Author's Note- So I know that I haven't posted for a while, and I also know that some of you are waiting for the next chapter of some of my existing stories. New chapters of those will hopefully be posted soon. In the meantime, I hope that you will enjoy this collection of 26 shorts. I have collected them over the past year as I came across firefighting terms that sparked my muse's attention. And so I present you with my Christmas gift to all you readers.

Disclaimer- I do not own one/where/thing in the Cars/Planes Universe. I also am not a firefighter...I just hang out with them when I do search and rescue, so some of their terminology rubs off.

A is for Anchor and Hold

Cabbie had always said that fighting a fire was a lot like fighting a war, except in firefighting you often had more opportunities to retreat. Unfortunately, it looked like today retreating wasn't going to be a viable option because smokejumpers had parachuted into a neighborhood that was in the process of being evacuated. If they couldn't protect the choke point, civilians were going to get trapped in the inferno, and unlike members of the Air Attack Team those civilians were not wearing heat protective paint or carrying any of the fire protective gear. In short, if those civilians got trapped in the fire they didn't have a chance.

"Okay people, I need some ideas!" Dynamite shouted at her team as they plowed through shrubbery and fences in the hope of putting a barrier between the homes and the encroaching flames.

For a few long moments, no one spoke a peep as they bent their blades and rakes to the work at tire. Then Drip of all people spoke up. "We could Anchor and Hold."

"We don't have an engine and by slag, we don't have the hose." Dynamite pointed out.

"We may not have the engine, but we do have sprinklers, and we do have a boatload of garden hose." Pinecone added as she let her eyes sweep across the houses to the frightened families trapped gridlocked streets beyond. "With us not tapping the hydrants the municipal lines probably have enough water pressure to at least by the time."

"What about staffing, we don't have enough people to turn on all of those sprinklers."

"THE WE GET SOME OF THE LOCALS TO HELP." Avalanche pointed out the obvious. "THEY CAN BREAK INTO THE GARAGES AND TURN ON THE SPRINKLERS. THEY CAN ALSO HELP TRACK DOWN THE GARDEN HOSES FOR US SO WE CAN CONCENTRATE ON MAKING THE FIREBREAK."

Dynamite wanted to swear. Everything in this situation went against her training. You did not use untrained staff, and as a smokejumper, you did not use water to fight a wildfire. But they didn't have time to do a back burn and they sure as slag didn't have the manpower to combat this blaze alone. It was time to throw the rule book out the window.

Glancing at her team she let the new plan take form. She couldn't spare any of her heavy lifters to wrangle the volunteers and Blackout was her only saw which meant that she needed to keep him in reserve. That meant that there was only one vehicle that she could spare.

"Drip, I need you to drop what you are doing and organize volunteer effort. I need them to turn on every single lawn sprinkler on the street and start pulling out hoses and attaching them to houses. Get what work you can out of them, but don't let them engage the fire, I repeat; you will not let any of the volunteers engage the fire directly. The moment that the sky starts raining embers I want to know that you have pushed the convoy at least halfway down the mountain." Dynamite drove her message home.

"Wilco." The Skid Steer acknowledged the order by throwing the load of brush that he had in his claws onto the burn side of the line and making a break towards the road.

Dynamite didn't watch. Instead, she turned her attention towards the approaching wall of flame. "Alright, ground pounders, it is time to earn our hazard pay. We are going to anchor in at this point. Avalanche, Pinecone, I need you two to do a pump and run maneuver from this point heading south. Take it down to dirt.

"WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?" Avalanche asked, his blade already down and taking out a swath of rosebushes.

"I am going to hold the anchor." Dynamite replied grabbing the nearby garden hose her teeth and starting to wet down the nearby red brick home. "Move out!"

It would be touch and go for over an hour, and they would lose a hand full of houses but civilians got out and the line held. The Piston Peak Team was mighty proud of the work that did that day…still, man, were those jumpers happy to see the headlights of the county interface engines coming towards them through the smoke to tap them off the line.

Term- Anchor and Hold- This fire tactic is believed to have originated in California as a way to successfully protect neighborhoods during a fire. When a unit Anchors and Holds they have one engine hook up to a hydrant and pour as much water as they can on the head of the fire, while the other units do a pump and roll maneuver to extend the protected area. None of the smokejumpers are fire trucks, engines, tankers, or tenders, so they had to get a bit creative when they implemented the plan, but as long as a fire break has been put in place the sprinkler and garden hose method of protecting a neighborhood can be a viable option to slow the spread of a fire.

End Note- So I hope that you enjoyed the first chapter. Check back often because I will be posting one of these shorts almost every day to ensure that the entire story is posted before Christmas. :)