It started as a pretty much normal Disaster Action Team run. The scanner reported a house on fire, and we were on our way.  We happened to be only a mile or so from the fire, so we got there as the firefighters were still battling the blaze which seemed to be contained to the attached garage. 

The homeowner was there and we immediately got him a hat and some gloves.  As we were watching the firefighting operation, he told us his story.  He took a break from working in his workshop in the garage, which was heated by a wood-burning stove, to fix lunch. After he popped the pizza in the oven and did a few other in-the-house chores he went back to the shop to find it filled with smoke. He got the neighbor to call the fire department - they arrived, and we arrived minutes later.

A not-so-unusual story until, about 15 minutes later, he went "OH!" and ran to one of the firefighters and spoke to him for a few seconds.  The firefighter immediately went into the house.  The homeowner came back and said, "I forgot that the pizza was still in the oven... I didn't want ANOTHER fire, this time in the house!" Shortly, the firefighter who went into the house returned delivering the pizza to the homeowner! Do we have great fire service in St. Louis or what?

Dan Stokes is a Disaster Action Team volunteer for the St. Louis Area Chapter.