“You only want two on Engine?” Luna questioned. If they had enough people, they generally put three on Engine, three on Ladder, and two on Medic. Any less than three on Engine made it more difficult to establish a water supply, as evidenced by the gasoline death-wish guy. At full strength of ten, they’d have four on Ladder for venting of the room and search and rescue.
“Yes. If there are no immediate injuries, you can assist Engine with establishing water supply. Get to your assignments,” Williams ordered tersely.
Everyone could tell that Luna was miffed. She’d been sidelined from the scene by being put on Medic. Being assigned to supply water moved her even further away from active involvement in the scene.
Still, as they piled in vehicles, Erin did admit the wisdom of the decision. Usually, once water was established, the hoseperson assisted with other duties. Water was usually required before any rescues so there wasn’t any reason the Medic team couldn’t help out while they waited.
It was also possible he deliberately assigned Aiden and Carver together because he may have been forewarned of Aiden’s frustration. Perhaps he was trying to get Vanessa’s measure since she was the most underused lieutenant.
Captain Williams took the front seat next to Vanessa’s driver position ,with Kevin and Erin in the back cab. The full capacity of the ladder truck was six bodies, so they had plenty of room.
It was a weird drive because Kevin kept trying to make small talk to their laconic captain.
“You worked for FEMA for a couple of years. How was that?” Kevin said into his headset, which allowed them to hear each other and blocked the sound of the siren.
“It was fine,” Williams answered shortly.
Not to be deterred, Kevin tried again. “Did you move around the country? See anything exciting because of all the disasters and wildfires and hurricanes?”
“FEMA doesn’t fight wildfires. We set up background support. Wildfires are the US Forestry Service.” Again, flat, short, terse.
“Yeah, yeah,” Kevin said. “But there were floods and stuff.”
Erin ran a finger across her neck, trying to get Kevin to cut it out. If they needed personal details, they’d resort to Google later.
“Let’s keep conversation to the job,” Williams directed, effectively cutting off further questions.
Firehouse 19’s engine and ladder were at the scene, showing a good response time, which was unusual, but the scene was two blocks from their house. Their ladder truck was already swinging over the building. However, their engine didn’t appear to be hooked up to water and was using the small supply contained in their engine’s tank.
Williams instructed them, “Stay here. Get water supply set up. Rodriguez, help Engine. Knight, do a 360 while I talk to their captain. Jones and Hudgens, stay close.” He stalked toward the other team, thermal imaging camera in hand.
“Battalion chief hasn’t arrived yet sir,” Erin mentioned to Kevin, as that meant Firehouse 19 was in command until the battalion chief arrived. Firehouse 19 was not known for its good decision-making, but they were fine as support when they eventually arrived at a scene with their slow response time.
“Hello,” Williams said to 19’s captain, identifiable by his red helmet. “Getting ready to vent the roof?”
“Yeah, it’s a small kitchen fire,” the captain said.
“Where’s your water supply? RIT team standing by and Ladder and Engine teams inside before you vent?”
“You guys are RIT. We figured we’d use the tank on this. Fast attack.”
“Interesting,” Williams said. “Firefighter Hudgens, recite for me appropriate measures taken for safe ventilation.”
“In most situations, complete a 360, establish water supply, and then do coordinated ventilation from your inside team’s position relative to the fire,” Erin answered.
“Tell your team to hold.” Williams’s voice was soft yet commanding.
“I’ve got everybody in place,” the other captain protested.
“You don’t have enough water. No ventilation until we have water available.” Williams held up the thermal imaging camera. The roof was too bright, indicating a high internal temperature.
Vanessa came from around the back, reporting, “This is a one-story ranch. Fire appears to be on C-side, possibly seated in the kitchen. Seems to be spreading to the D-side, and the smoke is increasing.” A was the front, B was the left, C was the back and D was the right side. Fire couldn’t be solely in the kitchen if it was moving onto D-side.
“See, we need to vent it,” the captain of 19 insisted.
“Not unless you plan to fry your own people,” Williams argued. “If the roof team vents C-side, it will roast your attack team like marshmallows when it pulls the fire from D-side. You evacuated the property before fast attack?”
“Yes, a preliminary search. It was an empty house,” 19’s captain simply stated.
