by K. C. Crowne
He chuckled. “Life isn't all work, you know. Maybe you should visit your sister.”
“Which one? The one who seems to want nothing to do with me, or the other who's currently too busy with her own little harem?”
That crack made Austin pause. It did most people. He looked at me, an inscrutable expression on his face.
“What was that?” he asked me.
“Yeah, Mallory is dating like four guys at once,” I said with a sly smile. “All of them are okay with it, I guess.”
“That's – well, that's something, I guess,” Austin chuckled, rubbing his chin as he seemed to ponder the concept. “So they're like poly, or something? I'm not exactly sure what they call it.”
“I guess? I don't really know,” I said, shrugging.
Truthfully, I knew more than I was letting on. It was just weird to talk about with my boss, especially since I had a crush on him. The concept of a poly-type relationship wasn't all that weird to me overall, and Mallory seemed happy, so I was happy for her. They made it work somehow. It just meant less time for me, and I guess that left me feeling a bit lonely. Other than that though, I was happy that she seemed content.
“Hey, as long as they're all in agreement , I see no harm in it,” Austin said, as he shot me a sideways glance. “Not like we get much time to date in our line of work.”
“Tell me about it,” I mumbled. “I can't remember the last time I was out on a date.”
“Maybe –” Austin stopped before he could finish his sentence.
My ears perked up when he cut himself off. I wanted to know what he was about to say, but before I could ask, the alarms in the house went off. A moment later, Luke popped his head into the bunkroom.
“We've got a call. House fire on Hartford and Milton,” Luke said.
Both Austin and I were up and out of the bed before he finished his sentence. Mission Bay. The homes were close together, there were lots of people, and it had the potential for things to get out of hand pretty quickly. It was not too far from the University of San Diego, and it was almost always crowded. House fires in places like that could be tricky.
In that moment though, nothing else mattered. We'd figure it all out once we got there. That's just what we did. We needed to get to the house, and any and all thoughts about Jacklyn returning my calls, or Mallory being too busy for me would have to wait. Any feelings I had for Austin, well, they had to be pushed aside too, because I was all about the job as we climbed aboard the fire truck and Luke hit the sirens. I couldn't afford to have any other distractions in my head, so I learned to compartmentalize really well early on.
My heart raced. Two fires in one day. My body still ached from the last one, and I'd been tired before that. However, as we raced through the streets of San Diego, adrenaline pumped its way through my veins. I was ready to go, ready to do my job. I glanced over at Owen who was still pouting, not looking at any of us, and prayed that he would be ready too. He was lucky Austin hadn't fired him on the spot.
He was still new, so he was being given the benefit of the doubt but wouldn't be assigned to anything that could put others at risk until he proved himself. I still wasn't sure I trusted him while out at the scene of a fire, but Austin had him come along anyway. I guess to prove that he could follow orders.
“You good?” I asked Owen.
“Yeah,” he said.
“You sure? If you need to sit this one out, I'm sure –”
“I said I'm good,” he said, pinching his brows closer together as he glared at me. “Stay out of it, Sarah. This is between Austin and me.”
“Fine,” I said. “But remember, it's not just your life on the line out there. You need to keep your head in the game and your shit straight. You got it?”
Owen didn't answer. He went back to staring outside at the city flashing by us. Scowling. When he first joined our team, we’d gotten along great. In fact, I was one of few people that gave the new kid the benefit of the doubt from the start. Sure, he came from money and no one understood why he would give up his wealthy lifestyle in order to work such a grueling job. But as a woman, I faced those same types of questions and doubts. That meant I could relate to him in ways the others couldn't.
Wasn't there something else, some other job that wasn't so taxing I'd rather be doing? The answer was always no. Firefighting wasn’t just a job to me, it was my calling. It was the thing that motivated me to get out of bed on holidays, to work twenty-four-hour shifts, to miss family dinners. I loved it. Period.
I knew it was in Owen's heart too, but his reasons were a little less clear. He rarely opened up to any of us about his family life, or why he wanted to be a firefighter. I often wondered, but it wasn't my place to ask. I figured if he wanted to tell me, he would. He just wasn't the open book type, so I kept my mouth shut, and for the most part, tried my best to help the kid out. Besides him, I was one of the newest team members, and knew what it was like to have to prove yourself in the eyes of the veterans.
Except I knew how to take orders. Owen quite obviously didn't.
Part of me wanted to help the guy, to figure out what was holding him back. Help him figure out how to acclimate and adjust better. Teach him how to be a part of the team, rather than the guy standing on the outside of it. His clenched jaw and narrowed eyes told me he didn't want my help though. He apparently thought he had it all figured out and didn't need anyone else’s input.
So I turned my attention to Luke and Wes, as they went through the details of the fire.
“It's a vacation home. No one is currently staying there, thankfully,” Luke said. “It's empty until Christmas Eve..”
“What is it with all these empty buildings catching fire today?” Wes said. “Do you think this is arson too?”
