Weiss Schnee had just graduated from Beacon a month earlier, coming in 3rd place for the highest grades in her class. Aged 21 going on 22, and now a huntress for the Valeanian Hunting Corps, one of the most unique branches of Vale's military forces, she often worked at her father's company in various roles in between hunting missions. She had gone to 3 hunting missions so far. She had requested to have her fellow classmates, consisting of Teams RWBY and JNPR, to be put in the same platoon as her, which was accepted. Jaune became the Lieutenant of the platoon. Ruby was second in command of the platoon, being ranked as a Staff Sergeant.

Now, the Schnees were well-known for operating the largest dust-mining companies in the world. They were also well-known in the city of Vale for their association with Vigilant Fire Company 5, nicknamed "The Vigilants." They often would pour money into the volunteer-based fire company, enabling it to afford the newest equipment and keep up with the city's paid firefighters that they worked alongside. This obviously meant that many Schnees were also firefighters for the company.

Weiss was no exception. She had joined on as a junior member when she was 12, often doing traffic control duty at fires. When she was away at Beacon, she would write letters to the company's members about her studies. She had a lot of training under her belt, from both before and after her time at Beacon. However, she was very determined to reach her goals on her own without her family's help or influence, which was hard considering not just the fact that her family was wealthy, but also because she had many other relatives in the 84-strong company.

Weiss did sometimes accept her family's assistance, such as when she helped buy Ruby, Blake, and Yang their apartments in the same apartment block she lived in. It helped that the Schnees lived in the Vigilant's area, a rather wealthy city neighbourhood, though their company's headquarters was in the Atlas Kingdom due to safety concerns and because the Schnees originally came to Vale from Atlas over a century and a half ago.

July 28, 2019

The team had been hanging out at Yang and Ruby's apartment for most of the day. Weiss had muted her pager so that it wouldn't go off almost every half-hour due to the many medical calls her company's paid personnel did on the ambulance. Yang remarked, "You know, we don't mind if your beeper goes off a lot. If you wanna go on a call, go ahead. It's not like we're gonna stop you."

Weiss replied, "I know, Yang. It's just that since the city's fire dispatch system has separate siren and pager tones but not separate paid and volunteer tones, I get to be woken up every night at least 4 to 5 times for a call that the paid ambulance guys can handle on their own. Besides, I'm useless at medicals until I pass the Intermediate FF course and become an EMT. Of course, if I hear the siren go off, then it's a call that I can actually do something at." She then paused. "You have no clue what those terms mean, do you?"

Ruby smiled and said, "Nope!"

Blake laughed and said, "When was your last call?"

"Yesterday," Weiss replied as she destroyed a character Yang was playing as on a video game.

Yang said, "Aw c'mon, Weiss."

"The fire alarms went off at a book store because some dumbass decided to run a gas motor in the basement. Earlier, I had a minor car accident with a lady with some neck pain."

Then, Weiss felt her pager vibrate again. Ruby said, "C'mon, Weiss, just turn on your pager so we can hear the call!"

Weiss turned a knob, and the pager turned on. Vigilant's siren tone activated, followed by the pager and siren tones of a neighbouring fire company and another pager tone. Yang said, "Sounds big."

"Big? That was only 2 companies and the Assistant District Chief." Weiss turned up the pager's volume more.

A dispatcher then said over the radio, "Vale City Fire Alarm on the air for Box 225 for District 2 Assistant, Vigilant 5 and Enterprise Steamer 10 for a Delta Response Traffic Accident near the location of 77 Washburn Road involving 2 cars. The caller states that there appears to be a female unconscious in one of the cars. Repeating, Vale City Fire Alarm on the air for Box 225 for Vigilant 5 and Enterprise Steamer 10 for a Delta Response Traffic Accident near the location of 77 Washburn Road involving 2 cars. Vale City Fire Alarm, signing off at 1252 Hours, Alarm Operator 166."

Weiss said, "Well girls, I'm gonna go to the accident." She then got up and walked out.

Ruby said, "Bye Weiss! Have fun! Or... Just be safe, okay?"

Weiss turned around and said, "Of course I'll be safe, Ruby."

