Rescue

Flashover

“Wait, did you hear that?” Cruz asked as they were running back towards their truck. They stopped near another sealed door. Cruz heard it again and they saw a slight shake to the door. “Someone’s trapped on the other side of that door.”

The team jumped into action grinding the hinges off as the banging slowed. The fire was spreading fast in the old industrial building. Severide bit his lip concerned that opening the door would feed oxygen to the fire and allow it to spread farther. He heard on his radio Kidd announce the vent was complete and the team was off the roof. He felt relief in that and relayed the teams to stand away from the building while they opened the door. They could feel the warmth on the metal door revealing the fire would soon overtake this area. By the time the hinges were ground off the banging had stopped. 

“Get ready, this fire is about ready to flash over. We grab who’s there and we get the hell out of here, got it?” Severide looked at the four men in front of him. Capp and Tony quickly pulled the door off and let it fall over the metal railing behind them. There were two men inside the door. Ruzek was unconscious lying just inside the door and Cruz was quick to grab him under the armpits and drag him out. Capp finished with the door and grabbed the unconscious man's ankles as they hurried away from the entryway with black smoke pouring out. Jay was kneeling behind where Adam had been, hands on his knees barely conscious. Looking at the black smoke Kelly didn’t hesitate. He grabbed Jay’s arm and pulled him across his own shoulders. He knew Jay was not terribly heavy and he also knew they were out of time, a flashover was imminent. The fire was hot enough to ignite its own smoke. He and Tony rushed towards the ambulance when Severide heard the roar of the fire behind him. He dropped to one knee and dropped Jay off his shoulders onto the concrete. He shielded the detective's head and upper torso with his body and fire coat while Tony was quick to do the same for his lower torso, protecting as much of the man as they could. An explosion and roar of fire swept over their heads as the hungry fire was fueled with more oxygen. They hunkered down and waited for it to die down, knowing once the fuel in the smoke burned up, the fire would drop back to a manageable level. As soon as it quieted and the heat was off their backs they sat up and checked Jay. Tony was quick to pat out fire that had caught on the bottom of Jay’s jeans. He was covered in bruises on his face and torso. He had a six inch gash on his torso that was bleeding profusely. Severide slid behind the unconscious man and grabbed under his arms. Tony grabbed his feet and they carried him further from the fire as the first ambulance rolled away.