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An Angels Wings (Chapter 2) |
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Birthday Boy |
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An Angels Wings (Chapter 2)
Fiction
 Created on 4-12-08
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 Story Rating G
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Texas summers aren’t the hottest in America, but it gets hot enough for the inhabitants to react. During the July of 2010, Houston, Texas was subjected to one of the hottest summers in the city’s recorded history, with temperatures exceeding 110 degrees and the humidity at a constant 100%. There was not a building anywhere that did not have an A/C blowing at full blast. Everyone in town was in a constant miserable state from a warm wet blanket of air.
The landlord living in the north-side apartment complex was no different. He had his window air unit blowing constantly, during the night for sleep and during the day for his dog. The A/C was under 24 hour stress, and this bachelor was not going to turn it off until it broke. He was actually saving up for that day.
Of course, it broke, and he called in an A/C guy to do his thing. One of the contributing factors to the eventual fire that would envelop this complex was this “specialist”. This A/C guy actually was a methamphetamine addict, and heard A/C guys made lots of money. His addiction was a pricey one, and he was desperate. The problem was his father was an electrician, and he knew a warped version on electric repair, not A/C repair. After hearing the bachelor’s problem, he immediately went to the breaker box. When he was done, the A/C unit was fixed. But when he was done, there was an exposed 220v live company wire running 2 inches parallel to the exposed 110v live a/c wire.
For the electrician, yes, he stripped the plug of the unit and connected it directly to the box instead of the wall. He was high.
For the layman, this = BAD.
Electricity has a habit of reaching out and touching anything if it has enough power. If a man is standing in a field 10 feet away from a 200 foot high pole during a storm and the pole gets shocked, the lightning bolt will jump through the ground and blow the man out of his boots.
The same concept occurred here in this breaker box. 220V power is what comes straight from the electric company, meaning this power reacts to the entire complex. As August came around the corner, the temperature impossibly raised to a ludicrous 120 degrees. EVERYONE had their A/C’s blowing day and night. This 220V wire became hotter and hotter, as more and more power flowed through it at one time.
In the breaker box, the 220V company wire was 2 inches away from the 110V A/C wire. Normally, both would be insulated and protected from one another, but the addict was uneducated and incapable. He stripped the insulation in a thoughtless, experimental move.
6:00 PM one August Friday, these wires connected by this jumping process. A blue electric bolt jumps between the two wires, overloading the A/C’s 110V wire, blowing the A/C to shreds and killing the dog. This in itself may seem tragic enough, but I’m not done yet. The A/C unit had a glass of water sitting in the windowsill next to it. When the unit blew, this glass flew from the windowsill to another plug, showering it with water. The plug let out a small burst of flame and caught a stack of newspapers on the ground on fire. This in turn caught the desk it sat under on fire. Soon the entire room was aflame, then the top floor, then the bottom along with the complex. With the landlord missing this Friday evening at a bar, there was no one to call the fire department until it reached the next room. By then it was too late.
This is where we find Samuel and his wife, Rain.
The familiar feeling of adrenaline overflow runs through Sam as his fire engine, Engine 418, approaches a burning apartment complex. It is a wood two story building, with a small street in front and many spectators. The top floor is ablaze, with the balconies sprouting out fire like dragons. The bottom floor is still relatively intact, but the roof between the two floors is becoming fragile and flaming bits of debris are falling onto the furniture and carpet of the first floor. Four police officers are already present and keeping the public at bay. There are no cars near the building, thank God, so the possibility of automobile explosion is gone.
The complex is obviously old, but fitting in the poor side of town. All wood, aged green paint, possible water damage, trapped (stubborn) inhabitant still inside; it’s a terrible situation and a perfect example of “if the worst should happen.”
This is all understood in a split second as the engine comes to a stop. The order of ‘go’ given by Chief Cup is hardly heard as Sam jumps out of the engine behind his wife. As always, he feels a worry and almost unstoppable protective urge flow for her, but as always, he represses it and gets to work. His standing orders upon arrival are fire hose operation. He, his wife, and a fellow male firefighter named Jesse run around the side of the truck, ignoring the fire, the spectators, and all fear. All they hear is each other, their communication, and Cup if he gives orders. It is a routine practiced tens of times by these three, and is done with precision, accuracy, and speed. The hose is out of the truck and into the hydrant twenty feet away in less than twenty seconds. In another twenty, it is operational and blowing water into the complex, containing the fire and giving other teams en route time to coordinate search and rescue operations. According to the sit-rep (situation report), there was an elderly man still inside who refused to leave his safe behind to the flame. He was going to have to be extracted, along with the other unconfirmed number of inhabitants still trapped inside. Three other members of Sam’s team are also on hose duty, while Cup and his two partners go over a quick plan on civilian extraction. There are 9 firefighters in Sam’s unit all accounted for, and there were supposed to be 2 more engines arriving within 10 minutes.
