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“Yeah, I’m taking a class over winter break.”
They separated to go to their lockers. It was odd not working with Jake, another consideration for not getting involved with a coworker. But the good thing was that over the weekend, she finished a paper she had to write and was ahead in homework. It might be wise to keep the separate schedules once the new semester started. It would be okay to overlap a few days, but having every day off together could become problematic. Jake liked being together, but so did she.
The day was a quiet Monday until the tones sounded right before sunset. The clear voice of the dispatcher echoed throughout Station #34.
“Structure fire in progress, engine 4, engine 12, wagon 2, ladder 17, squad 4, rescue 1, fire chief, fire investigator…”
“So bring everything,” someone said as the crew rushed to get into the trucks.
In a minute the big garage doors were open and they were on their way to a rare structure fire. The problem was with the dry conditions, a structure fire often spread to the surrounding brush, so timing was of the essence.
Sitting in the back of engine 4, Geri mentally prepared herself for hours of work ahead of them. It was a fact of a firefighter’s life in that environment they could be out for days. A scary thought came to her; it might be the last fire she fought, so safety was key. Going through the checklist in her head, the crew chief wouldsize up the fire once they arrived, they’d establish a water supply, force entry if necessary, and search for and rescue possible inhabitants. And also important, prevent spread of the fire beyond the structure. In a matter of seconds a structure fire could escalate to a wildfire.
When they arrived, it was too late, the structure was engulfed and the fire had already moved beyond the immediate vicinity. Charlie gave directions to the crew of Station #34. Most were putting water on the structure, but following his commands, Geri grabbed her gear to begin the hike up the hillside. Another alarm would be called, and another, but until the arrival of other crews, it was just Geri and Big Mike and their pickaxes.
“I might be getting too old for this,” he said right before they got to work.
“You’re in great shape,” Geri encouraged, not wanting her partner to crap out in the middle of a fire.
It didn’t take long for her to get into the rhythm of swinging the pickax along the ridgeline to prevent the spread of the fire. She tried to be conscious of others around her, especially Big Mike; knowing what the fire was doing, being aware of her escape route and watching out for her fellow firefighters were key precepts. It only took seconds to be separated from other firefighters.
For the next hour, Geri and Big Mike cleared a wide strip as a firebreak. Then, a tragic mistake, Geri and Big Mike were left up on the mountain alone. The lookout spotted a section where the fire had jumped a break at about a two-thousand-foot elevation, warning his crew by radio but missing the two firefighters from Station #34. When the line of men came down the mountainside, Charlie saw them descending and later said he was relieved at first.
“I saw their helmet lights bobbing down the trail,” he told fire investigators. “So I ran up to meet them, noting their faces and the names on their turnout gear, the numbers of their fire stations, and when the last one passed by me, I realized two of my crew were still up there.”
The heat, smoke and exhaustion overpowered Big Mike soon after they were abandoned. Geri was at his side, placing his mask over his face and turning the air on, rubbing his back as he leaned against a boulder. She was afraid if she let him sit on the ground, she wouldn’t be able to get him up again.
Looking around in the dark, she’d lost her sense of direction in the smoke. The light on her helmet illuminated enough of the ground for her to see where it declined somewhat.
“If we head that way, I think it’s going down,” she said. “Do you think you can stand if you lean against me?”
“I’m too heavy,” he said, panting.
“Just breathe easy, Big Mike. Lean against me. You kept telling everyone how strong I am. Let me prove it now.”
“Oh, I see,” he said, relaxing. “It’s a pride thing.”
“I’m not leaving you, if that’s what you mean, and we can’t stay here because the fire is getting too close. Just lean on me.”
So that was how Charlie, Leon and Rick Jackson found them, coming down the mountain off the trail too far to the south but headed toward safety, with Big Mike in the arms of Geri Angel. She’d kept him upright, worried about his pride, but was ostensibly carrying him.
“Pop! Oh God, is he burned?”
“We didn’t get that close. He’s exhausted with smoke inhalation,” Geri said, clearly struggling under the weight.
The men took over, getting on either side of Big Mike. The second his weight was removed from her body, Geri collapsed to the ground.
***
Big Mike was on his way to the hospital, stable but on heart monitors, while Roberta and the rest of his family waited, in shock. After what they’d been through in the past, losing Mike Junior, it was unconscionable to think they could possibly lose their father and husband.
After she had fluids and rested for a while in the wagon, Geri was released to go back to the station. But the upper echelon wasn’t finished with her or with Big Mike. A formal inquiry by commands center operations would be made, first of all since Mike was a senior member of the team, and secondly, because Geri was still on probation.
Big Mike would get a visit in the hospital, but Geri would still smell of smoke when she was summoned. They’d give her just enough time to shower and change clothes before interviewing her.
“It’s not like you’re in trouble for anything. Just tell the truth,” Charlie said. “I’ll be with you.”
She nodded, beyond speech. So tired every bone in her body ached, all she could think of was what the repercussions would have been if she hadn’t been able to get Big Mike out. A fire moves at about fifteen miles per hour in grasslands, but double that on a ten-degree slope, and they had been at that or more. She told Charlie that she’d practically slid down the mountain with Big Mike, that it had taken all the strength in her body not only to hold him upright, but to prevent them from tumbling head over heels. She’d been petrified.
