Better on our own - English

Emergency in the Tunnel

"An accident in the tunnel on the bypass. A car caught fire in it," Penny announced as soon as the alarm sounded and the next minute she was standing next to us to change too. That was great! For weeks we haven't had anything to do other than put out a burning garbage can or get a cat out of a tree. Arnold and I had even been running a secret competition for a week to see who could help old Mrs. Chestnut, who walked with a walker, cross the street more often on her way to the store or to the doctor, because otherwise we would die of boredom. But on this Friday of all days, when I wanted to finish on time so that I could drive to my parents with Sarah, a major mission came in?!"Arnold, you go out with Merlin and take RO-Hose with you. Trixie, you take Lancelot and bring Peyton with you and the rest of us will go to Arthus with me!" Penny quickly handed out the tasks to us as soon as we were all fully dressed.

"Roger that, Penny!" we shouted loudly as we dispersed to distribute ourselves among the vehicles. A minute later we were already moving out with Arthus and I had mixed feelings about this emergency. On the one hand, I was excited because I could finally see Peyton in action, on the other hand, I was worried that it would mess up my entire planning, but most of all, I was worried about the mission itself. I had no experience with fires in tunnels.

When we arrived at the scene, we saw a huge crowd of people standing in front of the entrance to the tunnel, who were being held back by a few police officers. One of them reminded me of Officer Williams from Pontypandy, whom Penny immediately went to as soon as she had stopped Arthus while Elliot and I started laying a hose line to put out the fire. Penny had him explain the current situation and I saw that it was really Officer Williams. Had they called him for support?

Two minutes later, Arnold and Trixie arrived and while Arnold pulled away, Trixie began to loosen Peyton's safety locks so that he could get him off the trailer. Just then Pontypandy arrived with Venus and Jupiter and I saw Mr. Jones' eyes widen in amazement as he spotted Peyton. Had he never seen the fire turbine before? I could understand his look. He probably thought she was as cool as I did.

Penny came back to us and arrived at the same time as Mr. Jones, followed by the rest of his team, but not without giving the fire turbine one or two interested glances. I could see in his eyes how much he would like to play with it. I wanted it so bad too!

"The people are probably all out, but according to a few witnesses, the cars are pretty close together and the fire has probably already spread to other vehicles. We have to be prepared for a lot of trouble in there. Arnold, you stay out here and monitor Respiratory protection and water supply! Elliot and Trixie make sure the water is replenished and that there is always enough foam in the tanks. Niall, you and I are going in! I think this is the best opportunity to show you what the fire turbine can do," Penny told us and I could have jumped on the spot like a little boy for joy. At least there was something good about it, even if the thought of going in there dampened my excitement a little.

"Ellie, you stay out here with Arnold to monitor the respiratory protection and tanks! Elvis, you help the other two and Susen, you go in with me!", ordered Mr. Jones and Susen was taken aback. Apparently he hadn't taken her to the front often. Did he do that now because Penny took me in?

"Roger that, Sam!" the others shouted in unison and two minutes later I found myself, along with Penny, Mr. Jones and Susen, fully equipped, in front of the dark tunnel entrance, from the depths of which a menacing flicker could be seen. I swallowed hard. The power to the lighting had already gone out, perhaps because it was burnt somewhere or just because of the heat? It had to be unbearable.

Penny took the remote control for Peyton from Trixie, whom she had already driven into the tunnel entrance and equipped, and I felt from the twitching of the hose in my hands that Arnold was increasing the pressure so that I could start extinguishing the fire as soon as we got close enough to it. It was quite a distance to get to where the fire was blazing and the hose would not be easy to pull under full pressure. I bit my teeth and followed Penny as she set Peyton in motion. We all followed the fire-fighting robot inside. Mr. Jones, Susen, and I were equipped with a foam hose, which we took with us while we followed Penny.