Page 9 of Too Much Heat

“Trent?”

“Stay with the group.”

“Swanson?”

“Stay with the group.”

Just as they arrived at the scene, Truck 1 pulled in behind them. Joe jumped out of his shotgun seat and greeted the other officer who was a lieutenant. His own crew dismounted but stayed back; they took out their halligans and pikes.

“I’m handling Incident Command but give your opinion freely. Make it quick.”

Before he could answer, a woman came up to them. “I called the fire department. I’m Ava Jenkins, and my husband is inside.” He noticed her red eyes and shaky hands.

“We’ll find him man. What can you tell me about the basement?”

“George has an office on the left side of the cellar.”

“Anything else we should know?”

“He’s got a ton of electrical stuff down there. A couple of computers, printer, scanner and a radio.”

“I get the picture. Thanks for the info.”

He called his group to come forward. “Engine 1 will go in first, Truck 2 behind us. I want a line at the front door. Connors, get the ¾ hose. Use the fire plug on the road.”

“Yes sir.”

“Trent, you’re on the rig. Pull out the 1½ in hose. Pike, make sure everything’s a go with that line and lead us in. Connors, take your hose in ahead of the truck guys and search the house, even though the wife reported that no one else was home.” In life and death situations, Joe learned never to take anything for granted. “Swanson, you’re behind me.”

“Yes, Captain.”

They put on their masks and entered the building. It was full of the eerie smoke and they had only partial vision. Despite their gear, they could feel the intense heat. Luckily, the door to the basement was off to the left. Pike went first then Joe. They took a few steps down. “There’s a railing, Swanson, so hold onto it. For god’s sake, don’t fall.”

They traversed the steps slowly. At the bottom of them, they found the owner of the house slumped over.

“Deluca, get him out of here. I think this place is unstable, at best.”

“Yes, Cap.”

Joe said into his radio, “We need another engine at this scene. The basement’s an inferno. It’s sure to go into the first floor.” To Swanson and Pike, he said, “We need to get to the computers and put out this fire.”

“I think I see a high window off to the left.”

“Yeah, Pike. I see it too. We’ll use it to vent.”

The smoke turned darker and Joe could barely see in front of his face. “We’re here,” Joe said into his radio. “Pike, hit it.”

“I need water,” Pike said into his radio just as an explosion rocked the building. More flames shot out from the origin.

Pike lost control of the hose.

Swanson and Joe were rocked back.

A burning timber hit Romano and he went down.

Swanson’s helmet flew off and she was knocked to the floor. Her unprotected head struck the concrete hard.

Pike found the hose and let it loose on the fire. Then he saw Romano and transferred the stream to him.

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