Page 15 of Fire Fight

Nothing could ever prepare you for that first blast of a fire. A lot like when you opened a heated oven and all that hot air smacked you right in the face—only times a thousand. Every time, I had to remind myself to take slow, normal breaths, to not gulp in air like I was desperate for it. As long as the bottle strapped to my back didn’t empty before I could exit the building, I was fine.

“The worst of the fire is that way!” I shouted, pointingtoward our left, where the narrow hallway we were in opened onto the garage floor. “Hit this stretch and give us some room!”

“You got it, Cap!”

Davis shifted, aiming the hose where I indicated, and Tuck and I shuffled forward through the opening he created in the wall of flame. As soon as we were through, he’d fall back and contain the blaze from outside until we needed to get out.

“You smell that?” Tuck asked, remaining glued to my six as was protocol.

I spared him a quick glance over my shoulder.

“Gas. Diesel if I had to guess.”

Tuck nodded, but it wasn’t a guess. The smell of diesel fuel—there was nothing like it.

“Could be lingering from the shop.”

I shot him a look that told him we both knew that was wishful thinking. For starters, the odor was far too strong. And secondly…

I pointed at the floor, the concrete which had once been polished to a high shine that was now sooty and marred by dark scorch marks.

Obvious signs of an accelerant being used, and Tuck and I both knew the former owners of the shop hadn’t done that.

Thankfully, the floor wasn’t burning, the fuel seeming to have burned off, but even through the smoke clouding my vision, the scorch marks ran down the hall in a mostly straight line before veering sharply to the left through an open doorway.

At least that solved the mystery ofhowthe fire had started.

Unfortunately, after burning off the diesel on the floor, the fire had climbed the walls, searching for more fuel, and grown tall enough to get into the roof. Eventually, it spread into the trusses and down to the insulation. The temperature had risen high enough to put major thermal stress on the windows, thus blowing them out.

“Follow the Yellow Brick Road!” Tuck urged, nodding at the blackened path.

Staying low, we inched along until reception opened at our left, the offices beyond that. Straight ahead was the garage floor.

We continued past the walled-off admin area until the garage opened up. In front of us were the two bays they’d use for larger industrial machinery when the county depot was backed up, and to the right were the smaller ones for personal vehicle maintenance.

I opened my mouth to give an order, but Tuck cut me off. “Don’t you dare.”

Chuckling, I did it anyway, pointing at the door in the far right corner. We watched as it popped open, the other two members of our crew appearing in the frame.

“Grab them and clear this area. It’ll be faster with the three of you. Then I want you to send them out and around the front before coming back for me.”

“And you’re heading in there, aren’t you?” he asked, jerking his head at the offices.

“Gotta clear it,” I shrugged. As their captain, as the one responsible for their lives, I’d rather be the one to do it than force any of them to risk it.

Tuck held his fist out, and I bumped it with mine. “Be safe.”

I gave him a mock salute. “Always am.”

Three offices branched off the main area. Reception itself held nothing but an abandoned desk that was lit up like a Christmas tree. After checking beneath it, I moved toward the door on the far left.

“Fire department, call out!” I shouted when I opened the door.

The room was completely empty, with nowhere for anyone to hide or be trapped, so I pivoted to the middle door. The fire was growing higher, the smoke getting thicker. I had to clear these last two rooms and bail outfastbefore I got trapped.

The middle room was the same as the first, but I wasn’t so lucky with the third—and neither was the figure lying near the back wall, the flames inching closer and closer by the second.

“HEY!” I shouted.