Weiss ran down the stairs from the 3rd floor to the 1st of the apartment building. She then ran outside to the firehouse, which was only a block away. She could hear the station's loud siren roar up and down to alert firefighters. This siren did not go off for all calls, and would only go off for fire calls and accidents, which Vigilant usually got 2-3 of per day.

As she ran in, she saw the ambulance, driven by the paid firefighters, turn a corner and disappear. She ran to a row of coat racks with 2 pairs of boots under each coat. 2 other volunteers that were at the station had already started up the company's rescue, Rescue 201. Weiss took her shoes off and quickly slipped her feet into her boots, which said "Ws. Schnee" on the side. She then grabbed a folded-over section of one boot and pulled it up to her thigh before doing the same with her other boot. She then grabbed her black and yellow coat, which said "VFC 5" and went down to her knees, and hastily put it on. Finally, she grabbed her helmet, a traditional leather helmet with the giant number 5 on the shield.

A volunteer said, "You're quick, Schnee!"

Weiss replied, "Of course I am. Us Schnees are the fastest damn firefighters in the city!" She then laughed as 3 more firefighters ran in to the station. Weiss then opened the back door to Rescue 201 and sat down in a jumpseat. "Is the ambulance there yet?"

"Not yet," said the driver. "Say, your sister wanted you to see her next meeting tomorrow night."

"Winter? Oh boy..."

Then, the 3 firefighters climbed aboard the rescue, filling up the last of the 6 seats plus 3 others on the rear step. The driver then radioed, "Fire Alarm, Rescue 201's responding with a crew of 9." He then said, "Wow, a full crew in 3 minutes. Impressive."

At 1:00, Rescue 201 arrived on scene, the ambulance beating them by 2 minutes. Weiss got out first and walked over to the first car. It had its windows all smashed, but it appeared to have otherwise minor damage. The driver of that vehicle was already out, as indicated by the open car door, and was already receiving treatment. She then walked over to the second car. It had flipped over once and was severely damaged. "Holy shit," Weiss said to herself. "Whoever was driving this must've been really messed up by this crash."

Then, a firefighter said, "Weiss, come over here. It's urgent."

Weiss turned around and went over to a stretcher with a covered-up body. She said, "Dead on arrival?"

"Yep. But... Uhh... You're not gonna believe who it is."

Weiss said, "Let me have a look." She then peeled back the blanket covering the body's face and screamed.

"Didn't she hang out with your friends a few times over at the firehouse?"

"Pyrrha... Oh my God..." Weiss then covered up her head again. "No way... No fucking way... Nuh uh... That can't be her..."

"I found her wallet in the car. Sure enough, her name is, well, or was, Pyrrha Nikos."

Weiss then said, "I need a minute." She then slowly walked over to the rescue, opened the cab door, stepped inside, shut the door, and cried. She cried for a full 7 minutes to herself, and it was quite loud.

A paid firefighter said to a volunteer, "She took it really hard."

"I know. That's gotta suck, huh? Seeing one of your own friends dead in a crash is awful."

At 1:23, Weiss returned to Yang and Ruby's apartment, her eyes red from crying. Yang said, "Weiss? What's up?"

Ruby got up and spread her arms out to embrace Weiss, who hugged her back and broke down in tears. "There, there, child. It's okay..."

Weiss then let go and said, "Pyrrha... Pyrrha's gone..."

Blake, Yang, and Ruby all said together, "What?!"

Blake said, "Gone? What the hell do you mean 'gone?'"

"Weiss," Ruby said as tears began to well up in her eyes. "Pyrrha isn't..."

Weiss sternly replied, "Stop denying it, please! Pyrrha's dead!" She then fell to her knees and sobbed.

Blake got up and said, "I'll call Jaune." She seemed to possess no emotion, but as she turned away, a tear fell from her right eye. She then walked to a phone and dialed Jaune's cell phone number.

Jaune was wrapping up a lecture to Signal Academy students when he got the call. He was standing in a hallway talking to a student when he answered the phone. "Jaune Arc, at your service." He seemed bright and cheery.

"Hey Jaune," Blake said. "It's me, Blake."

"Oh, hi Blake. How's it going?"

