Kimberley Lumber Mill, Working Fire

[M. Stone]

'Yeah lieu, we're doing great. Soon as 31 gets dumped we'll have 32 in here and see if we can get a good shuttle going. I'm pumping straight through, our tank is still full.'

*I look at Valentine as he calls me Mike and give him a dirty look.*

'It's Mark or Marcus, not Mike.'

[D. Valentine]

‘ my mistake  mark,blame the clusterfuck anyway whats the game plan i know were doin supply  there anything i can do?’ * i look at the sea of lights its atleadt somewhat organized but im thankful im not command of anything*

[L. Sparks]

As Bobby goes and yells at some jolly volly blocking our escape, I get out of the cab.

'This dude's something else.' I smile to myself shaking my head.

'Perhaps a little country' I chuckle to myself.

*I head to the back of the ambulance and open up the back. I hop in and throw the jump bag and monitor onto the stretcher. I pull out an IV kit and saline bag and put it on the seat for easy access later. Once done, I jump out of the back and unload the stretcher. With the stretcher unloaded I lock it into position next to the ambulance. I have a seat on the tail gate, tac radio in hand.*

'Come on Bobby. Have a seat. We got front row seats to this dumpster fire of a situation...and I got the commentary' I say as I hold up the handheld tuned to the fire ground tac channel.

'

Edited March 8, 2020 by Chris07

[J. "Big Jim" Kowalski]

*Crunch Crunch Crunch*
'What do you mean all tied up? You have 6 units on.' I say chomping down on pork rinds over the phone.
*Crunch Crunch Crunch*

'Well we got a serious situation. We're calling a code orange here. A code orange.' 
*Mmmmmmm...orange*

'You're sorry? Doesn't code orange mean anything to you?'
*Crunch Crunch Crunch*

*pause*

'Now we're talking here babe...how long are we talking about? 30-40 minutes!? Upwards of an hour?
*Crunch Crunch Crunch*
'Well....*Chewing*...if that's the best you can do, I appreciate it. Thanks darling.' I hang up.

Shit. CFU EMS isn't any help.

*I lean back in my chair once again to peak into the EOC. It creaks wildly under my massive weight*

'HEY HENRY! Not the best of news but its something. Shiloh Volunteers have one unit up and are sending it, Code Blue in Essex can also spare one unit, but both have a 20 to 30 minute ETA....'
*Heavy breathing as I catch my breath. Thats a lot of talking. I shove a pork rind into my mouth. Crunch Crunch Crunch*
'...and CFU... ' I continue with my mouth full, 'has 2 units stuck holding the wall at Campus medical since they're fully saturated, they got one on an out of county transfer, one just got a run, and the remaining two are stuck at some stupid concert at the university.'
*I take some more heavy breaths and shove another pork rind into my mouth. I continue speaking with my mouth completely full*
'..they're saying they can probably have a unit for us in...'

*I inhale a piece of pork rind and proceed to cough violently. I cough, cough, and cough some more. I lean back forward in my chair. I reach for my 72oz plastic jug of soda. COUGH COUGH COUGH, GASP, COUGH COUGH. I take a drink from my soda.*

Holy shit. Big Jim almost ate the big one there.

*Clears throat several times*

'sorry about that...anyways...they can have a unit for us in 30-40 minutes at the earliest. More likely in an hour.' I say.

*I lean back in my chair again. The usual squeaking is replaced by a loud SNAP. The chair breaks and I proceed backwards onto the floor. The room vibrates with the impact of my colossal mass.*

Holy shit. I've fallen. How the hell am I going to get up?

[B.R. Jackson]

 * i move back to the truck  smirking at logans comment*  ‘ godamned idiots  they clearly see the rig or do you northern fellas let blind fools drive now?’  * i grab a bottle of gatorade outta a compartment  aswell as one for logan then move to sit down  there for rehab but i figure he is as thirsty as i am with our meal and weve got  like 38 more bottles across two 20 bottle cases so they wont miss two especially as i bought em outta pocket for the truck*

Edited March 8, 2020 by Vanguard

[J. Hannahan]

'You got it.'

*The deeper we trudged through, the hotter it go. I had gone from duck walking to nearly getting on my knees. There was nothing but black surrounding Frank and I but we kept on getting through it until the heat became near unbearable. Thankfully it had sounded as if the pass device alarms began to sound much louder than normal. I searched around, calling out to Frank to see if he had found something. There were burned pieces of ceiling on the ground along with large pieces of machinery that had seemingly melted. It was as if this area burnt first and made its way back farther and farther.*

'Frank, how you doin?'

