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ChapterTwenty-One
BRYCE
The blaring alarm disoriented me for a moment. I was out of bed and slipping on my gear in the garage before I even really woke up. Jake and Matteo were close behind. I climbed into the passenger seat and got on the radio with dispatch as Jake pulled out of the garage and followed the preprogrammed navigation.
An accident on the interstate, about ten miles south of Minden. It technically wasn’t our territory, but we sometimes got called in to assist.
The dispatcher gave me the information and I winced, glancing at Jake.
He heard the same information I did. A truck driver lost control, crashed through the median, and struck another semi coming the other direction. A full tanker truck of fuel.
I got on the horn with the incident command from the responding department, and they told us to approach from the west.
I said a quick prayer of thanks that the accident had happened in the middle of the night when traffic was minimal. Even so, a line of traffic was waiting. The lanes were blocked with the remains of two tractor trailers as we approached. We drove on the shoulder and avoided the drivers who had stepped out of their cars to watch the scene unfold.
I could see the flames from several hundred yards away, and Jake let out a low whistle.
It was obvious that we were ill-equipped to help with this fire. Our foam tender was small, but I offered our limited capacity to the incident command.
“Understood. The hazmat truck from Terre Haute is only ten minutes out. We’re playing defense until they get here. You take the B side and knock it down the best you can.”
I could feel the heat from the flames from an impressive distance as it stretched skyward, a never-ending fuel source causing rolling flames to climb and lick the night.
We did our best until the large hazmat truck arrived, filled with enough foam to successfully extinguish the burning fuel.
I watched with interest as the crew stretched the hose, holding my breath until they opened the giant stream of white.
Only minutes later, the light and heat from the fire was all but gone. Once extinguished, the fuel spill became a different kind of hazard, though. We worked with the other departments to contain the spill and protect the ground and nearby river.
Two hours after we climbed out of bed, Jake pulled the engine back into the garage.
Matteo had been talking almost non-stop since we left the scene, his adrenaline pumping from his first hazmat call.
“Did you see that foam truck? It was huge! Our biggest one is what, a third of that size?”
I nodded wearily. “Yep. We’re lucky to have what we have, though. There are a lot of rural departments with nowhere near the resources we have. So don’t be getting ungrateful.”
“Got it, Cap. I’m just saying, pretty cool to watch it tackle that tanker. I thought the truck would be empty before we managed to get it out.”
I shrugged. “Sometimes that happens, too. But it’s risky. I saw one where the fuel tanker exploded, and then it caught a gas station on fire. Which meant it had underground tanks at risk too. They evacuated an entire mile radius.”
Matteo whistled. “Wow.”
“Come on,” I said, “let’s regroup and maybe we can catch a few more hours before B shift gets here.”
As we restocked the truck and inspected our gear, Jake caught me checking my phone.
It was nearly three in the morning, but I’d been hoping to hear from Krystal before I fell asleep. Since we’d shared what I felt like was a perfect afternoon at Bloom’s farm, it had been radio silence. I’d had two busy shifts at the station, but still… I couldn’t fight the doubts.
“Trouble in paradise?” Jake asked.
I shook my head. “Not sure, man. I forgot how frustrating relationships could be.”
Jake chuckled. “I feel that. For what it’s worth, you and Krystal seem really good together. I don’t think I noticed before, but she makes you…happier, I guess?”
I smiled at his attempt to explain the shift. He was right, I knew. The last few weeks, I’d had an extra lightness in my heart. I liked to think I’d always been a pretty happy guy. I never understood Christians who existed in a constant state of misery. No matter what happened, I had Jesus, and that was always reason to have joy.
But adding Krystal to the mix, too? It was like adding chocolate chips to a brownie. It made a good thing even better.
