It was around ten at night when we all turned into our bunks. The firehouse had beenu quiet that day, no alarms going off, no people needing help, no fires to put out. Somehow it was comforting but it made for a boring shift. The firehouse had three separate bunking rooms. I was the only girl on the shift so luckily I had a room to myself. We'd all eaten a healthy and tasty meal, but that was only because Lieutenant Wolfron had cooked the food. When it was my turn to cook we usually just ordered pizza, it saved us all from stomach aches. Meal times were the best. We all sat around telling stories, or throwing silly insults at eachother. Captain Chainy and Rodney Lee were always bickering back and forth, but we all got a kick out of them. It was only my second week at the firehouse but I was loving every minutes of it. The personnel at the department was like a big family. Everyone taking care of eachother. The camaraderie was amazing. The lights were off and the house was silent. I could hear some of the guys in the next room snoring. Slowly I drifted off to sleep thinking how much I loved being a firefighter.
BBBUUUZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!!!!! I shot out of bed and ran to the bay where all the trucks were parked and ready for action, behind me were the other seven guys who were on the same shift. They were yawning and wiping the sleep out of they're eyes as they ran to get they're bunker gear on. I jumped into my rubber boots that were a size to big but still comfortable. Quickly pulling up my bunker pants and putting my head sock on, then slipping into my coat. Running to the truck while zipping my coat I heard dispatch say that we had a four alarm fire with visible flames and three occupants still inside according to witnesses. Jumping into the back seat of the ladder truck we followed the tanker and the first response unit to the site.
Even before we turned onto the street we could see the glow from the flames. It was still dark outside. Not having a chance to see what the time was I guessed it to be around two or three in the morning. Coming around the corner we had a full visual of the two story house that had flames coming out of every window. Rolling up on the scene Captain Chainy came over to me saying that I would be taking the exterior attack on Side C (which was the back side of the house). I heard him then yell at Steve Martin, who was the newest guy on the team, and Sean Laurer to get ready to make an interior attack. I quickly got my SCBA (self contained breathing aparatus) on and pulled my mask on tight. When doing an exterior attack we were not required to wear masks but I always wore mine just in case I got sent inside.
Running to the truck I pulled the inch and a half house from the coil which sat at the front of the ladder truck. Rodney was already getting all the fittings hooked to the hydrant. As I ran over to get my hose hooked up, he tightened it and I ran to the back of the house. The hose quickly filled with water as I got into place. Throwing the handle back on the nozzel I directed the water to spray over the flames that were shooting out of the windows. I did not know whether there were still any occupants inside the house, but prayed that there wasn't. I could feel the heat rolling over me. The Lt came over the radio announcing that there was still a child lost inside the house. Steve and Sean then announced they were entering and doing a left handed search.
I kept my hose centered on the flames, slowly sweeping back and forth. The Black smoke was still rising and disapearing into the sky. I eagerly waited for the report to come over the radio. Ten minutes passed.... then twenty mintutes, and still nothing. Steve and Sean announced they were coming out. Over they're voices I could hear the alarms of they're SCBA's announcing they were low on air. The flames were calming down. We had exterior hoses on all sides. I listened for the IC (incident commander) to send two people back inside but there was no announcement. There was nothing but silence. The flames died down and small puffs of steam swept toward the sky. I could hear wood crackling and voices booming. I turned of my nozzel and went to the front of the house where I saw lights flashing and hoses strewn around everywhere. Sean and Steve sat in the back of the ambulance with black faces sipping on some gadorade. Everyone looked somber. I looked around for the captain and found him talking to some of the neighbors. I asked him why we weren't sending in another team. He told me that it was too late. I couldn't comprehend why it was too late. It wasn't too late until the body was found. He could see the defiance in my eyes and explained that there was no way the little girl could of survived. The house had been engulfed and now lay in ruins. It didn't seem right.
We all got our pike poles from the engine and entered the mess of a house and started poking at the ceilings and walls making sure the flames were totally extinguished. While we were poking and proding around the arson investigator went in and poked around as well, but he was looking for something a little different then what we were. And he found what he was looking for quicker then we all thought he would. In what looked to be a blackened and crisp toy box lay what looked like a little child's body. Black and burnt from the flames.
That morning was a cloudy and rainy one. The mood was gloomy. I saw a police officer walk over to what had to of been the parents of the little girl, and lead them away from the crowd of onlookers. I couldn't seem them anymore but I could hear the screaming and hysterical crying.
The department sent us all to see therapists because they thought it would help us get over what happened. But no amount of therapy, no amount of time, and no amount of alcohol, would ever get the images and emotions of that night out of our heads.