*My flashlight was absolutely useless not illuminating anything more than a foot away. KVFR had obviously flowed water in here. I'm stepping in a damn puddle with every move. I heard that the ARFFs were arriving too. Good grief.*

'I think the guy is around here!'

[J. Noel]

*On my knees, I feel the water, it's like a small flood in here, and the worst part is, this water isn't exactly tepid either. The fire is making it warm and uncomfortable. As I focus on the job ahead of me, not this colossal clusterfuck, I hear the PASS alarm getting closer. Crawling along, I hear feel something. Is that... a BOOT? Jesus, we got him, or her. Fuck, we got someone.*

'I've got a boot. It's something. Quick. Hannahan!'

*I crawl up to the body to get a better size up of the man down before I pull, make sure they're not pinned, and the charred turnouts show no sign of pinning.*

'Let's go, let's get out of here with him. You don't see the other one near do you?'

*I'm shouting, but over the roar of the fire, you can hardly hear anything. *I can see maybe 10 inches. If that.*

"Command, Ladder 31. *BREATH* We've got one. Coming out."

*I grab the pack straps on the firefighter, still unsure if it's a man, or a woman, or even how old they are, and start pulling towards the exit.*

[J. Hannahan]

*I helped Noel grab the person's pack, dragging the poor lad out of the warm water and through the black smoke room. Through the hot room, it seemed like everything went mute. The radio and burning. The sirens outside were no longer heard. The thoughts in my head only shown me the entrance and visualized us both dragging the firefighter out, though pointless it may be. I did notice that there was no breath sounds bring heard.*

'Almost out, yeah?'

[E. Raven]

Frank and I descend through the smoke and heat. Even though we're outside the visibility is still extremely poor. The roar of the fire is somewhat deafening and the crackles and pops fill the air. 

 

We finally reach the downed firefighter. I immediately cut the PASS device off and connect my buddy breather. 

"Ladder 31 X-Ray 1, we've got the other one, we're coming out." I report over the radio. 

 

As Frank and I drag the KVFD member out, we meet back up with Engine 16. 

 

"Did the other team make it out?" I ask as we start moving out. 

 

"Yeah they passed by already." The officer says.

 

"Cool let's get the fuck out of here." I say. No sooner do the words leave my mouth, a stack of burning pallets behind us falls over, blocking our way out.

"Just kidding." I say. 

"There goes our hose line." 16's officer says as the hose goes limp. 

The smoke conditions are enough that I can see around us. I spy the concrete drainage culvert I had seen earlier. 

"Command from Ladder 31 X-Ray 1, we're trapped along with Engine 16's crew. No one is hurt and we have air. We're in the process of making our way out." I say. 

Still dragging the firefighter with us, we make our way over to the drainage pipe. "Frank, bust this thing open like you're busting a nut." I say. 

 

Frank, manages to pull open a scuttle hole that drops into the pipe. We drop down into the pipe. There's enough room that we can work on our knees but it's still cramped. At least there's not a lot of smoke or heat under the fire.

 

"Ladder 31 X-Ray 1, we're coming out through the concrete drainage culvert, I'll need someone with a saw and probably a ladder to help get us out, I have engine 16's crew with me." I say into my radio.

 

[J. Noel]

*Rounding the corner, and out of the bulk of the smoke and fire, it's like the world comes to life again. Everything else that was a distraction and was gone is all coming back.*

'GET ME A BOARD!'

*I collapse basically a few dozen feet from the building. A board lets us scoop and run, though no there's not likely going to be anyone to hear me. I look to Hannahan, already started removing the bulk of the gear in our way without placing the firefighter at risk for anything like hypothermia or degloving any melted skin.*

'Alright, fuck this, no one can hear us. You radio it, I'll run.'

*With that, I take a breath, scoop him over my shoulder and make the trek towards the rehab area. I see a while ambulance, one I can assume is ours. Walking through the smoke towards the lights, it takes a second to register who exactly I am. I hear Hannahan saying something on the radio, though I don't know if it's to command, or just calling to the ambulance crew to wake up, but almost as soon as his voice stops, there's a bolt of action by the ambulance, they spring to life, one hauling a gurney, the other a red bag towards me. As they arrive, I drop the patient, gingerly as I can, onto the bed. This whole time I haven't even checked to see if he's breathing still, or anything. My job was to get him out. With the scene lighting I can clearly see that it is indeed a him. I think. His skin is badly burned, but nothing that I can see will kill him. I hope.*

'Non responsive, he was inside the building. We got him here as quick as we could.'

