Slow Burn | HS

where there's smoke...

January 2017

Harry takes a knee before they enter the burning apartment a few yards ahead. Surveying the area, he realizes that he can't see much. Smoke has swept underneath the door, filling the hallway with a haze. Through the blur, Harry watches as Liam lifts the sledgehammer over his shoulder and brings it down hard and fast against the door, shaking it in its frame. The fluorescent PAYNE written on the back of Liam's suit catches what little light still fills the hallway. A few more hard swings and the door is properly loosened.

Harry steps up when Liam steps aside, crowbar in hand. Two swift movements and the door is opened, deadbolt rendered useless. Stepping through, the four men take in the state of the apartment. It didn't take long for Harry to learn that it's impossible to be completely prepared for a fire. Despite knowing the exact location of the flames, the time the fire started, and the means of what started it, there is no way to fully predict the intensity of a fire until they can see it themselves, in person. The severity of the flames are always circumstantial and cannot be prematurely understood. Fires all come down to the layout of rooms, the fabrics used in furnishings, whether or not the fire started in the kitchen, and so on. The men take a few important seconds to assess the circumstances in which they now find themselves.

An orange glow gleams from deep in the apartment the color of molten rock. Smoke clouds the room, blurring images and camouflaging furniture. Harry isn't surprised by this lack of clarity; it's not unusual. Unlike their portrayal in Hollywood movies, the actual fire in a smoky room is sometimes invisible. Most calls that Harry's department receive consist of limited visibility, confusion, and loud noises from various fireground activities.

Luckily, this fire is slow-growing. The occupants of this building and the two that flank it were all been evacuated before Harry's team even arrived at the scene. This time, there are no trapped civilians to be rescued, no cornered pets stuck in bedrooms. It almost seems too easy, but Harry has never been one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

There are three other firefighters with him. Liam signals to the crew and Harry follows into the entrance of the apartment, eyes catching on the fluorescent PAYNE written on the back of Liam's jacket. The hissing of his mask with each inhale and exhale reassures him that his breathing is still steady. When he's been standing still for too long and his PASS begins to beep, he shakes a bit until it stops and registers that he is still conscious and moving.

Gage has one of the hoses, and he hoists it further in, trailing behind them. Harry steps over to help, an extra pair of arms making the long hose much easier to maneuver into the room.

"The fire seems limited to the kitchen. Shouldn't take too long to put out," Liam says into the personal radio, their line of communication to the other teams on the fireground.

"Copy that," a voice replies. "Keep the team safe, Payne."

Gage, still handling the hose, aims it at the base of the fire before twisting the knob at the mouth of the hose and releases the water. The water shoots out, the pressure releasing. Even more smoke forms, rising toward the ceiling. Waving the hose over the flames, they are eventually extinguished, leaving ash in their place.

Liam signals to the crew outside that the fire is out and they'll be coming back out momentarily.

"Good job, boys," Liam says, his voice muffled due to his oxygen mask. He hisses in a breath before saying, "Now let's get out of here."

The start of the new semester meant the start of new classes. Which, unfortunately, meant Joelle now had to take Theories of the International System. She had been dreading this class throughout her program, having heard horror stories from International Relations majors about the miserable professors who taught it. It's her last class on Friday, which makes it even worse for her.