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Chapter Forty-one
Ruby worked hard all day, praying there wouldn’t be another call out before they were able to clean up their gear and be totally ready for the next emergency.
Of course, as life likes to throw spitballs periodically, and because they were all walking on eggshells, the call did come in. Riding along in the fire engine, she watched to see what they’d be up against, hoping it wouldn’t be another huge blaze to fight.
What she saw instead was the pileup of vehicles splattered all over the highway. Her insides tightened as they always did when seeing such a horrific accident. Oh my God. Even the tiny life inside her moved in reaction to her body tightening. In reflex, she reached down to put her hand protectively on her tummy. Her immediate reaction surprised her, but her thoughts were heartfelt. Poor baby. I’ve got you, honey. Mama’s here.
Just as they pulled in to stop, she heard one of the men next to her cuss as he pointed. The pileup covered a huge area. Three of the cars were on fire and the others involved were smashed and mangled with bodies strewn helter-skelter. Ambulances were in sight and the city’s workers were on the job, rushing to save as many people as possible.
Running toward the disaster, she saw her friend, Carolyn waving her over. “What’s up?”
“I need help with this man. He’s partially under the wheels of this car. He must have gotten thrown out during the crash and then someone hit him.”
“Right. I’ll call for help.” Ruby could see that the man was struggling for breath and appeared to be in bad shape. Hurrying, she gave orders for the crew to bring in the jack to lift the car and release the pinned body. Working along with them, it was only minutes before they had him collared and on a gurney.
She moved on to the next emergency where a car had hit the rails of the overpass and now balanced precariously on the edge. Below was a dried riverbed mostly filled with brush and yellow grasses.
Hurrying now, she got to the driver’s side to see a young girl sprawled under the deflated airbag. At first glance, she appeared dead. Thankfully, the crash had broken the window, which allowed Ruby to reach in to touch her juggler. She felt a weak pulse. Calling into her mic for assistance, she read the scene with experienced eyes and knew they only had seconds to save this victim before both her and the car fell twenty feet below.
Careful not to put any weight against the vehicle, she slowly pulled at the open door to give her the room she’d need to haul the body out. Holding her breath, she reached inside to undo the seat belt and let the weight of the girl fall into her arms.
That’s when she heard the noise of the car shuddering and knew it was now or never. Taking a huge breath, she pulled at the body as hard as she could. In the nick of time, she had her loose and using superhuman strength, she rolled them both to the ground to stop the vehicle from dragging them down with it.
Holding her victim close, Ruby prayed her rescue didn’t do any more damage to the already injured girl. Before she could move, two of her colleagues were there to help lift the girl. “She’s alive. Let’s get her hooked up and to the hospital.”
The next time Ruby got a minute to chill, Fire Chief Steve was standing beside her. “You okay?”
“Yeah.”
“That hanging car should have been on a winch to keep it from falling.”
“No time. It was a close call.”
“I saw it. Good work. But—”
“I know. I took a chance.”
“Ruby—?”
“She’d have gone down with the car, Chief.”
He nodded, but the stubborn look didn’t disappear. “You might have too.”
Ruby nodded and said no more. What could she say? God had answered her prayers.
For the next few hours, they worked among the wounded to help the police clear away the mess. It was later in the afternoon when someone yelled out that the car below had suddenly caught on fire.
How the hell that happened, no one knew but there had been a lot of lookie-loos around the site, one of them possibly careless with a cigarette.
The crash might have split open the fuel tank and if it leaked, it would take very little flame to light it. Considering the surroundings were dried brush and grass, there was fuel for the flames and fires can move fast when fed.
Before they knew it, the trees lining the edge of the river began to ignite and they were faced with a full-on forest fire to deal with. The trucks sped to get as close as they could to the flames. Needing to contain the fire to that specific area, rather than letting it take off in any direction where residential housing sat, they turned their resources to that emergency.
Police cars arrived as did other firehouses and the forest rangers followed soon after. Everyone pitched in. Ruby worked feverishly, using a hand extinguisher. She’d been one of the first to get to the burning vehicle and had covered the spreading fuel with monoammonium phosphate which stopped its flow and contained the source.
Unfortunately, it was too late because the fire now fed itself and had taken off and raged its fury while the wind helped its travels. Suddenly, her heart sped up. Considering her training had included that she remain calm during any fire, she looked for the reason. That’s when she felt eyes on her and looked up to see Kurt pushing through the smoke. “How did you get here?”
A few feet away, she still heard him clearly. “I saw the accident on the news and figured you’d be involved with the rescue. And sure as shit, I’m right.” He appeared shaken but resolved. “Let’s get you out of here.”
