LONDON'S BURNING
Invasion of the Cowboys
Intense heat rose up towards the ceiling, making the corridor feel more like an over-heated sauna than a hotel. Thick grey smoke circled around them, clinging to whatever it could find, decreasing visibility as it passed along the narrow space.
The hotel corridor was lonely and dark, as the smoke crept under the closed doors. They started out from the far stairwell of the eleventh floor. Two floors above them, the fire raged, controlling an entire floor and threatening to take out anything, or indeed anyone, standing in its way.
Suddenly, the sound of splitting wood broke the silence as Hyper kicked open one of the doors to check the room's occupants had escaped safely.
"Clear," he reported after checking inside.
Another sound of splitting wood echoed in the corridor as Recall checked the next room. He took slightly longer than Hyper to thoroughly check that no one was hiding in the room.
"Clear," he reported finally.
Hyper was already busy checking another room as Recall made his way back onto the corridor.
There was a rumbling from somewhere above them, reminding them both of the danger closing in. Time was becoming much more of an issue if they were to check all twenty rooms on the eleventh floor, the task they had been assigned.
Recall had decided to make a point of checking each room thoroughly. Once he had missed someone, which had proved fatal. He vowed never to make that mistake again.
Hyper emerged from one of the rooms to find Recall glancing up at the ceiling, calculating how much time they had left to get the job done before the fire found its way to the eleventh floor.
"It's getting closer," he knew it wouldn't be long.
Hyper glanced up and agreed as drops of water leaked through the ceiling, proving to be no match for the ferocious flames.
They continued their checks without finding anyone, until Hyper forced his way into another room where a young girl, possibly Filipino, was cowering in the corner by the bed, crying out in her native language, of which he did not understand a word.
"It's ok," Hyper tried to reassure her, even though it was obvious the girl could not understand a word he was saying.
Whether that was because of the obstruction of the BA mask of because she didn't speak any English, he was unsure, but suspected it was the latter.
Recall appeared at the door to the room as Hyper tried to help the girl.
"Hyper! Get a move on!" Recall urged.
Hyper had a bit of difficulty trying to convince the girl he wanted to save her. Recall glanced anxiously down the corridor to check the progress of the fire.
Outside, Coleman and Griggs were discussing strategies. They had teams attacking the fire from all possible angles, but they did not seem to be any closer to defeating the enemy. Griggs considered making some changes.
The fire itself remained in control of the top floor and the roof. Smaller fires glowed on the twelfth floor sparked off by the embers thrown from the inferno. It was also threatening to jump to the eleventh floor, where a BA crew were still checking the rooms. Coleman kept regular checks on their progress, being as close to the fire as they were.
Aerial appliances had been extended to attack the fire from the air; still it refused to give in.
"I think we should get a crew on Twelve," Griggs was saying. "Maybe they could progress to Thirteen…"
Coleman also considered the option.
They needed to be closer, to attack the seat of the fire. It was one of the few tactics they had not tried yet. He began to wonder what else could be done to attack the fire.
However, the fire was about to make their decisions for them.
Recall had been checking the door at the other end of the corridor, for signs of the fire. It had already found its way into the far stairwell and was spreading rapidly. The heavy fire door was warm to touch, which suggested the fire was right behind it or, at least, not so far off.
He replaced his glove as Hyper finally got the girl to trust him and emerged from the room.
"We should get out of here!" Recall yelled at him.
"Good idea," Hyper replied as he tried to drag the reluctant girl towards the fire exit at the opposite end of the corridor.
Recall turned away from the fire door to follow them.
The twelfth and thirteenth floors of the Besley Hotel had been undergoing some refurbishment. Cans of paint, rolls of wallpaper, buckets of paste and bottles of Turps had been left in the rooms and blocking the corridors as the decorators ran out of storage space in their efforts to get the job done quickly.
No one had noticed the discarded cigarette still burning away, left by one of the decorators in his rush to knock off on time the previous evening. With the next day being Sunday, the fire had been left to burn. It soon gained the freedom of the thirteenth floor as one of the decorators had knocked out the smoke detectors so that his fag breaks would go undetected.
The cowboy outfit had been chosen simply because they had given the cheapest quote. But as the management of the Besley Hotel found out, the cheapest option was not always the best value for money.
Paint cans exploded, feeding the fire and allowing it to grow as it found more strength. As it grew, it spread avoiding the futile attacks of water from the firefighters outside, and the teams who had been assigned to attack its source. It refused to be beaten.
Just as it looked as if it may be surrendering, the enemy suddenly flared up again, sparked off once more as it came across a room storing some LPG cylinders. Blue butane canisters and the odd red propane cylinder were blasted away as the fire broke free from its concrete and brick restraints to enjoy the freedom of the night air.
The blast left a gaping hole in the middle of the building, having taken out most of the upper floors. The two ends of the oblong building stood out like two tower blocks, their jagged edges revealing the missing link.
On finding the banquet of goodies, the greedy fire had extinguished itself, its attack plan backfired. Slowly, canisters fell back to earth and hit the ground hard before rolling away.
Hyper had managed to make it on to the fire escape with the girl, not that he could get anywhere as most of the metal staircase had been ripped away. They stood on the small metal platform just in front of the fire exit – the only part of the eleventh floor still standing. Hyper looked around to see what had happened to Recall, but there was no one else behind them.