"You need to come over to Yang and Ruby's apartment now. Something very bad happened."

Jaune's facial expression turned from happiness to seriousness. "Alright. I'll drive over there as soon as I can. Traffic in the Patch-Vale Tunnel is probably light now." He then turned to the student. "I wish I could talk more to you, but I have a personal emergency I need to attend." He then signed an autograph for the student. "I apologise."

The boy replied, "No need, sir. You go attend what you need to. I completely understand."

August 4, 2019

Pyrrha's funeral was heartbreaking. A Valeanian Military honour guard composed of 6 huntsmen and huntresses laid out a Vale flag on her coffin before folding it and presenting it to Pyrrha's parents, who in turn gave it to Jaune. Her father said, "Keep it. She adored you."

Jaune could only say a quick 'thank you' before breaking down in tears again. Weiss patted him on the back and hugged him as she herself cried.

Ren had to comfort a crying Nora as a 7th member of the honour guard began playing the song 'Going Home' on bagpipes, a part of military tradition in Vale. Professor Ozpin, who had attended with Glynda, said to himself, "I've heard this song too many God damn times, and now I gotta hear it played for one of my students, again."

Glynda replied, "I know. It's tragic, isn't it, knowing that you're seeing your own students buried, especially so young."

After the funeral, Ren walked over to Weiss. "Hello Ren," Weiss said. "What is it?"

"You went to her crash," Ren said. "How did you?"

"Ren, I'm a firefighter, remember? I volunteer as one. I don't get paid a single penny for what I do."

"I live with Nora. I think your station or whatever it's called is close by."

"Vigilant 5? I think Nora's apartment is near 5's station. Why?"

Ren then took a deep breath. "I want to become a volunteer, or whatever you called it, firefighter."

Weiss paused for a few seconds. "Are you sure you want to, Ren? You know that we see some messed-up stuff, right?"

"I don't care, Weiss. Pyrrha's death changed something in me. It's only a remote chance, but maybe if I was a firefighter, things would have been different."

"Look, Ren. People die. We see a lot of that. You can reduce that amount, but you can't stop every death."

"I know that, Weiss. I know. Just tell me what I need to do."

June 12, 2020

Today, Ruby, Yang, and Blake got dressed up. Yang said, "I can't wait for this, guys! I just can't wait! Today's the day we become firefighters!"

Weiss walked in and said, "You still gotta earn that title, Yang. By the way, Ren's at the station now."

The 3 girls then walked out. Blake would go without her trademark bow, revealing her cat ears. Weiss said, "What's with the 'no bow' look?"

"I might as well not keep secrets from the guys at the station," Blake said. "I mean, most already know, but just in case, I'll show them tonight."

After getting sworn in, the girls went downstairs to the apparatus bay to check out their new gear. Ruby said, "Ooooh! This looks so cool! Can we try our gear on, Weiss? Can we?"

Weiss smiled and said, "Go ahead. I ain't gonna stop ya."

Winter, Weiss's older sister, said, "You know how to put the gear on, right?"

Yang said, "Of course. I got a pair of thigh-highs at home."

"These ain't the thigh-highs you're used to," Winter replied.

Eventually, the 3 got their gear on. Blake said, "How do we look?"

Ren said, "You put your gear on correctly, so there's that."

"I almost forgot," Ruby said. "Weiss, what about the fire pole?"

"You might wanna take your gear off if you wanna slide down the pole," she replied. Ruby took off her coat and helmet and ran upstairs with her boots still on. "Be careful!"

A career firefighter watched her approach the pole and said, "You know how to grip that, right?"

"Yeah," the redhead replied. "Are you a paid firefighter?"

"That I am," he replied. "Could you tell by my bunker pants?"

Ruby laughed and held on tight as she slid down the pole to the first floor, with Weiss and Winter standing near the bottom to catch her just in case she slipped, which she didn't.

Yang clapped and said, "Yay! You did it, little sis!"

Blake laughed and said, "Say, Weiss, what's with this 'volunteer staffing' thing you keep mentioning?"

"Oh yeah," Weiss replied. "That's when a few volunteers staff the station for a certain period of time with the paid guys. We all have to do 12+ hours of staffing every month. Most do at least 30."

