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Story: Through the Flames
I took my keys out of my back pocket and opened my locker. I dropped my things on the floor.
A few of my coworkers walked into the locker room and started talking loudly, which caught my attention.
They looked me in the eye and stopped talking. I kept packing up my stuff, ignoring them, and getting ready for the long day ahead.
“Hey lieutenant, are you looking forward to tonight?” Finn was the only one brave enough to talk to me, which made me mad.
He was a great firefighter. He really did listen to what people told him to do on the pitch, and he was a pretty good thinker when things got tough. But other than that, he’s a total idiot. He called himself a “ladies’ man,” but he was a huge pain in my a*s. To be fair, they’re all a pain in my a*s.
Finn talked too much, didn’t know how to keep his mouth shut, and most importantly, he was the only person at this station who didn’t get the idea of leaving me alone.
“What am I supposed to be excited about? A building catching fire? A drunk person crashing into a utility pole?”
This was another issue. He not only talks too much, but he also never thinks about what he says. One of my biggest pet peeves was when someone spoke without knowing what they were talking about.
He coughed in embarrassment while the other men laughed at him.
I slammed my locker shut because I was sick of this boring talk.
I kept myself busy with some case reports in my office for about an hour, until the alarm went off and scared me.
I jumped into action right away and ran to the ground floor. On the way, I ran into chief Benneth and we just nodded at each other, which is something we do all the time. He stays out of my way, and I stay at my station.
My team and the EMT were already at the garage, getting ready by putting on their uniforms and safety gear. I quickly did what they told me to do.
We all got into the engine, and I sat at the end of the bench like I always do. As we drove away, I put my glove on my hands and thought about what kind of fire we were going to face.
I heard one of the new EMTs say, “Guys, what if the fire is on the top floor or something? Do you think Chief Benneth will let me use the ladder?” I couldn’t help but scrunch up my face.
What kind of dumb kids did I work with?
Twenty minutes later, we got to the apartment building. In my mind, I was already thinking about how bad the damage might be, how the building was built, and how big the fire was. You could see the smoke coming from the seventh floor, and I just hoped that everyone above and below had already left the building.
Everyone who lived in the building was outside, and Chief Benneth told a few men to move the crowd to the other side of the street.
He stopped a fat, bald man who looked like he owned the building.
“Sir, do you know which unit the fire is coming from?” he asked, getting right to the point.
“It’s coming from the seventh floor. I think it’s East 742 Maple.”
From where I was, he looked more angry than scared, and I could tell that he was more worried about the money than the fact that people might die.
“Is there anyone still on that floor or in the flat?”
“I believe the whole floor is empty, but I’m not sure if there is someone in that flat. The man who lives there is very private.”
Chief Benneth nodded and told him to join the rest of the crowd. He turned to us just as an explosion went off, and I knew that the longer we stayed down here, the more likely it was that people would die.
“Reid,” Chief Benneth called, and I turned to him, ready to follow his orders. “Take Finn, Harris, Troy, and Blake and do a primary search on the 7th floor.” I nodded and told the men to follow me.
We ran up all six flights of stairs to get inside the building, and we were already wearing our gas masks.
When we got to the 7th floor, I told Troy and Blake to check to see if anyone else was there. The rest of them had to come with me to East 742 Maple, which is at the end of the hall.
I put my ear close to the door and could hear the fire raging behind it.
“Fire Department, call out if you’re in there!” I yelled and waited for an answer.
I called again, but I still didn’t get any.
When Finn held my shoulder, I got ready to kick the door in.
“Lieutenant, there is no one in there. Don’t waste your time.”
My eye twitched.
I asked him calmly, “How the f**k would you know that, Finn?” and waited for his stupid answer. “I don’t have time for this. If you’re too scared, get the hell downstairs and let me do my job. Stay out of my way.”
I counted to three in my head and kicked the door hard. It all fell apart.
The heat hit me hard, and I jumped to the side to avoid most of it. I walked in slowly, keeping an eye out for anything that might fall.
It was hard to see through the flames and smoke, but I knew I shouldn’t give up.
I walked around some more and came to what looked like a living room. When I saw how many empty alcohol bottles were on the floor, the pieces of the puzzle started to fit together.
When I saw the body on the couch, my stomach turned.
Even after all these years, I still feel sick every time I see a dead body.
“Dispatch, we have a 10-45, code 2. Send engine 2, over.”
While I waited for dispatch to respond to my message, I stood there looking at the body. It’s not every day that you see someone burn in front of you, and when I felt a hand on my shoulder, I almost jumped out of my skin.
Harris said, “We have to put out the fire, Lieutenant.” I nodded, and he walked over to a window and told the dispatch team to bring the ladder there.
I moved closer to him and heard something squeak under my boots. It was a brown teddy bear covered in soot when I looked down.
There was someone else here.
“Hello! Is anyone there? Can you hear me?” I yelled as I walked right through the fire.
The flat was small and there weren’t many places to hide, so when I saw a door near the kitchen, I marched over to it and kicked it down. Harris yelled for me, but I was already in the room.
There was so much smoke in the room that it was completely black, but I couldn’t have missed the body on the floor that was crumpled up.
I ran to her and knelt down next to her body. I put two fingers on her neck to check for a pulse. I did find one, but it was very weak.
I called it in and said, “Dispatch, we’ve got a 10-37 here. I need a paramedic waiting when I get down, over.” Then I rushed around the room looking for a blanket.
The fire didn’t start in this room, so it’s likely that the victim passed out from the smoke. She probably wouldn’t have lasted much longer because of all the smoke in here.
I found a bathroom and turned on the water to soak the blanket as much as I could. At this point, I started to panic inside, but I told myself to calm the f**k down. It didn’t help anyone for me to panic.
