Writers Tricks of the Trade VOLUME 10 ISSUE 1 | Page 41

The aircrew decided to fly away but
radioed to another ground unit to park
nearby and watch for any suspicious
activity that might be coming from the
fire station roof.
It wasn't but a few minutes later that
water balloons were observed being
catapulted over the parapet of the
firehouse roof. Again Air-3 flew back over
the scene and once again saw that the
firefighters were standing and waving
innocently. They didn't know that they
had been caught in the act.
The firefighters had rigged-up some
surgical tubing and made a huge sling-
shot. For self-amusement, they assembled
water balloons and took them to the roof.
There they watched for police cars to stop
within a block or two of the station. At
that time, and hidden from view, they
commenced their airborne assault. Now
discovered by Air-3, the “air war” was on.
It was time for “payback,” LAPD vs. LAFD.
A few weeks later, it snowed on some
of the higher mountains surrounding Los
Angeles. The Air-3 crew decided it was
time for payback. Sneaking a small,
Styrofoam picnic cooler on board, the
crew of Air-3 flew up to the hills in the
northwest part of Devonshire Division;
W INTER 2020
landing on the helipad of an abandoned
Nike missile site where it had snowed.
The observer exited the ‘copter and
quickly packed several snowballs, placing
them in the cooler. Then Air-3 flew down
to the fire station hoping that the “fire
perps” would be outside. And, as luck
would have it, they were; washing and
polishing their beloved fire truck.
As Air-3 circled overhead, the pilot
and observer waved, only this time, they
were the ones with sheepish grins. When
the firefighters went back to their task of
cleaning, several snowballs came out of
the sky, sending the firefighters scurrying
for cover. As some snowballs pummeled
the fire truck, a few of the firefighters
waved back, only this time with one
finger. The pilot came on the PA and
yelled
down,
“For
the
Water
Balloons…SNOW HAPPENS”!
A few days later, a photograph was
received in the mail at Air Support's
heliport marked with "Attention to Air-3."
In it was a single picture without words. It
depicted an LA City fire helicopter
dropping its load of water … all 360
gallons. Thus, an undeclared truce was
immediately put into effect.
“This is what I call a target-rich
environment.”
P AGE 36
W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE T RADE