Old Ghosts

by Casey's Cupcake

Matthew and Madeleine Casey have now been married for almost four years and are the parents of a precocious toddler named Finn. They were living an ideal life, full of love and laughter, until Jackson Walker, Maddy's first husband, shows up in Chicago and makes his presence known. What is it he wants and will it affect the Casey family? Sequel to "Separate Secrets".

5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

Matt sat at the desk in his office, finishing the paperwork from the last call. It had been a warehouse fire that seemed to have a suspicious origin. There had been several fires in that part of town that smacked of arson. Matt was carefully constructing his narrative when the alarm went off again. He threw down his pencil in frustration.

"Jesus Christ, not another one," he said as the dispatcher named another location in the same district of the city. He and the other crew members from House 51 scrambled down to the apparatus floor, hastily throwing on their gear and jumping into their respective trucks. This time, it was an apartment building that had stood vacant for the last few years in a rundown neighborhood on the east side of the city.

"This is like the fifth call we've had to this area in the last month," said Brian, who was driving Truck 81. As Captain, Matt was riding shotgun. "I know. Something stinks about this," he said. As they approached the scene, large clouds of black smoke could be seen billowing out of the windows on the top floor of the five story building.

"Christ," said Matt, coming to the realization that this one may have to be fought from the ladder and other ariel trucks from other companies. He jumped out of the passenger seat and strode up to Chief Boden, who was directing other apparatus around the scene.

"This gonna be an automatic mutual aid, Chief? Looks like we could use it," said Matt.

"I've already told dispatch to call House 64 and House 15 to the scene. It's a pressure cooker in there. You think this is another in the series of unexplained fires in this area?" Boden replied in his deep, booming baritone voice.

"I guess we'll know soon enough," said Matt. The crew of Truck 81 was already raising the ladder up as far as it could reach in front of the brick building. Matt's experience as a firefighter had taught him that fires in a building made of bricks were like chimneys. Once the flames found a pocket of air, the whole place could flashover, making it a difficult fire to fight not to mention dangerous for his men. He ordered the Brian and Joe to grab a line and trudge up the five flights of stairs to the fire floor, while Mouch and Kidd were directed up the ladder.

"Otis and Cruz, do a thorough search of the floors before you head up. We need to know if this building is truly vacant. There may be a few vagrants hiding in there. I'll have your back," said Matt.

"Sure thing, Captain," said Joe Cruz. Matt followed Cruz and Otis into the building as they carried a charged two inch line with them. They did a quick sweep of the ground floor, which consisted of a manager's office and a wall full of mailboxes. Sure that they were no people in the vicinity, they headed up the flight of stairs to the second floor.

"No sprinkler system, guys. Watch for isolated burns. We could find them on floors and ceilings or in the walls," said Matt, reminding his men to keep a sharp eye out for the unexpected, even though he knew they both already would. It was his job as Captain to keep them on their toes, no matter if they were rookies or veteran firefighters. Having swept through the second and third floors with no issues, they made their way to the fourth floor, just below the fire floor. Several spot areas were on fire from the embers that had fallen through open areas in the ceiling. Matt broke away from Cruz and Otis momentarily whenever he saw a hot spot breaking out. He'd douse the area with his extinguisher before moving on to the next floor, making sure there was nothing more burning in the immediate area. The wooden floors and asbestos-filled ceilings needed little heat or flame to erupt into a raging inferno. As he was stomping out a small debris fire on the opposite side of the stairwell, Cruz's voice suddenly pierced Matt's ear inside his helmet.

"Captain Casey! We found someone up here on four! We need your assistance!" Matt turned and bounded up the stairs, taking them two at a time. As he reached the landing, he turned and started up the next set of steps. As his foot made contact with the first step, the surface of it gave way, causing him to lose his balance. He fell backwards onto the landing and crashed through the weakened wood down to the floor below. He landed hard on the cement surface, rendering him unconscious. Within thirty seconds, his distress signal began to chirp, alerting Cruz and Otis.

"Firefighter down! Firefighter down! May day! May day! Captain Casey is down! Third floor near the stairwell!" shouted Cruz.