Blake asked, "Can I do that?"

"Sure," Weiss said. "Just sign up at the captain's office. While you're there, be sure to sign up for Basic Firefighter training. That goes for you too, Ruby and Yang."

Yang then got a phone call. After talking for a minute, she hung up and said, "Guys, let's get this gear off and report to the Regiment HQ. They've got us a hunting mission."

Ruby said, "About damn time! The Grimm have been really boring recently and I'm itching for a good battle."

Blake said, "Easy there, Ruby. The Grimm being mostly inactive should be a good thing."

June 15, 2020

The team had finally returned from their hunting mission. The mission involved 2 common Ursai that had been harassing a railroad line outside of the city. It was an easy kill.

The team decided to stop by at the Vigilant firehouse when they got back. Nora said to Ren, "So this is the firehouse... Cool..."

Ren replied, "Indeed it is. When our little guy is born, I'm gonna take him here to see the trucks and stuff." Ren then rubbed Nora's belly, causing her to giggle. The 2 had been married in May, and Nora was 4 months pregnant with their first child. During the mission, she acted as a logistics person, staying behind at an outpost and acting as dispatch over the radio.

"You know," Nora replied. "When our baby's born and when maternity leave ends, I'll be sure to kick a lot of Grimm ass to make up for my inactivity." Ren laughed.

The whole team was there, except for Blake. Winter asked Weiss, "Where's that faunus girl that hangs out with you? What was her name again?"

"It's Blake," Weiss replied. "Something happened during the mission, and Blake and Yang had an argument. They broke up."

"Wait, what? Blake and Yang are gay?"

"No. Yang's pan, and Blake's bi. This was Blake's first relationship with another girl. The break-up was mutual, but it was also mutually hostile."

"Ouch. Hopefully that doesn't affect their performance at calls."

As Winter and Weiss talked, Ruby was comforting Yang, who said, "I fucked up really bad, sis. I haven't felt this bad about a past relationship since that asshole at Signal cheated on me when I was 14. Remember him? The 15-year-old dickbag that I foolishly had sex with and then left me for a 13-year-old?"

Ruby replied, "I remember that well. I was like 11 and you were pretty pissed, Yang. You kept yelling to yourself in your room about how you should've listened to your elders and waited until marriage and whatnot."

"Yeah. Guess who was the hypocrite, though? Me. I ended up going out with 2 more guys and 3 more girls including Blake, and I had sex with 1 of those guys and all 3 of those girls. It's a miracle I didn't catch something. It's also a miracle I wasn't born 25 years ago or whatever when our dad went to Signal and Beacon. Back then, any student caught having sex was expelled. At least now they don't mind as long as you don't get pregnant, get some girl pregnant, catch an STD, or bang a teacher. I heard the nurse at Beacon can now give condoms out for free."

"Wow. Things have changed a lot, huh? I say it's a good thing that Beacon's finally acknowledging the elephant in the room. As for me, I've never had sex."

"Good. Don't end up like me, little sis. I mean, I won't punish you if you do have sex or something. Just be careful who you have it with."

"Say, who was Blake's first?"

"That Adam guy from White Fang. Yeah, that creeped me out considering Blake was 15 and Adam was 20 when it happened. I was her second, though she wishes I was her first."

Weiss said, "Hey guys, why are you 2 talking about sex so much?"

"C'mon, Weiss," Ren said. "It's not like it's an explicit, play-by-play account of what people did. Plus, there's no kids here. I'll have you know I lost mine to Nora at Beacon. I'm not ashamed of it."

"Neither am I," Nora replied. "At least I lost it to the man I love." The 2 then gave each other a quick peck on the lips. "Say, Weiss, who was your first?"

"Ehhh," Weiss said.

"Admit it," Winter said. "It's not gonna change anything about how we think of you."

"Neptune," Weiss said, blushing. "It was Neptune. I lost mine to him just before freshman year ended. We then broke up because he had to go back to Mistral with the rest of Team SSSN. I haven't had it since." She then paused. "There, are you happy now?"

Ruby said, "So? There's no shame involved. People who shame others for their sexual activities are losers!" She closed her eyes and smiled as she said that line.

