“Damn,” Teddy said. “That’s a big yard fire.”
“And it’s close to the house,” Moose added.
It was. It was also getting dangerously close to the forest around it.
He stopped the engine and they all got out, the truck behind them doing the same.
Becket pulled out his radio. “Battalion 1428 on scene. We’ve got a one-fifty by one-fifty spot fire, moderate rate of spread, but growing closer to the forest. A single-structure home close by at threat.”
His team pulled out the hoses as the door to the house opened and an older lady came out. She looked to be in her mid-sixties and held a dog in her arms. If the fire wasn’t their focus, he might have stopped and questioned what the hell kind of dog it was. The thing was almost bald, with random bits of hair sticking out. Becket wasn’t a dog person in general, but that one was damn ugly.
He crossed over to her. “Ma’am? My name’s Becket Hayes. I’m the fire chief. Did you call this fire in?”
“Yes, I did. Oh my, it’s gotten big.”
“What’s your name?”
“Rosemary Symes. And this is Bella. I made a little fire to burn off some of our old items, but it just grew out of control.”
How the hell she had thought starting an uncontained fire on land surrounded by forest was a good idea, he had no idea. He’d talk to her later. “My team’s taking care of it. Please stay back.”
The woman nodded, and Becket returned to the crew. Everyone worked in threes, with one person holding one end of the hose and another holding the body, then the third controlling the tap.
“Ready water,” Moose called.
The water was turned on, and Becket watched as his team worked hard to put out the blaze.
When embers flew through the air, Becket cursed and pointed. “Spot fire.” He rushed to grab another hose, flatten it out and connect it. Irene came behind him to hold the line, then he sprayed water onto the smaller spot fires.
It took them about twenty minutes, but finally, his crew put out the flames.
Damn, he loved his job. He loved the rush of adrenaline. The way his crew worked together as a team. And he loved knowing he was making a difference.
When he returned to Rosemary, she placed a hand over her chest. “Oh, thank you all so much!”
“You can’t start another fire, Rosemary. Not here. If the wind had changed, the entire mountain could have gone up.”
“I’m sorry. I haven’t been living in this house for too long. I didn’t realize.”
It seemed more like common sense to him. “Now you do.”
Half an hour later, they were packed up and back in the engine.
Becket leaned his head back as Irene drove.
“It feels good to help people, doesn’t it?” Irene said, almost to herself.
“Hell yes, it does,” Teddy confirmed from the back seat.
It was why Becket had become a firefighter after leaving the military. He wasn’t built to sit behind a desk. He needed to be in the middle of the action. He needed the hit of adrenaline. The knowledge that he was saving people from the front line.
He felt Irene’s eyes on him without even looking. He shot a glance her way. “What?”
“Just wondering if you’re gonna tell us what had you in such a good mood this morning yet.”
Jesus. She wasn’t going to let it go. “I wanted to trim a tree outside my house.”
“And…” Teddy pushed, when Becket didn’t give any more.
