In Hot Water Read Free Page B

arson.”
    JC already had the engine pulled up to the house. He jumped out to help Kimmie and David Spratt, Royce Pope, and Allen Wise get the hose attached to the shiny new fire hydrant.
    “Where do you want us, Chief?” Bert Wando asked, pry ax in hand, face mask pulled down. “I can go inside and look for Mr. Falk.”
    Stella thought a lot of Bert, but she didn’t think he was ready to go into the house. He’d missed a lot of training the last few months of high school. “Not this one. This is bad. Get the thermal imager. Let’s see what’s going on in there.”
    She was missing some of her most experienced volunteers. Ricky was gone. John wasn’t there. Banyin Watts was too pregnant to work. Petey Stanze had been injured in another fire.
    Stella was going to have to take Allen and Kent into the house. The two men were hard workers. She needed JC and Royce’s strength and calm outside to make sure the hoses remained stable enough to fight the fire.
    Bert was disappointed but didn’t disagree with her. He got the used imager the town had recently purchased and brought it to her as she directed the hoses. Kimmie and David put the hydraulic ladder up to the third floor.
    “We have to get the roof vented,” Stella told them. “Allen and Kent, I need you inside. Put on your packs and let’s go.”
    The fire was so hot that it had scorched the new trees and grass around the house. Debris had totaled the Mercedes that was parked in the drive. People from other houses in the neighborhood walked up to see what was going on. Drivers stopped to point and stare from their cars as the fire ripped through what was left of the structure.
    Stella looked at the thermal imager. It was clear to see where the heart of the fire was located, but not if there was anyone inside. “I can’t tell if Barney Falk is in there.”
    “We’re gonna look for him?” Allen asked with some trepidation in his voice. He wasn’t used to being backup for the core members who were gone.
    “That’s what we have to do,” Stella said. “Are you okay with that?”
    Allen frowned. “I’ll give it my best shot, Chief.”
    “That’s all any of us can do.”
    “We’re not looking for a
living
person in there, right?” Kent grabbed his pry ax.
    “I don’t know,” she confided. “There’s always a chance. Watch your backs. Keep your masks on, and be careful going in. I’ll be right behind you. When I say get out, get out fast.”
    Stella got her gear set up and gave last-minute instructions to everyone before she joined Kent and Allen in the inferno.
    So much damage had been done to the interior of the house from the explosion and the fire that followed that it was difficult to tell what rooms they were walking through. It looked like a foyer and an office of some sort. The heat and sound of the flames made it hard to concentrate.
    They wouldn’t have much time before the house came down. They were going to have to split up to search the three floors, if they had a chance of finding anyone alive. While she wanted to protect Allen and Kent, she needed each of them to walk through the flame and smoke alone.
    “I’ll take the second floor.” She knew the fire was hottest there. “Kent, you take the top floor. Allen—the ground floor. Look for survivors. That’s it. Make a quick sweep of the place and get out, whether you hear from me or not. Just get back outside.”
    The two men nodded, grim faced, their eyes filled with fear. They each held their pry ax in a death grip before them.
    Stella ran up the burning stairs to the second floor. If she hadn’t turned away, she would have lost her nerve as she looked at them. Everyone was scared, even her. It was different back home, where she’d been a firefighter for ten years. Chief Henry had made these decisions. He’d been responsible for what happened to the men and women who worked for him.
    Here in Sweet Pepper, that was her job. It was the hardest thing she’d ever done.
    Kent