F is for Flashpoint
Flashpoint: 1) The temperature at which a flammable liquid gives off vapors that will combust - 2) Flare of violence or anger due to a time or event
The call for the Station wasn't one that raised any red flags. Storage unit fire with a report of smoke inhalation concerning the watchman at the facility. There were several structures on the property, but only one of them was involved. While Roy checked over the watchman who was complaining about breathing too much smoke, Chet and Marco took a line over to start taking out the fire. Captain Stanley and Johnny donned turnout gear as well and took another line to wet down the nearest buildings to prevent the fire from jumping in case the wind picked up.
The watchman was breathing deeply from the oxygen mask while Roy took his blood pressure reading. After a moment, he moved the mask to the side to speak, but Roy moved as well to try and put the mask back in place.
"Sir, you really need to keep that in place to do you any good."
"I'm just worried, son - that fire. You think they can get the refrigeration unit running again as soon as the flames are gone?"
Roy had a half-smile at the older man calling him son. He was glad Johnny wasn't close enough to have heard that.
"If that unit is what caught fire, I doubt they'll even try to restart it, sir. Something had to have been wrong with it for it to have caught fire in the first place."
"I don't think it would be a good idea to leave it off. I mean, that building's all metal and it's not really insulated, so if that unit stays off much longer and the heat rises, it's going to be bad."
Roy cast a glance back to the building. It didn't look like anything that would be approved for food storage, but that didn't mean someone might not use it for that regardless.
"Perishables inside?"
"No, son. Some kind of chemical stuff they use at a little manufacturing company nearby. Ethy ox something."
Roy felt himself go pale. Please, please let me be wrong.
"Ethylene oxide?"
The man's face lit up - the expression Roy least wanted to see.
"That's it - hey!"
Roy was already on his feet and running, yelling back at the man. At this small of a fire, HTs weren't in use. The chemical that the man named was highly flammable and if the fire outside raised the temperature inside to over 800 degrees or a spark got inside? The metal building was likely already an oven.
"Get behind my squad, sir! Mike! Stay behind the engine!"
Roy was heading toward Captain Stanley, yelling. He caught Johnny's attention first and Johnny tapped Cap's shoulder to get his attention. The expression on Roy's face was enough to get him to shut the line down.
"Cap! We need to pull back! That building has -"
Roy didn't get any further before the small metal building exploded in a fireball, sending shards of metal in all directions. Chet and Marco were flung back and knocked off their feet by the concussive force of the blast. Johnny and Cap were far enough away that they were jarred, but managed to keep standing though they reflexively ducked as the bits of metal hit and bounced off their turnout gear.
Mike shut down the water since no-one was actively manning a hose at the moment and ran out to help his crewmates. Where Roy had only been doing paramedic duty, he was the only one that had been in the open not wearing a turnout coat. Mike yelled for Johnny.
"Roy took a hard hit or two – go check your partner. I'll help Cap with Chet and Marco."
Having no way of knowing if another explosion might be imminent, the first priority was to get everyone back behind the engine to let it take the brunt of any other blast. Cap took hold of Chet while Mike got Marco. They were both groggy and very likely suffering from concussion, but at first glance, it looked like their turnout gear had protected them from the worst of the shrapnel.
Johnny quickly saw why Mike had redirected him to Roy. At least two pieces of metal had pierced him like knives. He'd have to stabilize them as best as he could and let them be removed at Rampart. Grabbing Roy under the shoulders, he drug his partner as quickly and carefully as he could behind the engine's protective bulk. Cap was already calling dispatch.
"This is Station 51 - there has been an explosion of an unknown type at our location. Half my crew is down, leaving myself, my engineer and a paramedic who had his hands full with injured - I need two ambulances and another engine dispatched immediately."
As Johnny went around the squad to grab his equipment, the original man being treated looked up at him, wide eyed.
"Boy, no wonder your other guy ran off. That stuff really packs a wallop."
The way the man said that annoyed Johnny and he gave the man a dirty look.
"My partner didn't run away from the fire. He ran toward it to try and warn the rest of us. If you're able to move without dizziness, come back around to the other side so we can keep an eye on how you're doing while I take care of the others."
"You mean he got hurt? Maybe I shouldn't have told him about that stuff."
The man seemed genuinely upset that Roy had been injured, so Johnny felt a little guilty for snapping at him until he was distracted by what the man said.
"You know what stuff was in there? And you told Roy?"
"Well, to be honest, I'm not good at all those scientific chemical names. I always just remember it as ethy ox, but your partner knew it. Went pale and everything. Wish I could remember that full name he said now."
Johnny frowned to himself as he reclosed the door on the squad.
"Ethy ox. . . ethy?"
He was still puzzling that one as he came back around and called over to Cap.
"Hey, Cap - guy we found when we came on the scene says there was some chemical stored in that building, but he only can only remember -"
Then a faint, sweet odor reached Johnny's nose. One that reminded him of the hospital.
"Oh no. Ethylene oxide?"
The voice called out from the other side of the squad.
"Yeah! That's the one."
"Is that the only building with that in it?"
"I'm not positive. That company rents five of our sheds and three of them are refrigerated."
Hearing that, Captain Stanley was immediately calling dispatch back.
"Dispatch, this is Station 51 again. We have just been informed that a highly flammable chemical is being stocked at this facility in inadequate storage buildings. We may have the potential for other explosions."
"10-4, 51. Incoming responders will be told to proceed with caution."
An FYI note : Ethylene oxide is used in a variety of ways in industry. In hospitals, it is used as a disinfecting agent and is often used to sterilize equipment that is heat-sensitive and thus cannot be steamed. The gas is poisonous, clear and deceptively pleasant smelling. It is also very dangerous. Heating it can cause it to expand rapidly and explode. It can burn in a very low-oxygen atmosphere. One reported incident where only the residual fumes of Ethylene oxide were in a piece of equipment and were sparked off resulted in one death and seven hospitalizations.
