“Yes, ma’am.” The team in turnouts marked ‘16’ split to either end of the hallway per her command.
“Status update,” Noah requested. Skyscraper fires were complicated with an infinite number of moving parts. The commanders would often have to sacrifice property over lives and sometimes civilian lives over survival for the firefighters.
“Radio’s been spotty. I’ve got hose lines on Sector 25 clearly marked with rescue lines. We’re doing a PAR every fiveminutes or so.” ‘Personal Accountability Reporting,’ or PAR, allowed the commander to keep constant contact for the whereabouts of her teams. Essentially, it was a roll call. Lines and hoses were well marked because if visibility severely deteriorated, the firefighters on 25 would follow their hoses to the stairwell and relative safety.
“Still have 9, 10, 11, and 12 on the fire floor?” He pointed to her blueprints. “Who’s on the floor above—Sector 26?”
“Firehouse 15 is evacuating the floor above. We haven’t evacuated the civilians on the upper floors yet. Haskell doesn’t have the manpower yet.”
“How many are upstairs with Firehouse 15?” he asked.
“Six, the Ladder and Engine. I sent Carver downstairs because he’s better used there, and I wanted my teams even. I know they’re stretched thin, but they still have a great response time. Hell of a time for a fire when everyone is asleep. They’re searching room by room now.”
One of her radios crackled on TAC-1. “L115 to BC2. More civilians in 2607. Initiating evac.” L115 designated the officer of Ladder 15—according to the tactical board—which was Aiden Clarke.
Then the lights flickered, and McClunis disappeared.
* * *
In Sector 26, Firehouse 15 was hard at work. Lobby Command had turned off the fire alarm because its blaring made it difficult to hear commands or communicate. The hallway was quiet, punctuated by their calls and knocks on each door. They were on their SCBA air, each of them with the timer counting down in the back of their minds. It was supposed to last forty to forty-five minutes with normal breathing, but usually only lasted about twenty to twenty-five minutes during exertion.
The seconds were ticking down as the team searched, armed with Halligan tool pry bars, axes, and fire extinguishers. Luna and Kevin searched even number apartments while Vanessa and Aiden searched the odds. Any civilians were sent down to Erin and Theo waiting by Stairwell B. Surprisingly, a number of people slept through the alarm and needed to be woken. They were instructed to evac in an orderly manner to Sector 22 at Rehab where Chief Leary would direct them further.
The procedure was the same at every apartment: knock on the door, wait to see if anyone opened. If no one did, they used their Halligan bar to open the door and initiated a search room by room. Even with Erin and Theo clearing the two apartments by Stairwell B, it still felt too slow.
The radio was crackling with updates on TAC-1 from McClunis. Sector 25 seemed to be struggling to get the fire under control. That made the search even tenser. They had the stopwatch of how much the floor could take from the fire below. The hallway was brightly lit, and the smoke wasn’t visible here, but the scent permeated the hallways.
Luna’s team was up to 2608. Aiden was about to enter 2607 before the elevators. They’d cleared out fifteen people in the first seven apartments, which left twelve to go.
“Cleveland Fire Department!” Luna called, knocking on the door. No one answered, so Kevin opened it with the Halligan and started sounding the floor by tapping on it. A soft, spongy floor warned them if the fire was weakening it and they needed to leave ASAP.
Several sleepy civilians emerged from the bedrooms. The blueprints had indicated a mix of mainly one to two bedrooms, but the one by the elevator banks would have three bedrooms.
“I count six! Is this everyone?” Luna shook the first man and directed them to Erin and Theo.
Inside apartment 2607, Aiden moved immediately toward the outer bedroom because he heard screams. He found a teenage girl and her parents crowded up against a wall. Vanessa was left behind, securing the apartment door for an exit.
“Cleveland Fire Department; we’re here to evacuate you. Follow me out to the stairs.” Aiden dipped his head to his left shoulder radio. “L115 to BC2. More civilians in 2607. Initiating evac.”
Even through the SCBA gear, the team could hear an odd rumbling sound, and the lights flickered for a second. “What’s that?” Erin’s voice echoed through their shared radios.
An explosion rocked the floor, plunging them into darkness for a split second, followed by a blinding flood of fire.
Chapter 6
Aiden flattened himself against the left bedroom wall. Behind him, the living room disintegrated, and flames shot up from the floor. The bed dropped from view as a chasm opened up in the center of the bedroom. The adults scrambled out the balcony window, and the teenager pressed herself against the outer wall. The edges of the remaining floor were still burning, and the four people in the room were balanced on the rim that hadn’t collapsed.
He counted slowly to thirty and tested his footing. Aiden slowly rotated, keeping one hand on the wall,
“Not good.” He had lost his fire extinguisher and pry bar. His exit was gone, along with Vanessa. The fire, attracted to the ventilation, was streaming out the balcony. The parents screamed and rolled to the sides of the balcony, away from the center.
“Mayday! Mayday! This is Clarke; Ladder 15 trapped on Sector 26 Apartment 2607! There has been an explosion, and the floor has collapsed! I lost Knight from 15! Mayday! Mayday! I need a RIT team with climbing gear and safety ropes! Do you copy?”
The balcony creaked ominously. The parents shrieked again as a gout of flame burst out the window. “Get off the balcony! Rescue is coming! Come toward me!” He hoped they could hear him through his mask.
“Can you take Trina?” The mom pointed at the daughter.
“Yes, I will get Trina! Get off the balcony. I know it’s hot. It’s a long way down. Come off the balcony and walk along the side.” He was asking a lot because of the flames and the giant hole below them, but there was no other choice.
