Page 7 of From the Flames
“I’ll be okay. This is one of the hardest parts of the job. Sometimes you make it in time, but sometimes….” His voice trailed off. “The worst part is when you lose a child.”
“Is that what happened?”
“This time it was the grandmother. She was bedridden. The family tried to get her out, but they couldn’t.” He lowered his head, and Willy stood and hugged him. Kevin wound his arms around Willy’s waist and hugged him back. They stood at the kitchen table without saying a word, simply holding one another.
“You did everything you could,” Willy said softly before inhaling. Kevin smelled like smoke, but there was something earthy and rich underneath that he wanted more of.
Kevin turned around. “How do you know? Howcouldyou know?”
“Because of what you did for me… and the kids. I have no doubt that if there was any way to reach this person, you would have found it.” He backed away and got the plate he’d put together out of the refrigerator. He put it in the microwave to heat before getting Kevin a beer and setting a place for him. Once the food was ready, he set the plate in front of him and then sat down.
“In my head, I know this can happen, but when it actually does….” Kevin sighed, and Willy sat with him while he ate. Once he was done, he took the plate to the sink and brought over a plastic container, opened it, and set it on the table.
“The kids wanted to make you cookies since you had to work.” Willy took out one of the misshapen chocolate chip cookies and handed it to Kevin. “Grant was the one to put them on the tray.” They were all over the place, but they tasted good.
“Thank you.” He sat back and ate the cookie before taking another one. “The call I got wasn’t because of the fire. Thecaptain wanted me to meet one of the other guys at your old building.”
“Do they know what caused the fire?”
“We believe it started in one of the lower unit kitchens. Probably electrical. But that’s only part of the problem. From what we can piece together, the fire spread from one unit to the other in minutes. It was less than fifteen before the entire building was engulfed. That’s way too fast, and we need to know why.”
“Everyone got out, though,” Willy said, a little confused.
“Yes, and that was a miracle, since some of the smoke alarms don’t appear to have been working. Yours weren’t, were they? You told me you woke because of the smoke, not from an alarm.”
He was shocked. It hadn’t even occurred to him. “You’re right. The kids were asleep, and they would have been awake if a smoke alarm had gone off. So you think something was wrong?”
“We’re not sure yet. But we’re going to have to check the other buildings in the complex to see if they have any issues. The fire marshal’s office has the right to inspect locations like this, especially after a fire, so that isn’t the issue. We just have to go through proper channels.”
“The walls in that place were always so thin. I had to be careful how loudly I watched the TV at night for fear I’d wake the kids, and they were in another room with the door closed. I swear it was like the walls weren’t there. And I can’t tell you how many times the people in one of the other units burned their dinner and we could smell it.”
“That shouldn’t happen. The units should each be vented separately. What else can you tell me about that place?”
“Like what?”
“It was built fifteen years ago. Did it have GFI outlets?”
“Yeah, but they didn’t do anything.”
“Could you hear your neighbors?” Kevin asked.
Willy scoffed. “All the time. Especially the people below us if they watched television loudly. One of the units had a Christmas party, and I couldn’t put the kids to bed until nearly midnight because it was too loud and they refused to sleep. I mean, I know that places like that are built quickly, but….”
Kevin looked up from where he’d been making notes. “None of that should happen. I’m going to need to go to the borough office and pull the plans for that building, see how it was built, because that shouldn’t be.” He set his notes aside. “Are you familiar with that sort of thing?”
“Not really. But if someone explains what we’re looking at, I should be able to tell if it was there or not. At least some things.” He would be happy to try to help. “I suppose a lot of the evidence burned up in the fire.”
“Yeah, it would have, especially with how hot and fast the building went up. From what I saw today in the few minutes I was there, the basement is filled with debris, ash, and charred wood. The entire contents of the building are now a giant heap, with most of the interior walls and floors gone. I’m surprised that the side walls are still standing. Though if we get a wind storm, they could collapse.”
“I suppose that’s why you aren’t digging through what’s left.” Willy put the cookies away. “It makes sense, for safety’s sake.” He cleared away the rest of the dishes and put them in the dishwasher. “Why don’t you go on upstairs and take a shower? The kids are asleep, so be quiet. I would have closed their doors, but each of them has a dog in bed with them.”
“You can call them out if you feel you need to.”
Willy shook his head. “April has her bear in one arm and the other on Benjamin, and he’s curled between her and the edge of the bed. Elsa is with Grant. I think the dogs soothe them, and right now, I’m grateful for anything that makes them happy.” Hewasn’t sure what he was going to do when they were in their new apartment; he’d just have to take things one day at a time. “Last night, Thumper here spent part of the time with me. It was nice knowing I wasn’t alone.” He left the room, needing a few seconds to himself to get his feelings under control. They were too close to the surface, and Kevin did not need to see that. He turned on the television and tried not to pay attention, and Kevin went upstairs.
When Kevin returned, he sat on the sofa near him. “I know this has been hard for you, but I get the feeling there’s more going on than you’re talking about. It’s like you’re going through the motions, but that’s all.”
“What else am I supposed to do? I’m not keeping secrets. But I keep thinking how close we all came to dying. I tried to get the kids out of that building, but what if I had been a little later, or if you hadn’t been there to get us? A few more minutes and all that fire would have come down on us.” His little family would have been gone.
