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It was in a strip mall and it was big enough for five engine
companies to respond. Chance's was the second on scene,
and he felt the familiar rush of adrenaline as soon as they
pulled up to the row of burning buildings. His crew leapt off
the rig and turned to him immediately, waiting for direction,
even though Chance knew that all of them were capable
enough to figure out what to do on their own.
Still. Barking orders gave him a hard-on.
He took one look at the flames and tried to assess who
was needed where. One of the chiefs from downtown was
already shouting at two guys on the roof, so Chance sent Jim
over to check if he needed to go up too, and Trey and Randy
were working on the hose line.
The third engine pulled screaming into the parking lot, and
Chance noted briefly that it was Engine Nineteen, Tucker's
station. However, it was a C-shift day, which meant Tucker
would be home, not at work. Chance regretted that he hadn't
had a chance to call him to say he wouldn't be home any time
soon, but Tucker would figure it out anyway. He'd probably
call the station looking for him and Chance's relief would tell
Tucker where he was. Chance was betting he'd be pissed off
that he missed the opportunity to play in the flames.
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To Serve and Protect
by Chris Owen, Tory Temple, CB Potts
He had no more time to think about it before one of the
other captains yelled at him and pointed toward the ladder
that was leaning against the side of the building. Chance
nodded once, checked to see if his crew was following orders,
and started scaling the ladder to the roof.
They battled flames for nine hours, stopping only briefly to
gulp bottles of water or wolf down the sandwiches that
magically appeared from some of the neighboring
restaurants. Chance was drenched in sweat inside his
turnouts before noon and wished desperately for a dry t-shirt,
but there was no time to change before he found himself back
on the roof, holding a hose line.
The only truly frightening part of the day occurred when
the captain at Station Four got caught under one of the falling
rafters inside a building. Chance hadn't been anywhere near
the incident at the time; he'd been in the cab of his engine,
on the radio with Station Two's engineer. There had been
shouts and the sound of running feet and Chance looked up in
time to see the captain being carried out and loaded into the
back of a medic van.
The guy hadn't been brought to one of their local hospitals,
but one that was farther away because of the reputation it
had for its excellent burn unit, and all the men on scene had
grown quiet when they'd found out. Being transported to a
burn unit only meant one thing: pain. Chance had a sober
moment when he realized not only was that captain's career
in jeopardy, but his life was as well.
It was nearing six o'clock before one of the chiefs finally
dismissed Chance's engine. Two other companies stayed to
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To Serve and Protect
by Chris Owen, Tory Temple, CB Potts
assess damage and cool hot spots, but Chance's crew climbed
wearily onto their rig and rolled out. They discussed the fire
on their short trip back to the station, and Chance
complimented all of them on doing what they'd been trained
to do.
C shift greeted them when they returned, grumbling about
how they'd missed the call by only twenty minutes. Chance
was just considering grabbing a fast shower before heading
home to Tucker when Jim nudged him.
"Your boy's here."
His head whipped around, shower forgotten. It had been
dark when they'd pulled in; he must have missed Tucker's
truck in the lot. "Where?"
"Your office."
Chance headed down the hallway to the small office he
shared with the other two captains, eager to see Tucker and
tell him about their day. The adrenaline still flowed through
him and he realized he was hard inside his shorts, same as
he'd been when they'd arrived on scene that morning. Fire
had that effect on him.
Tucker sat in Chance's chair behind the desk, his
expression serious. He rose when Chance stopped in the
doorway and came around the desk to stand in front of him,
studying Chance's face. "You didn't call."
Chance raised a brow. "You think I had time to call?"
"You could've," Tucker insisted, a furrow appearing on his
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