Steady Yellow

When ever I am asked to describe where the firehouse is, I always just say, "The blinking yellows on Georgia Avenue in Olney." This description never fails because there are many stop lights in Olney Maryland but only one set of blinking yellow lights. These lights are located in front of 16911 Georgia Avenue, Sandy Spring Volunteer Fire Department, Montgomery County Fire/Rescue Comp. 40.

While the yellow lights are blinking and traffic is whizzing by on Georgia, the firehouse blends in with the suburban scenery. It is a long brick building, spattered with windows and two wooden front doors, all located under a brown roof. Built into the far left of the building, there are three large, white garage bay doors.

It is not until the lights on Georgia Avenue turn from blinking yellow, to steady yellow, to red, that this building starts to stick out from its surrounding scenery. Traffic comes to a halt, movement can be scene inside of the building through the windows. One, two, and/or three of the large white garage bay doors opens from the ground to reveal men and women dressed in blue scurrying to get to their designated units. The red ambulance, ladder truck, and/or fire engine come to life with flashing, blinking, strobing, and spinning red and white lights as they pull out of the garage bay doors. As the units hit Georgia Avenue, the scream of the siren becomes audible and quickly trails off with the units as they disappear into the distance.

The large white garage bay doors close and the lights turn from red, to steady yellow, back to blinking yellow. Traffic begins to move and the firehouse becomes just another building that blends in with the surrounding suburban scenery.

Most of the time, all that the public can see of the firehouse is the plain exterior facade that is designed and colored to match and blend in with the surrounding area. Much like the firehouse, the people who work within it must also put up a plain exterior facade when they end their shift and return home to their families and loved ones. In both the firehouse and the personnel, the plain exterior facade that is constructed is not to keep out the public and/or loved ones but to protect them.