Dawsey: Raising a Family Part 2

University Fire Part 3

Matt's POV: When I heard that Cindy and Lee Henry are there, I got worried. God, first my niece and now my Lieutenant's son and wife? God, this is hard. Grabbing my radio, I went to speak to him. "Of course Hermann. Hatcher will get an Ambo ready for you. Go with them both. Engine 51, you are now under my direct command and are to leave the building. Come get water ready." Everybody agreed when I said that. I then went to turn to look at Delaney. "Actually, you are under the control of Delaney. Firehouse 71 Engine Companies...you report to Delaney!" 

Delaney agreed with me and went to walk over to the Engines. Meanwhile, I went to walk over to the Truck Companies. "Firehouse 71 Truck Companies...you report to me or Grissom!" Stella agreed with me when I said that. "Of course Chief, by the way...best wishes to you Hermann." I agreed with her. "Definitely. Get out and go to med! Ambo 85 can you take them personally? They are family to me. You guys are family too so...." Anna then replied. "Of course Matt. I hope to meet your kids soon." I agreed and laughed when I saw my group keep working.

That's when I remembered that there was a Lieutenant on scene who could take command of my Engine. "Chief Casey to Lt. Taylor."  Lieutenant Taylor then replied to me. "Go ahead Chief Casey." I then went to speak to him. "You take control of my Engine in there since you are the most senior Engine Officer on Scene." Delaney then turned to look at me. "I mean in the fire Delaney. You are out here with me. If you want to go in there, then you will be in charge in there. However, you are out here." That's when Severide went to speak to me.

"Chief, permission for Squad to check out sports facilities connected to main university?" I agreed. "Permission granted. Severide, just go ahead and search the entire campus. You have free range effective immediately. However, I just tell me when you are moving." He agreed. "God it chief. I will let you know when we are moving to the Life Sciences Building." That's when Patterson spoke to him. "Severide, I can get my squad in there. It's closer. I just got a map on my phone." I then turned to look at him. "Can you send it to me?" He agreed and nodded.

That's when I heard Gallo speak to me. "Chief Casey, Palevsky Residences are clear. I am with Ritter and on route to North Residences." I agreed with him when he said that. That's when I saw Hermann come out with Lee Henry and Cindy. Cindy seemed to be okay but Hermann was carrying Lee Henry. "Paramedics, go help Hermann with Lee Henry. Hermann, how's Cindy?" Cindy then grabbed his radio and spoke to me. "I'm fine. He gave me his mask. Lee Henry was passed out. We are on our way to the hospital." I agreed. "We will speak about your mask later."

That's when Stella radio'd to me. "Chief Casey, it's Stella. Should we check the Hospital or should we be good?" I then bit my lip. "Chief Hatcher, can you re-route ambos to Chicago Med. That might be why they are back so quick. They must be going to the hospital here on campus." He agreed with me. "That makes sense now. Attention all Ambulances here at University! Please bring patients to Gaffney Medical Center! I repeat, Gaffney Medical Center is destination for all ambulances here in the University of Chicago campus effective immediately!" 

That's when I heard Cordova run over to me. "Chief Casey!" I then turned to look at him. "Cordova, I thought you were..." He then looked at me. "I saw how bad it was and heard the news. I went to the house, Melanie gave me a ride after I got my gear. Permission to join and assist?" I then looked at him and nodded before turning to look at Grissom. "Grissom, can a Truck Lieutenant take over Engine?" Grissom nodded. "Does he know how to work it?" Cordova nodded. "Yes, I trained on them. It's been a while but..." Grissom then agreed. "Go ahead!"

I agreed and went to radio to Engine 51. "Engine 51, you are now under the command of Lieutenant Cordova. I repeat, Engine 51 is now under the command of Lieutenant Cordova. Please report where you are so that he can go join you guys." They all agreed and went to tell them where they were. That's when Stella spoke to me. "Chief, my candidate is still on my hip. But it might be better if he goes to find more people because this place is old and doesn't have much open spaces. Permission to let my candidate roam?" I then bit my lip and sighed.

"No, send him out here with me. He can help with getting the water lines ready. Actually, send me all Candidates out here. I am not ready to let my candidates roam free around the campus." Grissom agreed with me. "Good call. They will just hold your officers back." I nodded when he said that. "Lt. Etherington to Chief Casey, we are going to go check the Admin buildings. Is that okay? We are searching entire campus right?" I agreed with her. "Yes we are." I then turned to look at Patterson. "Patterson!" Patterson then looked at me. 

"You're in charge of the campus east of Woodlawn Ave!" He agreed and went to run away. "Delaney, you're in charge of the campus west of Ellis Ave. So, the medical center." He agreed with me when I said that and went to run away. "Should've done that in the first place." Grissom then walked up to me. "That was smart though. Putting them in charge of areas." I nodded. "Yeah, like I said...should've done it to start." That's when I saw some more houses. "You call for reinforcements?" He agreed. "Yeah, I have a bad feeling that the University is not going to survive the night. This might be your one and only fire for a while." 

Grissom agreed with me when I said that. "You want to call in a reliever shift?" I then sighed when he said that. "I want to call in all my shifts to help me." Grissom looked at me when I said that. "And then get those extra trucks again." I agreed with him when we got a report of the radio. "Dispatch to Chief Grissom. I am dispatching Houses 1 and 3 to the Museum of Science and Industry. Would you like me to merge the two calls and put Chief Casey in Charge of the entire scene?" Grissom then looked at me. "You want that or do you want me as Scene Commander?" I then bit my lip. "You're my boss. You are the one who decides."

Grissom then agreed and thought about it. "Let's see just how good you are. Casey, I told you that you would be scene commander if your house is ever on scene. You said you'd be okay with that." I agreed with him and nodded. "Yes, I am. I will be commander. And you are giving us time off after this fire. I am taking my wife on a honeymoon." He laughed and agreed with me. "Houses 1 and 3 are to dispatch to the Museum. Chief Casey is scene commander." Dispatch agreed. "Houses 1 and 3 on route. Battalion Chiefs Everett and Porter to Dispatch."

Everett and Porter then both responded. "Go ahead Dispatch." Grissom then told them. "Everett and Porter, I am merging the university and museum calls into one. You are to report to Chief Casey over radio. He is overall scene commander as he has the most resources on scene." I agreed and then went to take over. "Attention all Ambulances, please stop treating out of the back of your ambulances and set up in the Midway Plaisance. CPD, please close 55th St. around the university and allow ambulances to act as triage. Chicago Med, please send doctors!"

Hatcher then looked at me. "Casey, we have the hospital there." I then thought about it and agreed. "Hatcher, go to the hospital and get me ER doctors. Tell them that you are under the orders of Chief Casey." I then took a breath and looked at Chief Grissom. "Grissom?" Grissom then turned to look at me. "What's up Casey?" I then took a deep breath and went to do something that I never thought I'd have to do yet. "I am declaring this site to be a CFD Mass Casualty and Health Emergency Response Site." He looked at me and nodded. "Good call."

I then turned to look at Hatcher. "Hatcher, call it and allow all paramedics to perform whatever procedures they believe necessary to preserve human life here on scene prior to leaving for the hospital." Hatcher agreed when me when I said that, getting ready to do so. "Grissom, I want to speak to the Battalion Chiefs when they arrive. If you really say that I am in charge of the scene and you aren't...then the Battalion Chiefs need to know that they are to follow my orders. Can you help me out with that?" Grissom agreed. "I will do that Casey, let's get to work. And then after, you are headed home for a honeymoon." I agreed with him.