*I step back for a second and decide this is EMS's role. Let them handle the patient. Wait to see if they can use you. Plus, I need a breather. Oh my god.*

[H. Goodricht]

*Just when I think me and Jim might get along, I'm reminded what makes him so hard to work with. A snap and his fat ass is on the floor. The room shakes, that's easily 400 pounds of man dropping. I stand up for a second, look out, see him and think, not today. Not my problem.*

'Jim, get up. Roll and pull. I can't spare an engine for manpower assist.'

*I'm looking at my resources and we really are stretched thin. I make an executive call that will probably get me chewed out later, especially when coupled with the news of now TWO FCC reports for cursing on radios. Looking at my laptop, I bring up the number for the CFU first aid squad. It's an automated system that when you dial sends you call to whoever is designated as the dispatcher for that time period. When the machine rings twice, it transfers me and on the third ring I'm answered.*

'CFU First Aid Dispatcher.' A kid answers, he can't be any more than 18. Whatever.*

'This is the SC ERT Communications Centre.'

'Uh., yes sir.' He says, a little shocked.

'Can you send every available responder you've got right now to the concert at the university? I need the ambulance crews there.'

'Is there an emergency?'

'Not on campus, but I've got two hurt firefighters in Kimberley, and your first aiders can be the ones that release two ambulances for me to save their lives.'

*His voice shows a little back patting will help. It definitely does. He eagerly perks up, it's no trouble to hear it in his voice.*

'Yes sir! We can have at least 5 people there in 5 minutes. Maybe more.'

*Excellent. Two ambulances is four people. 5 first aiders, plus whatever else shows up to save lives will be impossible to refuse. And if there's a real emergency then, they can send another ambulance. I have people that need them now.*

'Thank you. Uh, I didn't get your name.'

'It's John, sir. John Porter.'

'Thanks John. I appreciate it.'

*He's a bright eyed kid, I'm sure he'll appreciate it. I make a mental note to be less of a prick later today, maybe write an email to the dean or something to praise this guy. Who knows, they'll give him a semester free or something. Dialing another number from the system, this time for CFU dispatch. I know Jim has connections, but he's currently connected to the floor. And I'm not throwing my back out getting him up. I'll have to settle for official channels I guess.*

'CFU EMS.' A young woman, obviously bored answers.

'This is C-' *Let's bump that title up, just in case.* 'Director Henry Goodricht from Shiloh County Comms. One of my dispatchers told me you've got two ambulances at an extra service concert on campus. I've activated the CFU First aid squad, they're sending people to the concert right now, guaranteed me 5 and then a few extras if they can get them.'

*I can hear the that's nice in her voice already.*

'And?'

'I need you to notify those two ambulances that as soon as two of them show up, they're to be released and respond code 3 to Kimberley Lumber, for the code orange.'

*Unimpressed, though I think that's her default:* 'And what if there's an emergency there?'

'We'll send back EMS units if they are needed. Thank you, have them notify comms on the air when they're responding. Please notify them now, so they can leave immediately.'

*My tone implied the please was merely sentence filler, and not an indication of an option to do otherwise. I hang up and look over at Jim's puddle of man on the floor. If he doesn't haul himself up soon, I'm sending him to a gastro doctor. Christ.*

 

[K. Baker]

*I stay quiet as I watch the interaction between Valentine and Stone, letting the two of them do their thing*

'Good. Let me know if we run into any issues. I'm heading back to check with the Captain.'

*I hear Noel saying they got one of the downed firefighters, but do my best to stay focused and not want to beat the shit out of the dumb ass KVFR chief. Proud, childish asshole. I shake my head before heading back to Summers*

'Water supply is holding steady...being sent directly from the drop tank, we have a full tank on the engine for a backup supply not that it will give us much of a buffer, something is better than nothing.' 

[P. Hernandez]

I pull up to the lumber yard with my bulldozer trailer. Is very perfect, with a little Mehico flag on the cab. 

 

I ask big boss man with the funny hat "Where chu want bulldozer?"

[W. Burke]

*Seeing the bulldozer pull up, and Pablo (dear god, not Pablo), I look for Summers. She conveniently moved out of the way. Far out of the way.*

'Hello Pablo. We need you to get over on that side of the building, over there' *I say, pointing where exactly* 'And start pulling up the ground, make a hard break for the fire.'

*He nods as if he knows what's happening, but his resting face is always confused, so I have no idea if he got a word of that.*

'I need your radio turned to fire tactical.' 

'Si.'

'Okay Pablo, I'm going to do that for you, you're going to be talking to Captain Summers. Operations Chief.' 

*I point to the back of Summer's jacket as I climb in the cab. I dial the radio over to the right channel, lord knows he didn't get what I said, and when I turn, I see him walking towards Summers.*

'Pablo! PABLO!'