“Perhaps,” Luke said. “It's definitely something we should look into. Not sure if they're connected to the wildfires in any way, or not, but we can't rule anything out at this point. Just be careful, look for any signs of tampering. The last one looked to like an electrical fire, but it could have been set up to look that way. It's easy to do that in older buildings. This is a newer home, built within the last two decades or so, which means the wiring should be fairly up to code, and any tampering should be easy to spot.”
He rattled off more facts as we got closer to the fire. The smoke was thick in the air. I could smell it and could see it all the way down the street. When it finally came into view, my heart stopped.
“Jesus, that's a big one,” I said.
“Most of the houses have been evacuated already but be on the lookout for anyone still inside. Use your TICs to look for people trapped.”
Hopefully we wouldn't need to use them. Hopefully we'd gotten there in time, before the fire spread too far, or got out of control. I wasn't a very religious person, but even I was praying a bit, as we pulled onto Hartford street and saw the flames rising higher and higher into the sky.
Austin
Wes walked ahead of us, already geared up and ready to go. As he always was. Wes was always all business when it came to work. Same with Luke. It was something I appreciated about the pair of them – and Sarah too. She surprised me a lot, to be honest. I didn't think she was going to cut it at first, but she has really opened my eyes, and impressed the hell out of me.
Sarah slipped her mask and breathing apparatus on like a seasoned pro. It was hard to believe that petite little redhead was as fierce as any guy I'd ever worked with and could hold her own against any of them. She might be small, but she could stand toe to toe with anybody, and took no shit. She'd come a long way in the two years she'd worked underneath me.
They bounded up the steps that led to the door, and into the structure first. Wes kicked open the front door, which cracked and popped on the hinges as if it was ready to go. They disappeared into the interior of the building to scout the fire, as well as check the rooms, searching for anybody who might need help inside. The place was supposed to be empty, but then, so was that warehouse earlier too,
and that ended up not being the case. That was thanks to Owen, but I still didn't want to take any chances. Our job was to preserve life.
As usual, Luke and I handled the hose, and I was in charge of the nozzle. I didn't really need Owen's help with the hose, but I wanted him to stay by me because I felt like I needed to keep an eye on him. I hated having to play babysitter, but I didn't see that I had much choice in the matter. He did exactly as I said this time around though, so that was a start.
The radio crackled to life in our headsets. It was Wes.
“Fire seems concentrated in the kitchen, to your right when you enter,” he said. “Sarah and I are heading down the hall to make sure there's no one in here.”
As soon as we stepped inside the burning home, the thick clouds of smoke made it impossible to see. I looked to the right, and quickly checked my thermal cam. Wes had been right, the fire seemed concentrated in the kitchen area. At least, it was for the moment. That could always change in a heartbeat. But for now, the kitchen and part of the dining area registered as one, big heat signature, on the thermal cam.
“Okay, Luke, you ready?” I shouted to be heard.
“Ready,” he called back.
We moved the cumbersome hose through the house. Luke was a few feet behind me, and Owen, a few yards behind that, making sure the hose didn't kink or get snagged on anything. Yeah, it was about as glamorous as crowd control, but at least he was in the house with us this time.
The smoke got thicker and darker the closer to the kitchen we got. Yeah, there was no doubt about the point of origin for this blaze. Sweat rolled down my face, and I could feel it sliding down my body beneath my suit. The flames danced all around us, lighting the smoke with an orange and red glow from within.
The sound of the blaze as it ate everything in its path was loud. Growling. This fire wasn't the biggest, but it sure as hell was hungry, and was devouring everything it touched. Beside us, a dining room table burned, its legs and top engulfed in flames.
I pulled up short and motioned for Luke to stop. It wasn't necessary, but it was habit. We'd worked together so long that Luke could read me like a book. He anticipated my every move during a fire and was always ready to act at a moment's notice.
“Okay, let's open it up,” I called.
“Ready,” Luke said.
We stood just outside the doorway of the kitchen. I wanted to get the hose going before we went in. Wanted to knock down some of the flames before we had to go into the small, enclosed space. From where I stood, I could see flames slithering up the walls, licking at the ceiling. I held us back out for the moment, to get some water in, and hopefully extinguish some of the flames. The last thing I wanted was to go barreling in, and have the ceiling cave in on us, burying us beneath the flaming rubble.
“Hold on tight, Owen,” I called. “We're opening her up.”
Turning the valve on the nozzle, I braced myself for the sheer power of the blast of water that came roaring out. Even after all the years I'd been on the job, that first jolt of the hose coming to life never failed to take me by surprise.
I gripped the hose tightly, and held on to the handle, guiding the blast of water toward the flames on the far side of the kitchen. I snuck a quick glance back, and saw Luke handling his portion of the hose, helping keep it from flying around wildly. Owen was a big, strong kid, but I could see him struggling to maintain his grip and balance. He was a physical specimen and had managed to pass all of the tests with flying colors, but he was seeing there was a world of difference between testing in a controlled environment, and actually battling a fire amidst all the chaos.
It was fine though. Luke and I had been at it for so long that we were well practiced, and well versed. Each of us knew how the other thought, moved, and were able to anticipate each other's actions. The two of us could man the hose well enough on our own and didn't need Owen. But I wanted him to see just how chaotic it was inside a burning structure, and really show him the importance of teamwork.
