There were two winning bidders for the Station 30 experience and one of them must have been listening to Chief Stubbs when he told real cadets at their swearing in ceremony to be on time for their first day on the job. John Zangerle arrived well before roll call on a day that turned into one of this stations busiest in weeks.

It wasn’t even 8;00 and the engine was out on its first run to a motor vehicle accident (MVA). John Zangerle was aboard the engine for this run but his fellow rookie, Larry Gogolick, arrived late for his shift, missing the MVA. He got to the fire house at about 8:10. Larry must have made a deal with the Battalion Chief that morning because he wasn’t written up and, what’s more, he was able to hitch a ride with the BC.

Apparently the old maxim is true, the early bird gets the works, because even before roll call could be taken, Engine 30 and our cadets went on 3 calls including a fire on East 110 and Superior.

So our paying cadets haven’t even been to roll call and they’ve been on their first run and seen their first fire, but only from a distance.  As it turned out, when they arrived at the station one of them had bunkers that didn’t fit, and the other had forgotten to bring his gear all together. Now that’s a rookie mistake!

Well, after a little ribbing our rookies got their stuff and their acts together. Thirteen runs later, including a one just after midnight, and a cold nights sleep in the fire station, Larry and John each confessed to having the time of their lives.

I suppose it might have been different if they had been reprimanded for their poor starts.

A very special thank you to Larry Gogolick for his wonderful photographs chronicling his and John’s day at Station 30. And an even bigger thank you to the Cleveland Fire Department, Battalion 6 and Station 30.