Life or Death part 8

When Big Red and the squad pulled up at the rear of the school, the principal ran over to meet Captain Stanley. "We've just had some renovations done to the welding shop." The fire could be seen already starting to come through the roof of the building. Captain Stanley asked if everyone was evacuated. "We're still doing a head count – we were starting an assembly when the alarm went off…" He noticed the Captain's raised eyebrows. "… I'll go find out."

"Do that, and let me know right away." Cap started ordering two and a halfs to be set up, and called to Roy and John, "Stay close till we hear everyone's out, 'kay?" The two men nodded, and helped pull another line from the engine. Captain Stanley called dispatch for more help – with fire showing in the roof, things were going to be very busy, very soon.

The principal came jogging up and said breathlessly, "We got two kids missing. Everyone else is out."

Cap called, "John! Roy!" and turned back to the man. "Where were they supposed to be and has anyone seen them recently?"

The principal shook his head. "They were supposed to be in the assembly, but it looks like they went to the washroom."

"Boys or girls?"

"Two boys. Grade nine. Steven Westlake and Derek Cook."

Cap nodded, and looked at his paramedics, who were completing putting on their SCBA gear. "You got that?"

"Where's the nearest washroom they'll have gone to?" asked Roy.

"In the rear hallway, behind the gymnasium."

"Near this exit?"

"On the other side, toward the cafeteria." Both Roy and John nodded in unison, and took off at a trot into the school. Officer Vince showed up to help coordinate containing the students at a safe distance, and he parked his vehicle along with several other police cars to block off the street at both ends while the fire trucks arrived and did their work.

Inside the school, smoke was beginning to crawl along the ceiling tiles. "Looks like the welding shop is also behind the cafeteria!" called John to his partner, pointing. Like ghostly fingers they could see the creeping smoke edging its way toward them.

Roy nodded, and scanned the hallway. "Gotta be near here…"

They found the washrooms, and called out to the missing teens, "Hey! Hello! Anyone in here? Hello! Fire Department!"

There was no response and a quick check of the stalls showed no one was there. "You try the cafeteria; I'll take the rear hallway!"

John nodded, and headed towards the kitchen in the back. He didn't find anyone, but when he rejoined Roy he said, "They haven't cleaned up from lunch. Vats of hot oil, open bags of flour, gonna be messy!" They did a quick scan of the area near the welding shop and back towards the cafeteria, then on to the gym. They did another scan inside the gym and into the locker rooms.

John noticed a door they hadn't checked and pointed it out to Roy. He threw it open and they saw steps leading to a basement. It was surprising, because schools just weren't built with basements, but maybe this was a throwback to the 1950s and the craze for bomb shelters…they headed down the steps, needing to use their flashlights. Both men were aware that this search was taking a lot more time than they had. If they didn't find the teens soon, their own exits might be blocked. Their sense of urgency increased.

The basement was filled with junk – old weight equipment and sports gear; beat up decorations from dances and holidays, boxes of uniforms…the latter all highly flammable. After calling for the boys and getting no answer, they headed back up the stairs and came into the gym. They felt the temperature difference immediately, and saw that the smoke was already entering the gym…they had no more time. But they hadn't found the missing kids.

Roy needed to let Cap know what was happening. "Engine 51, this is HT 51, do you copy?"

"Engine 51. Go ahead."

"Cap, there's no sign of the kids anywhere and it's getting…" BOOM! There was an explosion – the cafeteria kitchen had caught fire – soon there would be…BOOM! BOOM! Flames raced along the ceiling towards them gobbling up the acoustic tiles, and the two men ran toward the emergency exit at the far end of the gym…

"HT 51, respond!" barked Captain Stanley on the radio, but they were too busy getting out of there to reply. They reached the door, and pushed it open, practically falling over each other into the yard. Several more engine companies had joined the fight since they'd entered the school several minutes before. The scene was now the organized chaos of a major fire. Damn it! Where were those kids? If they were still inside…

They found their captain, and Roy reported, "Cap, there's a basement filled with junk and a custodial closet near the top of the stairs."

Cap was not impressed. The closet was sure to have floor wax and polishes and maybe even paint thinner. The fire had reached the gym; any moment now the closet would go and then the basement… He got on his HT and let the other captains know, and a crew headed into the gym that Roy and John just exited in order to stave off what they could. He told his paramedics, "Go round to the other side of the school, and see if you can get back in there to check things out." Cap hated to do that to his men, but until the kids were found, the search had to continue as long as possible.