Yang laughed and said, "That's my Ruby. However, I would've used a stronger word than losers." The entire group then laughed.

Jaune, who was being shown around by a volunteer, then walked over and said, "This place is so cool, Weiss. I mean, I don't think I could handle running into burning buildings, but it looks awesome."

Winter said, "These friends of your's are nice, Weiss. I wish I had friends like you have when I was younger."

Then, they heard a printer in the corner begin to print something out, followed by a voice on the radio saying, "Standby Companies 5, 6, 7, and 10 for a Box Alarm at Box 244."

Weiss said, "We got a run!"

Then, the pager tones for Vigilant 5 were sent out, causing the many pagers in the station to ring out, as well as the mechanical bells to ring for 3 seconds. Then, the siren tones activated, causing a control box in the apparatus bay to click on and turn on the siren. This was followed by the 6 other tones for the other companies: Goodwill Engine 6, Excellence Fire 7, and Enterprise Steamer 10. Finally, the pager tones for District 2's Assistant Chief activated.

Jaune and Nora ran outside to watch the trucks roll out as the dispatcher's voice said, "Vale City Fire Alarm on the air for Box 244 for District 2 Assistant, Vigilant 5, Goodwill Engine 6, Excellence 7, and Enterprise Steamer 10 for a Box Alarm at 147 Exeter Street for a reported building fire. The caller reported a fully-engulfed stairwell on the 1st floor and that a man also pulled the street box. Repeating, Vale City Fire Alarm on the air for Box 244 for Vigilant 5, Goodwill Engine 6, Excellence 7, and Enterprise Steamer 10 for a Box Alarm at 147 Exeter Street for a reported building fire. Vale City Fire Alarm signing off at 1844 hours, Alarm Operator 536."

Weiss, Winter, Ruby, Yang, and Ren ran to their gear and quickly put it on as the paid firefighters started up the ambulance. Unlike the volunteers at Vigilant, they wore a more modern bunker gear ensemble, common to that of Europe in real life. They then drove off, speeding away to the fire. As they did, a volunteer ran in to the station from his home.

As the 5 of them climbed aboard Truck 201, they saw a familiar face run in to the station. Ruby said, "Is that Blake?"

"I think it is," Ren replied. Winter then started up the truck.

Outside, a volunteer asked, "Aren't ya gonna get on the Truck?"

Blake replied, "No. I'll wait for the rescue."

The volunteer replied, "Meh. Your loss." He then climbed aboard the truck and said, "That faunus girl's waiting for the rescue."

Eventually, at 6:47, a lieutenant in the company, Alfred Schnee, got in the front seat next to Winter and radioed, "Fire Alarm, Truck 5 is responding with a crew of 10, 6 interior." Winter then sped out of the station and blasted the air horn of the truck. Alfred used a foot pedal to control the truck's mechanical siren.

Ruby said, "That's a loud siren!"

Weiss replied, "I know! That's the power of the Q2B, the greatest siren that ever existed according to many. Now, remember, you, Yang, and Blake still can't go into burning buildings. They'll probably stick you on an exterior hand line or something. I'm gonna probably be first in, since this box is in our first-due."

Then, Winter yelled, "We got a Code 99, boys! The paid guys called it in!"

Everyone except Yang and Rose cheered and clapped. Ruby asked, "What's a Code 99?"

"It means working structure fire," Ren said. "That's when the guys on scene can confirm that there is indeed a fire and it's actively spreading."

Alfred said, "I think they said they got a family trapped on the 4th floor. Looks like we got our work cut out for us."

At 6:50 P.M., Truck 201 arrived. By now, the fire had gone to a 2nd Alarm, increasing the number of companies responding to 10 and bringing in District 2's Chief and Assistant Chief. The crew got out and began their work. Ren, Ruby, and Yang grabbed a supply line from the truck and dragged it to a hydrant. Ren and Winter connected one end to the truck's 2500 gallon-per-minute pump as Ruby and Yang were shown how to 'hit' a hydrant by the company's captain, Arthur Kirkridge, who arrived in Car 5, a personal vehicle given to volunteer captains. They then filled the supply line with water as Ren and Winter got the pump started.

