I am One of Those He Released onto the Planet

My mom sent me a message a few days ago...  I've reminded Mike several times to write or send you some reminders for stories. Guess you'll have to write one yourself about him, naming him or something dumb about him, or even better, embarrassing. Hummmm, well we won't do embarrassing or dumb because I know he has far more material on me then I have about him...

Stories about Captain Mike Melton.  I have found it strange looking back into my way back memory bank thinking about Mike.  I don't remember him having a nickname posted on the back of his helmet, like so many of us did.  It simply stated MELTON on the brim of his helmet.  Though I have seen those bold letters badly melted with drips of hot tar splattered across them many times after fighting the big one together.  I recall a Burn to Learn he was instructing, where he got her burning inside with a little bit too much zest and stumbled out of the blaze with his white helmet melted and his turn-out coat missing a couple layers of protection on it.  He sort of runs out of the training structure with his shoulders still smoldering and in a matter of fact voice yells back to the new recruits waiting to enter with thier hose line "Well go put that Som-bitch out".  Mike always lead the most realistic fire trainings.

If I were tasked with picking one individual person that most influenced the way I have fought fire aggressively all these years it would have to be Mike.  Mike was the firefighter on the hose line with me on my first structure fire.  To this very day, every time I fight a house fire I can still feel his fingers latched onto the back of my turn-out coat and his forearm pressing into the middle of my shoulders.  Yelling to me over my shoulder "Go Get Her Blaze, pointing, Knock that Down Over There, Damn-it don't let it get behind you, GO, GO, GO.  I don't know if I have to this day ever fought another fire that was hotter.  I literally had to put the flames out directly in front and swooshing around me or parish from the blistering heat he was pushing me into that night.  It was so translucently hot that you could literally look through the heat seeing the chain saw and tools sitting on the back work bench, spying the cans of gas stored precariously under the bench.  And Hell No we weren't wearing any B.A's, we were just going for it, or at least Mike was, I was just trying to stay alive.



I know I have fought many dozens of fires with Mike circling around outside the building but I don't remember actually fighting too many with him beside me.  Mike was our leader, he was on the perimeter directing the whole gang.  I was simply one of his firefighters inside dealing destruction to the beast.  Mike was the "spear chuck-er" and I was the tip of one of his spears.  Where he threw me is where I went and I didn't come back out till we got the job done.


Mike writes to my mom... "Having been that cocky kid gives me great insight as I've raised many more over the years and set them loose on the planet. Looking forward to catching up with Billy Blaze at our reunion this year."  To which I reply, Amen!