John and Roy jogged around to the side entrance away from the blazing cafeteria and shops area. As they paused just before re-entering the school, Johnny commented to his partner, "Bet you they have a wood shop right beside the welding…." Roy nodded. For some reason, the possibility of what could happen from having acetylene torches next to wood dust didn't seem to be a consideration when schools set up their shop areas. BOOM! The school reverberated and shuddered. They both knew that the custodial supply closet had probably just blown. The school was now fully involved in the rear, from the shops area, through the cafeteria and the gym. They pushed open the metal doors, and began calling for the missing boys.

They split up to cover opposite sides of the hallway. There was still no sign of the teens. When they got back as close as they could to the washrooms, the smoke was completely filling the hallway, and through the shifting opaque curtain the roar and heat of the fire assaulted them. Roy called it – "Let's go – no time left, and we're back as close to where we started as we can get."

"I think they're out. They must be out," said Johnny. They headed to the nearest clear exit after getting confirmation from Cap over the HT that there was nothing more to do inside. He sent them to go see the principal, to check if there was any new information on the boys.

The principal called over to one of the teachers, and he came jogging over. "Brian, can you check again with your class; did anyone see Steve and Derek since the alarms went?" Brian ran over to his class, and a girl with glasses pointed over to the far end of the street, beyond the police barrier. Another girl took off running towards it, calling the boys' names, despite the teacher's yell for her to stop.

Roy and Johnny began chasing the girl to catch up with her, but their heavy gear made them slower than she was, and she had a good head start. "Hey! Hey you! Stop! Wait!" Johnny called, but she either ignored them or didn't hear, because she ran between two cars and into the open street….thunk! She was down on the ground, her head just touching the passenger side front wheel of a car. She was literally looking at tire tread. Immediately Roy got on the HT and called for Cap to send someone with their cases.

John reached her first. "Easy, now, easy. Just stay still. Don't move till I check you out okay?"

She was moaning and trying to move and the driver of the car was out on the street, horrified at having hit the student. Johnny did a cursory check, and then turned to Roy. "Possible head injury. Got some swelling already starting on the right temple."

The man was almost babbling in shock, "She just ran out! I didn't see her at all! I tried to stop! I didn't see her!" Vince came to take care of the driver, and reassured him that everyone had seen that the accident hadn't been his fault.

While Roy was setting up their equipment, he called over to the crowd that was on the sidewalk, "Anyone one here named Steve or Derek? Any students from the school here?" A boy with acne tentatively raised his hand, and Roy demanded, "What's your name?"

"Derek Cook, sir."

"Where's Steve, Derek?"

The boy pointed to another pimply youth standing near the corner of the street and looking at the girl on the ground by the car with horror. He looked at Roy, then at John, and Roy called sharply to Vince to grab him as he made a move as if he was going to run.

"Whoa, there, son. You aren't going anywhere. Aren't you and your buddy supposed to be with your class, over there?" Vince pointed to where the students were standing in lines at the far end of the parking lot.

The boy shamefacedly nodded. "Are we in trouble, sir?"

"You realize that because no one knew where you were, these two firemen were in that burning building looking all over for you? That they could have been seriously injured for no reason? That this girl's accident is directly related to you not being where you were supposed to be?" Vince's tone was as severe as it could be.

"Are we under arrest?" asked Steve.

"We didn't know!" cried Derek.

"You should have known! How old are you? Fifteen? And you've had fire drills every year you've gone to school! That's quite a few years of learning what to do when there's an alarm! I want to speak with your parents. Come with me, you're going to sit in the back of this police car, and think about what you've done today." The boys started to speak, but Vince held up his handcuffs in a no-nonsense manner, and just pointed at the car. They got in without further argument.

While Vince was dealing with the boys, Roy informed his captain that the missing teens had finally been found, and that they were all right.

Johnny collected the vitals on the girl on the ground. There was no broken skin, but he touched a swelling area on her temple gently, and it felt like there were bone chips moving around in the flesh. What really worried him was that she wasn't very coherent and didn't seem to understand what was happening. The rest of her injuries were minor cuts and scrapes from landing on the asphalt. "Rampart, this is squad 51, do you read?"

"Go ahead, 51, this is Rampart."

"Rampart, we have a female, age 15, victim of a pedestrian car accident…" He gave her vitals to Dr Brackett over the bio-phone.

"Any fluid present in ears or nose, 51?"

"That's negative, Rampart, but patient is confused and has swelling on the left temple, with bruising beginning around the left eye socket. Pupils are unequal."

"10-4, 51; stabilize head and neck…"

Just then the girl started to retch. Johnny was able to turn her enough onto her side, while supporting her neck, so that most of the vomit landed on the ground. Roy was there with the backboard and cervical collar, and as soon as she stopped being sick he and John got her immobilized. An IV was established and they got her ready for transport. Their experience told them to expect that she was probably heading for surger p.