It was 2am. The station was silent, except for the low rumble of the air conditioner and the loud snore of our chief. All was quiet until tones dropped in the bunkroom. 201 Neopian Way. House Fire. I jumped out of my bunk and ran through the halls, the sound of others running close behind. I went into the apparatus bay, and I pulled on my boots and my pants, getting the suspenders over my shoulders. I grabbed my coat off the floor, and quickly put it on. I opened the door of the engine and got in. Several other Firefighters hurried into the engine as the bay doors began to open. My heart pounded as I put my headset on, and the engine began to drive out. Sirens wailed through the buildings of Neopia central, as HQ confirmed the call "House fire with possibly a victim still inside". I looked to my partner, Rinlu, who nodded as he put on his SCBA straps. I grabbed the face piece mask bag, grabbed a mask, and tossed the bag to Rinlu.

I blushed and nodded.

He shook his head. Rinlu began putting his SCBA and his face piece into working order. I followed his lead. When I finished, I noticed a faint glow in the distance.

I grinned and looked to my left, where our lieutenant Hurst was sorting through the medical bag, muttering about burns and organization. Hurst saw me looking, and shoved three large flashlights into my arms.

He winked, and gave me a soft punch to the shoulder. Hurst had a tough exterior, but was a great guy once you got to know him. And we all know his ambition: to become a chief! I handed the flashlights to the others, as the engine rolled up to the building. We unbuckled and put on out helmets. Our Chief yelled,

We nodded and ran. I went to the side of the engine and reached for the handline. I put the hose on my shoulder and ran it to the yard of the house. By the time I got back to the engine, four other engines were pulling in. I grabbed a supply line and connected it to the hydrant, and called our driver to manage the guages.

He yelled. I opened the hydrant took the hydrant wrench back to the engine. As I finished, I ran to the rest of the interior crew, who were pulling on their hoods. I took off my helmet, grabbed my mask and put the mesh over the top of my head, tightening the straps. I then made the seal in my mask, placing the respirator into its place. Turning on my PASS device, I put my gloves on and took the nozzle of the hose. I heard the blood pounding in my ears. And in less then a heartbeat, the crew and I were in the building. The roar of the flames was intense, and there was no path to enter. I opened the hose and started making a path. I turned to see who was behind me on the hose line, and saw Rinlu, who was signaling me to continue on. I started to breathe heavier. Then I remembered. Relax. I took one deep breath, then went on. We got to the first door, and opened it, carefully checking that there was no sign of a back draft.We searched the room, but nothing was there. We marked the door with an X to tell the others that we had searched and found nothing inside the room. As I finished marking the door, it swung back open, but Rinlu grabbed me back, and shut the door, and pushed me on. We continued on, as the smoke condition worsened. Rinlu dropped the hose line and talked into his portable

The fire was roaring in our ears. As we waited for the chief to call back, we heard a scream for help. Rinlu grabbed the portable and hollered,

Rinlu and I continued on, telling the other interior crew what we heard and where we were going. Hurst and Nomex Took the handline and gave us tools and a set of survival lines. Hurst pointed to the rope, and said

We nodded and tied the ropes to our gear rings. We continued down the halls, checking each room, but finding nothing. When we got to the last room, I put the halligan bar into the door, but Rinlu pushed it out of my hands.

he growled. He pointed to the bottom of the door, where the smoke was being pulling in.

He whispered. Before we could do anything, we heard the scream again.

We crawled down to the last door we checked. We opened it, looking for the spare door. When we reached it, we called for the child, who called back. She was trapped! I picked up the halligan bar and opened the door, where the small Wocky was shaking in a corner. I picked her up, tossing the halligan to Rinlu, but he missed it, and it bounced off his helmet. I laughed and held the Wocky close, careful to shield her from the intense fire and falling debris. As we reached the end of a hallway, my heart dropped. Fire was rolling over the ceiling and there was a gaping hole in the floor. We were trapped.

TO BE CONTINUED