But, as in war, disaster waits for no man. There can be no waiting for the second engine to arrive, and Cup organizes his two men into single column behind him before charging through the open front door. Cup yells his orders and team position into Sam’s earpiece as he moves through the complex, and the remaining six members of the team make sure to communicate back whatever deemed necessary, as well as make sure not to hose anywhere near their Chief.
After thirty seconds of operation, an ambulance arrives.
Fifty-eight seconds in, Chief Cup lets out a scream over the radio. A Sit-Rep is requested by Jesse, but none given.
After two minutes of operation, Chief Cup and firefighter “Big” James are seen running from around the back of the complex. They are supporting a mid-twenty’s man between them. He is rushed to the ambulance and given oxygen and checked for burns and injuries. While Sam in concentrating on his work with the hose, he is still able to see and hear from a corner of his awareness of the ambulance situation.
The male is fine, as to why he did not get out in time was still unknown. Big James is likewise fine, and grabs a fire axe as well as a camera-like body detector, and runs back to the complex, running around to the back this time, as the front has collapsed. Cup is wounded in his right foot. A large piece of timber fell onto its lower half, breaking all toes and tarsals up to the ankle. Sam feels worry for him, but can’t help but admire Cup’s anger as he rages over his foot and his inability to continue his participation.
After 4 minutes of operation, the second engine arrives, along with two more police cruisers. The cold, relatively elderly Captain Abel in charge of engine number two runs out and quickly confers with Cup before giving orders to his men. Three men are sent into the complex, three are given ladder duty, and the remaining four are given extinguishers and are to make sure the flame does not spread to the homes on either side of the complex. The flame is growing and becoming difficult to contain.
Five minutes have run by, and James and Rick of Sam’s unit declare the both floors clear. They are exiting.
Five minutes, fifteen seconds hits and Rick claims another victim is found on their way toward the exit. It is the elderly man. He is breathing, but unresponsive and trapped beneath a stairwell. He is burned along the left side of his face, head, neck, and arm bad. Big James gets to work with the fire axe on the stairway.
Five minutes, forty five seconds hits. The flame engulfing the house is now borderless. The entire inside of the house is ablaze. The ladder is lowered and the firefighters brought back down to earth. Rick, Big James, and two of the three second team firefighters are seen running out of the back of the complex with the greedy elderly man between them. Sam is 90% sure by looking at him, the old man is dead. An inquiry is made about the whereabouts of the third man, and the man radios his position from inside the house. Very bad news.
The six minute, fifteen second mark hits, and it is discovered that a mother and two sons are trapped in a basement. The basement door to the first floor is blocked by falling flaming debris from the floor divider. The third firefighter from Abel’s team is unable to clear the doorway and is in danger of becoming seriously injured and burned. Captain Abel orders his man to evacuate, has another 6 second discussion with Cup, and opens the entire firefighter radio channel.
“All teams, this is Captain Abel. Three victims are trapped in the basement and they need evac.” His voice is relatively quiet, but more than present and beyond urgent. “Both hose teams from Engine 418 are to concentrate all water on the front door and its frame. I want three axes, two detectors, and three backups ready to charge in the second you are able. Get in, get the victims, and get out. MOVE!”
Sam’s hose team and Marty’s hose team of 418 both change targets and direct their stream at the front door. There is a small pile of burning wood at the threshold, and is quickly blown away by the powerful hoses. More debris falls under the pressure of the cascading water, but the hose teams are slowly and steadily approaching the door. Ten feet from the door, James, Rick, and a team two man are seen at the front with axes, two ladder men serve as the body detector operators, and the last ladder man along with two fire extinguisher men serve as the backup, all armed with axes and extinguishers.
Soon, the door and its frame are nonexistent, only little, light, flaming pieces of cheap plywood fall on the threshold now. Sam yells the countdown over the radio.
“HOSES OFF ON MARK! THREE! TWO! ONE! MARK!”
Both hoses cease, and the rescue team sprints fearlessly inside.
Comments
Please Login to post comments| On April 30th 2008 twilight8218 Said : | |
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kmpp |
| On April 30th 2008 LadyCha0s Said : | |
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kmp =] |
| On April 30th 2008 LadyCha0s Said : | |
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kmp =] |
| On April 29th 2008 muse4apoem Said : | |
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KMP to! :) |
| On April 13th 2008 sixtiesdoll Said : | |
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Wow~ haunting. Kmupdated :) |
| On April 12th 2008 CrunkkxPunkk Said : | |
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Amazing. :D |