I put her in the blanket and picked her up.
A few of my coworkers walked into the locker room and started talking loudly, which caught my attention.
They looked me in the eye and stopped talking. I kept packing up my stuff, ignoring them, and getting ready for the long day ahead.
“Hey lieutenant, are you looking forward to tonight?” Finn was the only one brave enough to talk to me, which made me mad.
He was a great firefighter. He really did listen to what people told him to do on the pitch, and he was a pretty good thinker when things got tough. But other than that, he’s a total idiot. He called himself a “ladies’ man,” but he was a huge pain in my a*s. To be fair, they’re all a pain in my a*s.
Finn talked too much, didn’t know how to keep his mouth shut, and most importantly, he was the only person at this station who didn’t get the idea of leaving me alone.
“What am I supposed to be excited about? A building catching fire? A drunk person crashing into a utility pole?”
This was another issue. He not only talks too much, but he also never thinks about what he says. One of my biggest pet peeves was when someone spoke without knowing what they were talking about.
He coughed in embarrassment while the other men laughed at him.
I slammed my locker shut because I was sick of this boring talk.
I kept myself busy with some case reports in my office for about an hour, until the alarm went off and scared me.
I jumped into action right away and ran to the ground floor. On the way, I ran into chief Benneth and we just nodded at each other, which is something we do all the time. He stays out of my way, and I stay at my station.
My team and the EMT were already at the garage, getting ready by putting on their uniforms and safety gear. I quickly did what they told me to do.
We all got into the engine, and I sat at the end of the bench like I always do. As we drove away, I put my glove on my hands and thought about what kind of fire we were going to face.
I heard one of the new EMTs say, “Guys, what if the fire is on the top floor or something? Do you think Chief Benneth will let me use the ladder?” I couldn’t help but scrunch up my face.
What kind of dumb kids did I work with?
Twenty minutes later, we got to the apartment building. In my mind, I was already thinking about how bad the damage might be, how the building was built, and how big the fire was. You could see the smoke coming from the seventh floor, and I just hoped that everyone above and below had already left the building.
Everyone who lived in the building was outside, and Chief Benneth told a few men to move the crowd to the other side of the street.
He stopped a fat, bald man who looked like he owned the building.
“Sir, do you know which unit the fire is coming from?” he asked, getting right to the point.
“It’s coming from the seventh floor. I think it’s East 742 Maple.”
From where I was, he looked more angry than scared, and I could tell that he was more worried about the money than the fact that people might die.
“Is there anyone still on that floor or in the flat?”
“I believe the whole floor is empty, but I’m not sure if there is someone in that flat. The man who lives there is very private.”
Chief Benneth nodded and told him to join the rest of the crowd. He turned to us just as an explosion went off, and I knew that the longer we stayed down here, the more likely it was that people would die.
“Reid,” Chief Benneth called, and I turned to him, ready to follow his orders. “Take Finn, Harris, Troy, and Blake and do a primary search on the 7th floor.” I nodded and told the men to follow me.
We ran up all six flights of stairs to get inside the building, and we were already wearing our gas masks.
When we got to the 7th floor, I told Troy and Blake to check to see if anyone else was there. The rest of them had to come with me to East 742 Maple, which is at the end of the hall.
I put my ear close to the door and could hear the fire raging behind it.
“Fire Department, call out if you’re in there!” I yelled and waited for an answer.
I called again, but I still didn’t get any.
When Finn held my shoulder, I got ready to kick the door in.
“Lieutenant, there is no one in there. Don’t waste your time.”
My eye twitched.
I asked him calmly, “How the f**k would you know that, Finn?” and waited for his stupid answer. “I don’t have time for this. If you’re too scared, get the hell downstairs and let me do my job. Stay out of my way.”
I counted to three in my head and kicked the door hard. It all fell apart.
The heat hit me hard, and I jumped to the side to avoid most of it. I walked in slowly, keeping an eye out for anything that might fall.
It was hard to see through the flames and smoke, but I knew I shouldn’t give up.
I walked around some more and came to what looked like a living room. When I saw how many empty alcohol bottles were on the floor, the pieces of the puzzle started to fit together.
When I saw the body on the couch, my stomach turned.
Even after all these years, I still feel sick every time I see a dead body.
“Dispatch, we have a 10-45, code 2. Send engine 2, over.”
While I waited for dispatch to respond to my message, I stood there looking at the body. It’s not every day that you see someone burn in front of you, and when I felt a hand on my shoulder, I almost jumped out of my skin.
Harris said, “We have to put out the fire, Lieutenant.” I nodded, and he walked over to a window and told the dispatch team to bring the ladder there.
I moved closer to him and heard something squeak under my boots. It was a brown teddy bear covered in soot when I looked down.
There was someone else here.
“Hello! Is anyone there? Can you hear me?” I yelled as I walked right through the fire.
The flat was small and there weren’t many places to hide, so when I saw a door near the kitchen, I marched over to it and kicked it down. Harris yelled for me, but I was already in the room.
There was so much smoke in the room that it was completely black, but I couldn’t have missed the body on the floor that was crumpled up.
I ran to her and knelt down next to her body. I put two fingers on her neck to check for a pulse. I did find one, but it was very weak.
I called it in and said, “Dispatch, we’ve got a 10-37 here. I need a paramedic waiting when I get down, over.” Then I rushed around the room looking for a blanket.
The fire didn’t start in this room, so it’s likely that the victim passed out from the smoke. She probably wouldn’t have lasted much longer because of all the smoke in here.
I found a bathroom and turned on the water to soak the blanket as much as I could. At this point, I started to panic inside, but I told myself to calm the f**k down. It didn’t help anyone for me to panic.
I put her in the blanket and picked her up.