Weiss and Alfred were busy getting their self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) on and had both grabbed an attack line each. Weiss, who was muffled from her mask, then yelled, "Ren, charge the lines! Charge the lines!" The 2 hoses then filled with water.

Al said, "Ready, Weiss?" Weiss nodded. Al then radioed, "Vigilant Interior to command, we're going in. Be sure to send some guys onto the roof, got it?"

The District 2 Chief replied, "10-4. We'll get venting going." He then said to himself, "Damn vollies."

Weiss and Alfred walked in to the apartment building's first floor, which was where the fire started. Weiss said, "Someone told me it started in a stairwell on the first floor."

"I think that's the one," Al said as he pointed to a bright and orange glow coming from a door window. "Looks like all the smoke is coming from the double doors. What could be burning so intensely in a stairwell?"

Weiss replied, "Someone told me they were painting in there, so the paint and the thinner is probably what's causing the fire to be so intense. 10 bucks says some idiot dropped a cigarette and caught some rags on fire." She then felt the door of an apartment next to the stairwell. "Looks like the fire's consumed this apartment here. The door's hot to the touch. The fire's probably in the crawlspaces now."

They then saw 3 more firefighters from Rescue 201 run to a second stairwell carrying rescue tools. Weiss said, "Be careful! The fire originated in the first stairwell!"

Outside, Engine 204 from Enterprise Steamer 10 arrived with 10 firefighters, including 2 on the rear step, as well as Engine 202 from Goodwill Engine 6 with 11 firefighters, including 3 on the rear step, and Ambulance 204 with a crew of 4 volunteers from Enterprise. They immediately got to work, laying down hoses and helping Blake and another Vigilant firefighter raise a 45-foot ground ladder to the 3rd floor.

Ruby and Yang handed out equipment to the firefighters as they watched the growing fire. Ruby said, "I hope whoever's in there makes it out."

"They will," Yang said. "Don't worry."

On the 3rd floor, Winter and another firefighter, who had climbed up the ground ladder, met up with the 3 firefighters from the rescue. She said, "Let's get to work. The trapped family is in Apartment 3-7. Someone said there's 5 people in there. Our job is to get them the hell outta here. Let's go."

A firefighter then said, "I think I passed that apartment on my way to you, Winter. Follow me." The 5 of them then walked to the apartment door. Winter tried to open the door, but it was locked. "Give me the axe."

"Here ya go," a firefighter said.

Winter then rammed the end of the axe against the door and smashed it open. She then yelled, "Is there anyone inside?" By now, the smoke was getting thicker.

A voice shouted, "Help!"

Winter replied, "Where are you?!" She then motioned for the firefighters to split up and search the small, 6-room apartment.

Within minutes, all 5 civilians were rescued. Winter, carrying an unconscious child, said, "Alright. We're gonna go on the ladder back down to the ground." Winter went first, carrying the child delicately as she made her way down. Following her was a civilian and another firefighter.

Eventually, all 5 were brought to the ground. Winter rushed the unconscious child, who had a head injury from running into a table in the panic, to Vigilant's ambulance.

On the first floor, Weiss and Al began spraying down the door to the apartment next to the stairwell in an attempt to attack the fire. By now, flames were beginning to escape from the door and lick the ceiling. Then, Weiss said, "Stand back."

She then walked up to the left of the door and used her hunting weapon, the Myrtenaster, to cut open a section of the door by firing a round of dust while standing from the side. This caused a small but fierce funnel of flame to shoot from the door. Al responded by spraying water into the opening, followed by Weiss when she put her weapon away and grabbed her hose again. "It's a good thing I modified my sword to be retractable."

Al laughed and said, "That was brilliant. We can finally begin tackling this fire." They eventually managed to open the door and knock the fire down inside the apartment, which was empty of human life.

At 8:12 P.M., all Vigilant apparatus returned to the station. Ruby said as she got out of Truck 201, "That was awesome!"

Weiss replied, "Any fire's awesome as long as you saved everyone and nobody died, Ruby. Say, should you, Yang, and Blake go to the captain's office to enroll in Basic Firefighter training?"

"Oh yeah," Yang said. "We forgot! Let's go."

