“Engine 45 respond—structure fire—possible occupants trapped—”
Blaze was already pulling on turnout gear before dispatch finished giving the address.
Firefighters rushed through the bays with practiced urgency and controlled chaos.
Boots thundered across concrete floors while turnout gear snapped into place and engines roared awake around them.
The bay doors lifted slowly while red emergency lights flashed across wet pavement and drizzling rain.
Whatever was happening with Johanna would still be there when the fire was out.
The problem was, Blaze Carter had already chosen her.
Now he just had to convince Johanna to believe it.
* * *
The house fire sat near the edge of Sheraton Beach in one of the town’s older neighborhoods, where narrow streets wound tightly between aging homes built decades before modern fire codes ever existed.
By the time Engine 45 arrived, flames were already tearing aggressively through the second-floor windows of a two-story white clapboard house while thick smoke rolled violently into the storm-black sky. Rain hammered their turnout gear, running in streams from helmets and coat sleeves, but it barely touched the fire consuming the structure from the inside out.
Neighbors crowded the sidewalks despite the storm, some crying openly while others shouted over the chaos. Red emergency lights flashed across terrified faces while the scent of smoke, burning wood, and melting insulation filled the air.
Blaze jumped from the truck with command instincts taking over before his boots hit the ground. Smoke thickened around the structure in heavy black waves.
“Status!”
A patrol officer rushed toward him through the rain, breathing hard. “Possible elderly female still inside!”
“Hell,” Blaze muttered before grabbing his mask.
“Michael with me. Ryan, ladder side Bravo. Check exposure risk on the neighboring house.”
“Copy!”
The second Blaze crossed the threshold of the front entrance, the heat slammed into him like a living thing. Smoke choked the narrow hallway while flames crackled violently somewhere overhead. Visibility dropped almost instantly beneath thick black smoke curling across the ceiling, forcing Blaze to rely on instinct, muscle memory, and years of training.
His flashlight sliced through the darkness while the house groaned around them beneath the weight of fire and water damage.
“Primary search!” Blaze barked.
Michael moved beside him through the smoke while debris rained intermittently from above. Every breath inside Blaze’s mask sounded harsh and mechanical against the roar of flames swallowing the second floor.
“Victim located!” Michael’s voice cut sharply through the smoke.
Blaze moved toward the back bedroom where an elderly woman lay unconscious beside the partially collapsed bed. Training took over, and he made his way toward the victim witha fierce determination not to fail someone who was counting on him.
Smoke rolled heavily across the ceiling while flames snapped aggressively through the hallway beyond the doorway.
The fire shifted overhead with an ugly groan.
“Fire’s moving fast! Get out of there!” Ryan’s voice crackled through the radio.
Blaze and Michael dragged her toward the hallway while smoke thickened around them fast enough to destroy visibility completely. Heat intensified with violent speed as flames rolled harder down the hallway, swallowing oxygen inside the structure.
“Command wants you out! Now!” Ryan shouted.
The hallway glowed orange within seconds. Then the ceiling cracked with a sharp, violent sound powerful enough to shake the floor beneath them.
