“Okay, anything you need me to do?”
“No,” I replied. “I have an appointment with Randy tomorrow. I’ll show him what we have, and after that, the decision is his.”
“Okay. Also, what about the Marjorie Williams case?”
I pursed my lips and thought for a while. “The gala for The Injured Firefighters Fund is in a couple of weeks. Kelvin will be there. Marjorie will be out of town. I’m planning on showing up and will make my move then.”
“Noted. Anything else you need from me before I head out?”
“No. Thanks for checking in. I’m going to head home myself. See ya’ on Monday.”
Don
The blaring sirens at the top of the rig no longer got to me. While Emanuel navigated the truck in the direction of the fire, all I thought about as I adjusted my gear was the fact that there were at least three people in that house.
“Hurry the hell up,” I growled almost at the same time Carter did.
We weren’t anxious or nervous. We were more so impatient because lives depended on us to show up.
“Confirmed two children and a mother in the home,” the operator said into our headsets.
My chest tightened as my eyes locked with Carter’s. The rigid set of his jaw likely meant our thoughts mirrored. It had been months since we’d gotten this type of call, with the exact markings of the arsonist fires.
“I want everyone focused when we get there,” Captain ordered from the SUV in front of the rig. “No one makes a move until I say so.”
No one responded.
“Am I making myself clear?” he yelled.
A series of grunts sounded. No one outwardly said yes, but we still committed to following the captain’s lead on this even if we wanted to run headfirst in that damn fire and pull everyone out.
Ten minutes after getting that first alarm, I jumped out of the rig and slammed the door shut. I ordered the rookie closest to me to begin setting up the hose and the other to open the fire hydrant. I only took my eyes off them once I saw they were okay with that task.
“We’ve got three inside, a woman and her two kids, eight and four,” the captain said as I ran over to join the huddle. “Alvarez, it looks like back entry might be our best bet for this one. You and Townsend head to the backyard and let me know what you see.”
I took off running with my hatchet in hand, along with Carter, to see what we could find.
The captain was right; the entire front side of the house was engulfed in smoke and flames. Flames roared out of one of the front windows. Trying to break through the front door could result in disaster.
“What do you see?” Captain asked.
“Two windows on the ground floor,” Carter answered.
“Back door,” I said. I reached out and touched the metal doorknob. It wasn’t too hot. “Doorknob is cool.”
“Break it downcarefully,”Captain said.
By then, I was already stepping back and lifting my hatchet in the air.
The first hit knocked it loose, but not entirely. The second one was the one that did it.
I was first to make an entry with Carter right behind me.
“Fire department,” I yelled, turning my head this way and that, looking for any occupants. Thick black smoke filled the air, making visibility nearly zero. I turned on my helmet’s headlamp. “Fire department. Call out.”
Carter did the same.
We both paused, holding our positions to try to hear something over the sound of our own breathing through our masks.
