was called in (nearest one was 150 miles away, in Corpus Christi). I was up all night on that one, well into the next morning, on stakeout with the fire and police crews. Ended well, luckily; they were able to figure out a way to secure the chemical drums and transport them out.
Funny things still happen in the middle of a crisis, though. One green police rookie was near the location where I was covering the event. When the bomb squad got there, everyone started moving fast, getting last-minute preps done and getting all non-essential personnel out of the area in case it blew. This rookie was detailed to stay at a nearby intersection so no one could try to sneak down the roadway back on to the scene. The poor kid was totally clueless. He had no idea what was going on, only that there was a "little explosives that the bomb squad was going to take care of" (the explosives in question were in an amount powerful enough to blow up one entire city block to a depth of twenty feet, should they all go off at once ... I regret I didn't write down exactly what the chemicals were, but I may be able to find out if I can ever get my videotapes uncovered.).
We're like, two blocks away from the warehouse in question.
So, little boy blue got into his patrol car and cranked it up, then quickly whipped it around and turned the nose facing away from the warehouse. He got out of the car and left the motor running. Some firefighters and I were just standing there, watching all the action from this guy, with these silly smiles pasted on our faces. Finally, I couldn't stand it, no one else wanted to ask, so I did ....
"Just exactly what are you doing…?" The cop looked at me like I'd lost my mind (which was almost not debatable considering where I was at that moment, LOL!)Patty Waits Beasley (Doc)