*He turns around.*

'No, With this!' I say, waving the speakermic. Jesus, they couldn't have sent someone with passable English?*

[E. Raven]

Frank, myself, and Engine 16's crew make it to the end of the drain pipe, but it's covered by a grate with no ladder access, the catacombs go farther off, but there is no light to see how far off they go.For all we know it's a maze. No one has acknowledged me on the radio, I can see people running around above us. I rip off my mask and helmet again,

"Command from Ladder 31 X-Ray 1, we're stuck under the grate of one of the concrete drainage culverts, we need a ladder and a saw, we have one of the trapped KVFD members." I say into my mic. Still no reply. 

16's officer looks at me and also takes off his mask, "What's next, throw something for attention?" He asks with a half amused look on his face. I turn and look at Frank, who's also taken his mask off and is now greasing his hair. Fucking unbelievable. 16's firefighter takes off her mask as well. The KVFD dude, while still breathing is out like a light, and I'm still attached to his buddy breather. 

I look at the officer, "I guess I could just start swearing over the radio since admin seems to hate that." 

[P. Hernandez]

"No, With this!' I say, waving the speakermic. Jesus, they couldn't have sent someone with passable English?"

I look at the big boss man with the big hat, I no understand why people think that I no understand them. I just get tired of them explaining so much. I nod and take the radio that he gives me. 

 

I get into the bulldozer and start it up, I have my earphones in. I listen to the narcocorrido. I start to plow. 

[W. Burke]

*Hearing silence from Pablo, not so much as a confirmation out loud, I assume the nod means he gets it. Off he goes. Good man. A little quiet, but if he gets the job done, who cares.*

'Summers!'

*I'm trying to get a run down of fire's plan, but there's something coming in on the radio.*

"X-ray. STATIC. concrete. STATIC. members."

*The fuck? Is he calling from inside of an xray?*

"Last unit transmitting, this is command. Your message is coming in broken. Please repeat."

*Looking down at the radio screen when the call starts up, I see the radio numbers coming in. Shit. I can look that up. A quick entry into the laptop while the static message plays, and it is the portable assigned to Ladder 31.*

"Ladder 3-1, Portable calling command. We cannot communicate on your radio right now. Your message is coming in broken. If you are in immediate distress, press man-down. If not, please attempt another radio, we cannot read you."

*I hear nothing on the radio for a few seconds, nothing. Thank god, not another man down.*

"Command, Rescue 1, we've got a relay. The radio is Ladder 31 xray, they're in the concrete drainage, they need extrication."

*That's fucking great. Why can't things go right for once on this call? One time is all I'm asking.*

"10-4 Rescue 1, if you are able, please maintain contact with Ladder 31 x-ray and attempt extraction. Advise of status."

"10-4 Command."

[K. Summers]

As the scene slowly moves from utter chaos to organized chaos, I hear Noel over the radio. They've found one. Thank god. That's one of my crews coming out of that.. deathtrap. Shortly after, I hear Raven - the whole crew is on the way out. They found the other one. No sooner does the thought cross my mind that I hear another update. The second ladder crew's egress got cut off and they're working on finding a way out. Amazing. For fucks sake this thing really is a deathtrap.

Baker comes up towards me and I step away from the command post to meet her. She gives me a quick rundown on the status of the water supply and I'm not terribly pleased. It really isn't much water but as she says, it's better than nothing.

'Thanks. Keep me updated and try to not let us run dry. Do your best.'

It isn't much longer before public works finally shows up and I bite back a small chuckle when I see the Mexican flag the guy is flying from the cab. I can almost hear the music. Moments later, there's a cut off transmission from one my second ladder team, I can only assume. 

"X-ray. STATIC. concrete. STATIC. members."

Before I have a chance to key up my mic, the commissioner has answered. I listen along - we don't need any more chaos over the radio than there needs to be. There's a few blessed seconds of quiet - my crew isn't in immediate danger. Rescue 1 relays the broken transmission and the commissioner assigns them to assisting the crew out - good. They're almost out and from there, no more entry. Defensive only. The public works guy is busily working on bulldozing a firebreak and if we can keep it contained until there's a break formed I'll be VERY happy. From there it'll just be a matter of letting it burn itself out.

[M. Stone]

*I watch as Tanker 31 finishes dumping and I close his chute and wave him off, watching as he accelerates down the road towards the fill site. I wave T32 up to the dump tanks and start dumping his water. I keep an eye on the pump panel from my position across the dump tank. We were doing okay on water, not great. I'd like to have three or four portaponds set up with as many or more tankers shuttling, but that's not what I've got. So we'll make do with two ponds and two tankers. T32 finishes dumping and I close his chute, sending him on his way as well.*

"11 driver to 11 officer, both tankers are dumped and on their way to the fill site. We're looking at about 4500 gallons between the two dump tanks, but we're pumping pretty quick. Our tank is still full."

