Page 18 of Single Mom for the Firemen

I slip into the suit and throw the tank onto my back. I hardly even notice the weight of it, especially with the adrenaline coursing through my system. I take off after the guys, with Mason leading the way to the east.

“What’s going on?” I ask Jake as I catch up to him.

“We got a call from a campsite,” he shoots back. “Down by the lake. It’s been dry, they started a fire, it spread to one of their tents.”

“Shit,” I mutter. First call-out like this of the summer. Not exactly my favorite, but if we get there in time, we should be able to get it under control.

Mason’s flashlight swings through the trees as he follows the map to the call-out site, and sure enough, there it is. As we round the final corner, the smell of scorched earth fills the air. A second later, the blaze of a tent rises in front of us.

My eyes dart back and forth as I assess the situation. Could be worse. The tent is on fire, but it’s far enough away from any other tents that it won’t catch unless the wind changes dramatically. There are four people here, but they all look like adults, and they’ve all put a decent amount of distance between themselves and the blaze. Good chance of getting everyone out of here in one piece, if we play our cards right…

“Killian!” Mason yells to me, pointing to the far edge. “Take the east side of the camp! I’ll cover west, Jake on north. You good to go?”

We both flash him a thumbs-up. He nods sharply, and we move into position.

I’m tasked with the side with two people cowering on it. I move toward them, stepping in front of what looks to be a pair of teenage sisters, both with the same long brown hair.

“Behind me!” I order them. “Don’t move past my line, okay?”

“O-okay!” the younger one stutters back, and the two of them drop behind me, putting as much distance between themselves and the fire as humanly possible.

I turn my attention to the spread. It’s not too bad, a path between the fire and the tent obvious. I move in to douse the fire, grabbing the hose nozzle and opening it to let the water from the tank gush out onto the flames. Jake has moved in beside me to deal with the tent, and Mason is taking the other two tourists out of the line of danger so we can get all the access we need.

Within a few minutes, the flames are doused—there’s not a flicker of orange or yellow in the smoldering black remains of the tent. Or at least, that’s what I think, until I hear Mason yelling out from behind me.

“Hey, hey!”

Next to him, I see a flash of flame emerging from a tree. Shit, I don’t know how it happened, but the fire managed to spread to a nearby branch and is burning up the trunk.

“My nozzle’s jammed. Come on, I need help!”

I check my tank—there’s still a little left. Not much, and I’ll have to be careful about how I use it when I move in, but I have to try. There’s no way in hell I’m going to run back to the cabin for a water top-up when this fire needs controlling…

I aim the nozzle carefully and unlock the water to let the stream flow. It’s an old-fashioned device, but it’s one that’s always worked for us and always been easy to maintain, even when we’re out here in the woods all year round. I’m practiced enough with it that I manage to take out the line of flames creeping up the tree, and a second later, the air is quiet again.

Mason is breathing hard, but he peers around quickly. “Anything else?”

“Nothing I can see,” Jake calls as he moves in beside me. “I just did a sweep of the perimeter. Looks like we’re under control.”

I can’t help but notice it. Sometimes, when Jake speaks like that—“sweep of the perimeter”—it’s like he’s still in the SEALs. I wonder if he even notices it anymore, or if he’s long-since forgotten a time when he didn’t think like a soldier.

“Good,” I reply, letting out a sigh. I turn to the tourists, all of whom look shaken, but otherwise unharmed.

“You guys feeling alright?” I ask, turning to gesture for them all to come closer. I know I’m the one best equipped for this part of the job—as Mason and Jake clear up the scene, I can speak to the people who were actually involved. Jake just tends to scare them by coming across as pissed, and Mason is too analytical. While they might have acted in some foolish way to start the fire, that doesn’t mean that they’re bad people or anything like that. No, they just need our support, especially when they’ve just been through such a huge shake-up.

“Yeah, yeah, we’re fine,” the little sister, who looks to be about fifteen, replies. “I…I think we just need to get out of here.”

“Yeah, I’m going to call my dad,” one of the guys cut in. “He’ll come pick us up.”

“You should stop by the hospital on your way back,” I tell them firmly. “Might not seem like much, but those cheap tents can be made of some noxious stuff—you should get checked out and make sure there’s nothing going on in your lungs or throat.”

“Cheap tents?” one of the girls asks, shooting a look toward the guys beside them. “I thought you said you went all-out on this trip?”

“I meant that—well, this place is so amazing…” one of the guys begins burbling back, and I have to stifle a laugh. I feel kind of bad for blowing these guys’ chances so badly, but at the same time…play stupid games, win stupid prizes. If they hadn’t been showing off to these girls by trying to play mountain man and start a fire, this wouldn’t have happened.

Once we’re sure the kids have their lift home arranged, we start back to the house, Jake leading the way. Mason hangs behind, and I stop to look over at him.

“Hey, you alright back there?”

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