As Yang and Ruby walked in, Blake went up to Weiss and said, "I'm gonna wait for Ruby and... Yang."

"Look, Blake," Weiss said. "We've all been friends since Beacon. I know it hasn't been long since the break-up, but you gotta be able to somehow interact with us when Yang is with us, which is almost always."

Blake's facial expression turned to one of sadness. "I know." She then sighed. "I'll enroll tomorrow when I do the bunk-in shift from 6 at night to 6 in the morning. See ya later."

Weiss then got a phone call from her father, Lieutenant Hermann Schnee. "Hello, Dad."

"Hey Weiss," Hermann replied. "I'm still at the fire scene with the fire marshall. I heard you knocked the fire down pretty hard."

"I sure did," Weiss replied.

"By the way, I need you to pull a shift at the company HQ tomorrow from 9 to 4 at the lobby desk. Mary's out for maternity leave."

"Alright. I can handle that."

"That's my girl. I love you, Weiss."

"Love you too, Dad." She then hung up. "Winter, I'm going home. Bye."

Winter replied, "See ya later, Weiss."

INFORMATION ABOUT VIGILANT FIRE COMPANY 5, THE VALE CITY FIRE-RESCUE DEPARTMENT, AND VIGILANT STATISTICS

Vigilant is one of many volunteer fire companies that provides fire, rescue, and EMS protection for the 3 million residents of the City of Vale. It was founded in 1818 and was preceded by 4 other companies, the oldest of which, Protection Fire and Engine Company 1, was founded in 1732. The most recently formed company in the city was founded in 1978. These companies work alongside paid firefighters who help staff units at these companies either 24/7 or only during the day. The paid firefighters work 12-hour shifts with 36 hours off between shifts.

Each volunteer company has 2 lieutenants and 1 captain that are elected by the volunteers. Additionally, daytime staffed units have 1 lieutenant and 1 captain, while 24/7 staffed units have 3 lieutenants and 1 captain. The first paid firefighters were hired by the city at the request of several very busy companies in 1870. Additionally, there are several all-paid fire stations protecting the seaport and the 2 airports of the city, as well as several military and industrial facilities as part of contracts to the military of Vale and numerous industrial corporations.

The first Schnee to join the fire company was a man named Adolf Schnee, who joined in 1866, 3 years after his family moved to Vale from Atlas. At the time, he also was interested in running a dust-mining business. He bought a failing mine in 1867 and, to everyone's surprise, found that the original diggers of the mine just missed a huge deposit of it below them. By 1890, the Schnee Dust Company had managed to become one of the "Big 5" in the dust industry. Now, as of 2020, Schnee Dust has bought 3 of those original "Big 5" corporations, and the last merged with another company to form Schnee's biggest competitor, the Ferdinand-Tyvix Corporation, or the F-TC.

Vigilant's fleet of apparatus consists of:

Truck 201-2018 Avex Quantum III 2500 GPM/750-Gallon Water Tank/135' Rear-Mount Aerial Ladder (10-man cab)

Rescue 201-2013 Avex Arrow XT Rescue-Pumper 1250 GPM/375-Gallon Water Tank (6-man cab)

Ambulance 201-2016 Fark Motors M2/Avex Transporter Heavy-Duty 4-Door Ambulance (6-man cab)

In 2019, Vigilant Fire Company 5 responded to 4,856 EMS calls and 1,173 Fire-Rescue calls. This does not take into account the fact that most medical calls are solely attended to by the paid firefighter-paramedics that staff Ambulance 201, or that Vigilant provides ambulance services for Goodwill Engine Company 6 and half of Excellence Fire Company 7, both of which provide first responder services.

Vigilant's fire siren, a Royal Signal STH-10 built in 1962 to replace a Royal Signal Model 2 siren from 1935 that broke in 1961, was activated 1,173 times in 2019, all for Fire-Rescue calls. It elicited 0 complaints from residents.

Author's Notes:

1. Avex Manufacturing=Pierce Manufacturing.

2. Royal Signal=Federal Signal/Fedelcode.

This story will be updated in parts, ranging from 4,000 to possibly 10,000 words. Part 2 will be up by late February/early March, and will be much darker.