My Little Pony: Firehouse
Chapter 4: Inferno (The Great Canterlot Fire Part 1)
(As Told By: Maltese Cross)
You can have best equipment, and the best fire apparatus in the station, it won't make you a good fire-pony. You need to have the skill to use them, and put your life on the line to save another in danger. It was the beginning of autumn on October 14th, and very windy as the forecast called for 50mph winds. Little did I know that I'll face my biggest fire.
A couple years back, Chief Five Alarm was doing building inspections in the Garment District in the western part of the city. Most of the buildings in the area were made of wood, and stacked close together. The insurance companies had written off the Garment District as a high-risk area. Because of the low water supply, Five Alarm warned of the fire risk.
Though he warned the officials, it was too late. Years later and on this day, a delayed fire alarm came to our fire station and our quint trucks were the first to respond to the local fire-ponies. We arrived near 4:00 that afternoon, and the fire was burning out of control. Two city blocks were already up in flames, and it was getting worse because of the wind
"Fall back!"
Five Alarm and I tried to make a stand at Maple Street. Gina Whitewing and her fire-griffons made theirs at Summer Street. The stiff 50mph winds were whipping the fire like a bellows, "Fall back! Fall back!" called Five Alarm amid the roaring blaze. By 4:15pm, two more blocks in the Garment District were set ablaze. The Great Canterlot Fire had begun
We pulled back our trucks and equipment. The fire kept jumping, and embers were falling from the sky. The air echoed with sounds of sirens from fire trucks, ambulances, and police cars. The police-ponies did their best to get all the civilians out of danger while paramedics tended to the injured. By 4:24pm, the call center sent out a call for mutual aid.
"All available apparatus to Canterlot! All available apparatus to Canterlot!" the call went out, by 4:30 five blocks of Canterlot were ablaze. The black smoke could be seen from all parts of Equestria. By then, the Chief in Canterlot, Steady Stream, ordered Five Alarm to set up a line of defense on Mane Street. It is the only street wide enough for a firebreak
We set up all our heavy equipment, but the wind kept deflecting the stream of water so it couldn't reach the flames. The fire had jumped over our heads 150ft, and it ignited the Canterlot Box Company building. Fire-ponies from all over had been directed toward Canterlot's West Side. This fire had become too large to direct fire operations on the ground.
Steady Stream took to the air via a helicopter. From my walkie-talkie, I can hear him directing the incoming fire companies. The air was filled with the shouts of commands from the fire chiefs on the ground, sirens from coming fire companies, sprays from nozzles and hoses. The embers fell like snow, and the black smoke was turning afternoon into night
Within twelve minutes, every building on Sunshine and Spring Street was involved as the fire spread through the backyards and ignited the porches. Civilian ponies gathered on the overpass outside of town with the police-ponies keeping them out of harm's way. We fought, and fought the fire the best we could. For a civilian, the one thing to do is watch
The brick and wood buildings began to fall and crumble. By Celestia, what a roar it was. An engine and tower company from Las Pegasas had to pull all their apparatus back help make a stand in the Railway Yards. The problem is there wasn't enough pressure for our nozzles and deluge guns. A system of hoses and fire pumps was set up over a mile away
It began in the Garment District, and now twelve blocks of Canterlot's West Side are now ablaze. It was getting from bad to worse, the fresh air is feeding the fire and whipping up 50mph gusts, endangering both us and our equipment. The updraft sent up embers, and causing spot fires behind us to ignite and spread. The fire created superheated wind.
Buildings that were at least 100ft from the fire were preheated, and ignited. They would spontaneously explode. It was hard to keep in touch with all the fire companies on one frequency. So Chief Five Alarm and other Chiefs from other companies set up command posts at the most critical spots to relay commands from Canterlot's channel over to ours.
"Fall back!"
It was 5:30pm, and twenty blocks of Canterlot are burning. We pulled back our CR-137s and made it to the pump on Foalsome Avenue. In total, there 111 fire departments and 1200 fire-ponies and fire-griffons from all over Equestria from Ponyville to Appleloosa. From other spots as coordinated by the Command, it was now time to make the last stand
Paramedics were tending to the injured fire-ponies and fire-griffons. The heat was so intense that steam came off the fire trucks as they were sprayed down. Captain Whitewing were directed by Fire Alarm to get their hoses on the rooftops, and get the tower in the air. I got the same orders. He was going to coordinate a ground attack from our position.
From our position and from many others around the city, we started the counterattack and worked to contain the blaze into the night. But this massive fire was not going to give up without a fight. Spot fires were everywhere. We began to contain the fire, and slowly we began to move into the city with the hose companies, but this fire was far from over.