Meet me in the Middle

Chapter 33

Beckett and I were right. We were the first to arrive on scene and were helping to escort people out of the factory that seemed like flash point. Something inside of the factory was causing small explosions every few minutes and the flames from it was setting the neighboring factories alight. There were already a few workers coming out with injuries and some even carried the bodies of their friends out with them. "My wife is trapped with two paramedics. Please help me."

A big guy dressed in overalls makes a beeline for me when he hears that I'm a firefighter. I allow him to lead me to where he and some of his men were trying to get into the room that was being blocked by rubble that fell down during the explosion. I assess the scene and the stability of the structure around us. "Do you have something we can use to lift this away. If we can move this piece, we'd be able to make a big enough hole in the door to get them out. A crowbar or better yet a jack from a car?"

He nods and sends one of his friends to fetch something. I count my blessings when the guy reappears with a trolley jack and a pallet jack, asking which one I'd like to use. "You just so happen to have these laying around?" We end up using both to clear the door completely and free the people trapped inside. We all help carry the woman actively in labor out of the building and I leave the EMTs to take care of her when they tell me she's stable. The husband asks if he can join me to look for the rest of his coworkers when he sees me making my way back to the building. "You know the factory better than me, lead the way until help arrives then I need you back out here."

A few minutes later station 63 arrives and their captain gladly stands back to let Beckett call the shots and give orders to his team while he calls in all the other units. The spreading fire was now deemed a 4-alarm. "Can you get your men to control the fire spreading to the other buildings. My primary concern is to get the people out of the factory on B-side, but we don't have the manpower to do search and rescue if the other buildings flare up. If we can keep it contained to the one, then all additional personnel can go in directly for a primary search?" Beckett speaks loud enough for everyone to hear.

Beckett was standing in the middle of me and the captain for 63. We both agree with his plan, and he leaves to get his men to connect their hoses and start dowsing the fire. "Captain Parks. I could use one or two of your men on the inside, and a radio and mask if you have any to spare?" He gives me a thumbs up over the noise and huddles with his team. "You control the scene outside and get triage set up. I'll delegate inside until 19 arrives with our gear." He takes a radio that one of the firefighters from 63 brings over and tries to hand it to me.

"I'll go in and you can take command out here..." I give him a look to shut up and push the radio back into his hands. "Captain Beckett. You are the most senior person to arrive on scene first. This is your command. Now please, let me keep my promise to Molly and stay out here. I can't go near the flames without my gear, so I'll assess and delegate only, okay?" He begrudgingly accepts what I tell him and moves away to tell some of the workers to help set up a triage area with 63's EMTs. I look over at Captain Parks and am a bit surprised that he chose himself and one of his lieutenants to accompany me inside.

Thankfully, Parks also lent me some boots, so my heels won't melt in the fire while I have them on "We need to check on the integrity of the structure on all sides. We can't send reinforcements in for search and rescue if it's going to collapse on them. We can split up and meet back here in five?" We change our radios to a certain channel and inform Beckett of the plan so he can hear as we talk. I turn left, Parks goes right, and Lieutenant Hendricks goes straight ahead.

"The explosion caused some damage to the beams on my side. I have two of five pillars with cracks in them, fire appears to be on the third floor from where I'm standing. Metal structure and staircase are still intact, but the flames are moving closer. Our window is closing to get people out from this side." I walk around for a few more steps to see if I hadn't missed anything before making my way back to our meeting point. As I walk, Parks checks in on his side. "Stairway is stable, but visibility is bad. Black smoke coming from above. Visibility too weak to see from which floor. No cracks in the walls or pillars on B-side."