Chapter 32: Burns
*Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful. – Joshua J. Marine*
Ty had been with the fire department for just over ten years. He loved it. As a hellion in his youth, he ended up doing community service with the fire department. It was an agreement made between the chief, Ty and his parents.
He had been seventeen when his friends dared him to spray paint the garage door at the fire house. Being young, dumb and thinking he was cool, he did it. And got caught almost as soon as he started.
By the chief, no less.
Twelve thirty at night and his parents had to pick him up. Chief Konuk gave him a choice. Call the police. Or community service over summer. He chose community service.
Even when his time had been completed, he still hung around. Saturdays and school holidays, you could find him at station three. The crews presented him with an official department polo with his name and trainee on it.
When he graduated high school, he received the first Chief Ronald Konuk Memorial Scholarship. The department sent him to the fire academy and paramedic school. Now, he contributed to the fund.
B shift of station three had been working on the next fundraising event when the first tones went out. A high rise building down town was burning out of control. Planning was set aside as the fire took priority.
They were listening to the radio for about thirty minutes. The structure fire in district one was bad, and getting worse. As soon as they called for station two, Captain Hill had them fill the cooler with ice, waters and sports drinks. A box of Antonio’s protein bars was tossed in the cab of the engine.
Not even twenty minutes after that was loaded, station three was loading up and rolling out of the bay. The good news was that it was a Thursday night and not many people would be in the building. The bad news was that the fire was on floor nine.
The truck pulled up to the curb and stopped just down from the hydrant. Like a well oiled machine, the crew jumped out and got to work. The stabilizers were lowered and Jimenez began controlling the ladder.
She was good at it and all the men were glad she was at the controls. Her skills with the controls were also the reason no one would go against her on video games.
Expertly, she raised the ladder to the highest floor it could reach below the fire. The men were already climbing before it even stopped. Glass was shattered and the window cleared for entry.
Ladder one had the higher ladder going to the fire. Their cannon sprayed water at a high pressure. With the signal from Thompson, Jimenez checked the pressure on her in line before charging the line he held. He and Ty entered the building, followed by Russ and Harrods.
Inside, they made their way to the stairs. Carlton and Thorson held the line while Ty led the other three up the stairs. They rushed up and cleared the floor above them. On the next floor, they encountered a scared cleaning crew.
Russ and Harrods took the five civilians down to the floor below. The radios crackled with something that Ty and Thompson couldn’t quite understand.
“Repeat last transmission.” Ty said into the radio.
The radios crackled again but they still could not understand what was being said. But the sound of a scream from the stairwell was clear. Both men rushed towards the sound.
A woman was clutching a bundle to her chest and looking up at the flames following her down. Ty reached out to take the bundle and discovered a baby struggling to breathe. He took his jacket off and wrapped the infant up before placing his SCBA mask over the small face.
“Down! Down! Down!” Ty yelled and Thompson nodded.
They began rushing down the stairs to the floor with the ladder. Thompson guided the woman with one hand and held the hose with the other. Ty had the hose tucked under his arm and going over his shoulder.
The flames were licking at their heels as they rushed down and then across the floor. Thompson stopped as the woman began to pass out and put her on his shoulders. Ty was coughing because of the smoke, but he kept going. He ignored the burning sensation in his chest and back.
He watched as Thompson handed the woman over to the guys on the ladder. He handed the infant in his coat over. The last sight he remembered was Thorson’s face looking terrified.
The next thing Ty was aware of was bright lights and loud voices. There was a beeping noise coming from somewhere. Then he jerked and the voices got louder and multiplied. He tried to ask what was going on but his throat burned and he couldn’t talk.
A kind face appeared above him and he saw her lips moving. Words. Words. Ty was pretty sure that she was saying words. Her face became blurry as the blackness engulfed him again.
“Johnson.” Chief Gaines said, pulling Ty out of the darkness. “We can’t reach Bunny or Jaxon. Who do you want us to call?”
“Helen….” Ty whispered and slipped back into oblivion.
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