The flames on the far wall started to flicker out beneath the steady, constant stream of the hose. With the fire starting to gutter out, I took a step across the threshold, and guided my team into the kitchen. I flinched to the left, as a burst of flame shot out at me from the right side. The heat and smoke were intense inside the kitchen, and I knew if we didn't get the fire knocked down soon, that ceiling over our heads might come crashing down.
Turning to the right, Luke moving in perfect rhythm with me, I turned to spray of water onto the flames that slithered up the walls and crawled across the ceiling. Watching the flames sway and undulate, it was easy to believe that the fire was a sentient, albeit evil, living creature. It lashed out at us as we hit it with the water, thick tendrils of flame snaking out, and shot toward us – falling short of us, thankfully. But still, seeing that sort of reaction from fire as we started to kill it – something I'd seen a thousand times before – made it easy to believe that the fire was a living, breathing creature that was defending itself against us.
“Opening it up,” I called out, not wanting to catch Luke off guard by the increase in pressure.
“Roger that,” Luke said.
I opened the valve a little more, releasing an even stronger stream. The fire hissed and growled as the water started to have an effect. It sounded like a wounded, dying animal in my ears, as the flames started to flicker out.
“We've got the upper hand,” Luke shouted.
The walls were dark, charred, and in a couple of places, the power of the hose had punched through the drywall. Water dripped from everything and pooled on the floor in an inch-deep flood that flowed over the toes our boots. We waded in even further, the color of the smoke starting to lighten, and the flames started to lose their intensity.
We hit the fire hard, giving it everything we had, and eventually, it flickered out entirely. The roaring stopped, the flames were out, and the only thing to be heard was the sound of water loudly dripping off of – well – everything.
I closed down the valve, cutting off the water entirely. It was over. I cast a look back at Luck and nodded – we'd slayed the beast. For now. Eventually, it would rear its ugly head again.
But for now, we could celebrate in the fact that this was over. We'd won another round, and it felt great.
“Well done, everybody,’ I said, leaning against the truck.
Sweat poured down my face, starting on my forehead and rolling down my cheeks. I wiped it away with a rag, trying to cool down a bit. It had been so hot and intense inside that house, my fire gear felt like it had melted to my skin. It had been a hot one.
Despite the fire being mostly confined to the kitchen, the building was more or less destroyed. The structural integrity of the house was no longer sound. It was going to be a total loss for the owners. The inspectors were already roping it off and fixing to red tag it.
Whoever owned the home was going to be in for a nasty surprise, and I prayed they had home owner's insurance. Considering the fact that it was a vacation rental, I assumed they did – people with the kind of money that allowed them to have a vacation home usually tried to protect those investments with insurance.
But, knowing they'd be able to rebuild it, didn't make it any easier for me to see such a nice home completely gutted and destroyed. One of the hardest parts of my job was seeing the destruction of people's homes. I hated that everything inside of those homes that meant something to them was lost. Gone forever.
At least no one was there this time. Being so close to Christmas,things could have been very bad for the family. They might have lost everything - their kid's Christmas's ruined, their home destroyed, and potentially even lost their lives. As much as I hated to see the house destroyed, I was thankful it all happened before Christmas Eve, when the place was to be occupied again.
Wes was following protocol and was surveying the property with Sarah, making sure there were no longer any smaller fires, hotspots, or anything we might have missed. He was staying outside o
f the building as much as possible, for safety's sake. Owen stood beside me, his blonde hair clinging to his face, wearing a pinched expression. Luke handed him a bottle of water.
“It's not cold, but it'll do,” Luke said.
Owen powered most of it down without a word, before handing it over to me.
Wes stopped outside the garage, and I watched as him and Sarah discussed something, but couldn't make out the words. There was a look of worry etched across his face, and then that same expression crossed Sarah's. I handed the water bottle back to Owen and pushed myself away from the truck.
“What is it?” Luke said.
“I don't know,” I said. “I think Wes sees something. Be ready.”
Owen asked, “Be ready for what?”
I didn't stick around to answer him, letting Luke handle that. I walked toward Wes and Sarah, fearing the worst, but I didn't make it in time. Wes pushed past the police tape and bolted into the house.
“Wes!” I called out to him, quickening my pace.
Sarah turned and looked at me, then turned back to Wes. She, too, pushed past the police tape and entered the house. Neither one told me what was going on, or why they were re-entering the condemned building and putting their very lives at risk. I had no idea what they'd seen – or thought they'd seen – that had caused them to do what they did.
The garage had mostly been untouched by the fire itself, but the upper floors were definitely unstable. I hurried up onto the porch, calling for both Sarah and Wes to answer me.
“Get your asses out of the house,” I demanded. “That thing may come down on your heads. Get out here, now!”
Owen and Luke were standing behind me, their gear in hand, ready to go just in case. We reached the police tape just as Wes reappeared, stepping onto the porch with a blanket in his arms, a strange, inscrutable look on his face.