*I move around the dump tank back to the pump panel, keeping an eye on the gauges as I draft the water from the dump tanks and flow it straight to the attack engines.*

[J. Noel]

*As I pass the injured volunteer off to EMS, I flag down one of the KVFR members.*

'I got one out, on the stretcher over there, can you find out who it is and report that to command? Your chief has no idea who it is.'

*He, nods visibly pissed off, I'm not entertaining the idea it's at anyone other than his chief. He should know better.*

*I report back to the captain, looking for directions, I think it's time for the ladder to go up and stream some water in with the ARFFs foam*

[E. Raven]

Finally someone stops by the grate. I guess our radio signal finally got out. It's a bunch of KVFD buffoons. 

 

"Hey! Uh... What do you need? This is rescue 1" One of the voices yells out. 

"To get out of here would be fucking nice!" I yell back. 

"Uh, okay. Are you guy's gonna walk out? Or?" The voice asks.

"For fucks sake will you get Rescue 2 over here? I'm not trying to die down here because you're a fucking idiot." I yell back. 

"We got it." The voice yells back. We're about 8 feet down into the culvert. I notice them maneuvering a pair of spreaders into position. 

 

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING? USE A GODDAMN SAW." I yell back. I hear an argument up top and whoever had the spreaders got stiff armed out of the way.

 

"Hey Raven, it's Jesse off of Rescue 2, we got you homie, sit tight for a second." A new voice yells.

"Cool I'm not going anywhere!" I yell back. 

"Need anything besides a ladder?" Jesse yells. 

"Yeah, give me a harness and we'll need some rope to get this guy out." I yell back. 

It doesn't take long for the rebar to get cut through and a ladder, harness, and rope to make its way down to us. Between the four of us we manage to make a final push to get out of the god forsaken tunnel.

 

"Ladder 31 X-Ray 1 we've be rescued. We're making our way to the medic unit." I say into my radio. Frank, Engine 16, and myself drag the limp body of the firefighter to the medic staging area. We pass by the command post. "Da Chief" is still there fuming. I lock eyes with him and flick him off as we go by with his firefighter.

 

"Fuck you!" He yells back "I'm going to have your fucking badge and paycheck you Mick fuck!" 

 

"Come and take it you fat fuck!" I yell back and keep walking. 

 

[K. Summers]

Once my last crew is out, I start back over towards the command post - I don't think I've missed anything and if I have, it wasn't that important. As I walk back over, Noel comes up to me asking for orders. Before I can open my mouth to respond Raven, Garcia, and the 16 crew come by. The chief is still hanging around and the two of them start cursing at each other. I can't say anything before the group continues over to the triage area.

At this point, the KVFR crews are cycling through rehab and I have plenty of much fresher crews now. And if anyone else tries to go inside so help me I will drop kick them off of this fireground. The public works guy is making decent progress on the fire break and with luck, we've turned a corner.

I start to formulate a defensive plan, with what I have now. My ladder crews should ideally head in for rehab - with the additional resources our dispatch staff has pulled arriving we're starting to shape up EMS wise and I have plenty of firefighting crew available. I haven't had a chance to check and see if my crews I had doing foam application have actually done it - fuck.

"Ladder 32, Operations. What's your progress on foam application?"

The officer of 32s crew lets me know they're working their way around the edge of the fireground with the ARFF crew - I can easily see public works progress on clearing a break from where I am. We're finally making some good progress.

[P. Hernandez]

I make good work with the bulldozer. It's lots of fire everywhere. I try to be careful and make sure no animals get in the way. The bulldozer is close to the trees. It is hot. But I do good job. Is lots of overtime money for me and me esposa. 

[E. Raven]

As we get to the medic staging area we drop the body of the firefighter gently. I finally take off their mask and remove my buddy breather. They have facial burns to the point that I can't tell if they're male or female, we strip off the turnout gear and Frank starts assisting respirations after grabbing some unit's O2 bag. Everywhere we grabbed the firefighter there are serious burns under the turnout gear. 

 

[W. Burke]

*Watching Pablo, clear things out I'm impressed. He's an odd duck, probably only understands half what I say, but man, is he one helluva worker.*

"Good work Pablo. Continue the block!"

*Looking around, I see two ambulances taking patients, our firefighters. I hope to god they're alive.*

'Captain! Can we get the ladders up?'