A Shibari Fireman

I never thought of “coming out” as a bondage enthusiast. I mean, I’m 44 and I’m the chief of a firemen unit. Besides that, I’m a father of three, a devoted husband, and a decorated veteran. In a word, I might be the most respectable person in our little town. Likewise, when I started practicing bondage, people weren’t as open-minded about kink as they are now. So, I just never thought about telling people: “Hi, I’m Chief Halloran and I like tying my wife with ropes”. That’s why when I accidentally came out as a Shibari fireman, it was quite uncomfortable at first.

We were at a fire. Not the “the kitchen curtains are burning” kind of fire, I mean, a bad fire. The kind of things that can cause a tragedy. We had a chance of stopping it, but the sudden cooling would certainly collapse the building’s structure. And we couldn’t do that because there were two people still inside: a woman and her daughter. 

Nigel saved the child. He just jumped into the fire, without caring for his own safety. As for the woman, she was a large person, and two of us had already tried unsuccessfully to drag her out of that damned building. 

We were running out of time, so I took a fireproof rope that we have, which is about 10m long, and I jumped into the lower floor where the woman was. I had promised her daughter that I would save her. And if I failed, we would both be devoured by the flames.

I improvised a sort of Hishi Karada, that is, a rope dress, around her. And it proved strong enough for the boys to lift her up. I walked out of the fire by myself. Now, once we were safe, someone recognized the patterns. In less than 5 minutes, the whole team knew the basics of bondage.

That makes me feel embarrassed from time to time. But it’s better than letting someone die just because you don’t want your coworkers to know you’re kink. That’s how I became a Shibari fireman.

This is my Shibari story.