What Does A Firefighter Wear Under His Bunker Gear?

Ahhhh… I remember the adventurous nights working the shift at # 6 station with Bob Carroll. Picture this scenario. It’s around 3:45 AM on a summer night as the tones come in and the bedroom lights blind you as you get dressed. I climbed into the cab of Rescue Six and I wait for Bob, my officer, to climb on board. Numerous thoughts run through my mind. Where exactly is the fire? What is the best and fastest route to get there? How do I look? (Dennis Axford taught me that question).The apparatus doors open and we’re on our way to fight fires and save lives. It’s what we do. (I always wanted to use that line).

So, Tecumseh road is so empty that you could fire a cannon ball down the center line and not hit a thing.

Now this is where it starts to get strange. Bob looks at me and says, “Hey, guess what?”; so I reply, “I don’t know; what?”. Bob winks at me and makes a bold statement by stating, ”I’m naked under my bunker gear”. Then he breaks into a rather long belly laugh at my expense. I moved a little closer to my door during the run. It was a good thing that Tecumseh road was clear. It was when we returned to the station that I began to have visuals of his statement. I didn’t sleep well after that