Fire One

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

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SPEAKER_2 (0:30)

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SPEAKER_1 (0:51)

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Miles Tritle (1:03)

It's that time of year again, and I regret to inform you, I will not be doing a Halloween special as I have in past years. However, instead of a Halloween special, this entire month of October will have a theme.

Living with Demons These next few episodes will include a variety of stories, all having to do with malevolent spirits and evil presences.

Many people discover the podcast this time of year, so if you are new, welcome to The Warning Woods. The Warning Woods The Warning Woods The Warning Woods Hazelmut The aroma has just begun to waft out with the steam rising from the Keurig. Next to me, Captain Tanner whacks a wooden spatula against a skillet sizzling with bacon and with his other hand tosses a pan of scrambled eggs. Breakfast for dinner I remember it feeling more special as a kid. As a firefighter, a meal is a meal. If you get to sit and eat it hot, you feel like the luckiest crew in the world. For those few minutes, you probably are. Some of the others get superstitious if we can cook and eat a full meal without the alarm interrupting us. Me, I'm just happy to eat. Maybe a little too happy. I'm bulging with eggs and pancakes and bacon and hazelnut coffee when the bell rings and the red light on the wall starts flashing. Overhead, an automated female voice repeats, Residential structure fire 5601 Sickle Road.

I'm grateful to sit again once I'm geared up in the back of the engine. Brain says, let's make this quick. I need a nap. Not what you want to hear your driver say. Her real name is Lorraine, but everyone calls her Rain because, you know, she puts out fires.

Captain Tanner is in the passenger seat talking to dispatch on the phone, gathering details. Every now and then, he chucks his chin toward us and offers a snippet of info. Visible flames inside. One man evac'd with injuries.

No one knows if anyone else is inside.

I swallow.

Boyd asks, any pets inside? Tanner's head jerks after a five second delay, and he repeats Boyd's question into the phone. Boyd's rookie face flushes when Tanner looks back at him and confirms, no pets. Good call though.

Boyd understands why the rest of us retreated into our own heads when we learned there could be someone still inside. His knuckles glow as his grip on his helmet pulses. He's excited, but he's afraid to show it. Hey, I say to him, put that thing on. It's not going to do you any good in your lap. I slip my mask on, twisting the regulator to make sure it's on tight. Boyd does the same, and we put our helmets on at the same time. The coffee and bacon argue inside me.

Rain asks Tanner, How about the guy that evac'd? Is he conscious, breathing? Sounds like he's conscious, Tanner replies. Neighbor says he collapsed. She's shaken up and dispatch can't get much more out of her. He hears me open the first aid bag and says, Medical's already in route. Hopefully we can give the fire all of our attention. I nod, but keep checking the bag's contents just in case.

We're a block from Sickle Road now. I help Boyd check his radio. I smell the house before it comes into view and lean around Captain Tanner's seat for a better view. It's a single story house on a corner lot with plenty of space between it and the houses on either side. Flames are shooting through windows along the whole front side of the house. The structure is already a total loss.

I'm not too worried about the fire spreading to other buildings. Besides a couple of trees in the backyard, the house stands alone. God, I hope we don't have to go inside.