Firebreak: A Mystery Read Free Page B

blowing northeast. And the Harrison Ridge fire is continuing to spread south. Both fires could potentially strike Artemis.”
    A new EMS driver that Josie had never met spoke up. “What’s the difference between a voluntary and a mandatory evacuation?”
    Doug smiled. “In reality, nothing. We had reached the point where people weren’t taking the calls for evacuation seriously, so we added the mandatory evacuation level to let folks know the danger is imminent and immediate. We can’t actually force someone off their property.” He paused, as if deciding if he should say more, and then turned to face the whiteboard behind him.
    Someone had already drawn a crude map of Arroyo County, shaped like a piece of pie with the tip pointing north. A square represented Artemis on the south end of the county, taking up about half the crust. Six miles separated downtown Artemis from the river and the border with Mexico. The other two towns shown on the map were smaller circles up north, and they represented the towns of Hepburn and Riseman. A wide strip of red was shaded over the central part of Arroyo County, and it covered both Hepburn and Riseman. The amount of red provided a disturbing visual.
    Doug ran his hand down the middle part of the county, from the tip of the pie, directly toward Artemis. The red stopped just above the town.
    “Over the past two days the fire has destroyed both towns, burning homes and property. At this point we still don’t know exact numbers, but the devastation is immense for them.” Doug tapped his finger on the clear area between the red band and Artemis below it. “I’d say we have about fifty miles between the mudflats at the north end of Artemis and the fire’s path.” He paused and turned to the group of officers and firefighters, all grim-faced and obviously distraught over the news. They were concerned about the limited resources available to fight a fire of this magnitude.
    Gabriel Vasquez, who Josie knew was one of Doug’s best volunteers, asked, “Can you estimate how long before it gets here?”
    “The high temperatures and the storm clouds are giving us really unpredictable conditions. I’m not ready to put an ETA on it. As evening approaches, I would predict the wind will die down, but we have to prepare for the worst.”
    “Which is?” Vasquez said.
    Doug turned back to the whiteboard and drew arrows on either side of the red vertical strip representing the Harrison Ridge fire. The arrows angled in toward the red area. “We have to assume this fire will follow the same trajectory, which is a straight path south toward the mudflats north of town.” He pointed to the outskirts of town, on the northern edge. “We’ll flank the fire on either side of it and try to squeeze it out before it gets here.”
    One of the younger sheriff’s deputies, Dave Phillips, called out, “Why not get in front of it? We draw a line in the sand and put a line of fire trucks across it. We put everything we got out there, slurry drops, water trucks, water packs. We just hit it head-on.”
    Doug again wiped his forehead with the bandanna and put a hand up. “You have to realize, we’re not talking about a forest fire that burns sections for hours at a time. We’re talking about grass fires that can spread at lightning speed. The fire comes at you so fast you don’t have time to get out of its way. And, don’t think a grass fire can’t kill you. They burn hot and fast, and with the wind gusts we’ve seen? You don’t want to put yourself out in front of it.”
    The room was silent. Josie thought about Doug’s description and wondered how a team of firefighters could discern the front end of a fire at night and with no aerial view, just the knowledge passed along by the firefighters themselves and the spotters throughout the county. It was a frightening thought.
    “We’ve got a positive going for us tonight. A hotshot crew out of Montana is here in Artemis. They’re smoke jumpers who