March 12, 2021

It was a clear Friday morning on Patch Island, just off the coast of Vale City. The birds were singing, the sun was up in the sky, and there were few clouds in the sky. Apart from a few cars from the residents as they went to work in the city, everything was rather quiet and peaceful.

Then, the shrill sound of a far-off siren pierced the air, quickly followed by the sound of low-pitched air horns much closer. A fire call had just come into Signal Fire Company and Patch First Aid Squad, the only 2 fire companies on the island.

Qrow was in the process of pouring himself a bowl of cereal when he first heard his Patch First Aid pager go off, followed by the sirens and then his second pager for Signal Fire go off. He turned to his pagers and said, "Sorry, Signal, but I'm gonna have to take this one in for Patch." Having been a member of both fire companies since his teenage years, he had served as Captain of the Signal Fire Company since last year. (A/N: Normally, you can only be in 1 fire company at a time, unless you are part of a fire company that historically was only an ambulance and rescue provider, such as Patch First Aid Squad, until reforms in the VCFD in 1960 expanded ambulance services and started medical first responder services amongst companies without ambulances. Also, it should be noted that the Branwen family founded both Signal Fire and Patch First Aid.)

After leaving his house, he jumped into Car 88, the 1st Captain's car of Signal Fire, and radioed, "Fire Alarm, Car 88's en route." He had decided to respond as the Captain of Signal Fire rather than as a regular firefighter for Patch First Aid that day.

To his surprise, Blake answered back, replying with, "10-4, just so you are aware, utilities are en route as well for the gas leak. They have a 35 minute ETA."

"10-4," Qrow replied as he drove onto the road and flipped his lights and siren on.

Then, Taiyang's voice went over the air, radioing, "Fire Alarm, Car 87's en route. I copy the info about utilities." He, too, was a member of both companies, and had been Captain of Patch First Aid since last year.

3 and a half minutes later, Qrow and Taiyang both pulled up at the scene at the same time. The location of the gas leak was a small residential home with wood siding. By now, the family had evacuated.

Qrow stepped out of Car 88 and walked towards the back of the vehicle to grab his turnout gear as he radioed with a portable radio, "Fire Alarm, Car 88's 10-84 on the box. We got a single-story wood-framed house. The family inside has evacuated."

Taiyang, after putting his helmet on only, walked up to the family and asked, "What seems to be the problem, sir?"

The patriarch of the seemingly young family replied, "We were all asleep when we heard the gas alarm go off. We smelled a strong odor of natural gas in the house and around it. Do you smell it?"

"I sure do," Taiyang replied as he sniffed the air. He then turned to a fully-geared-up Qrow and said, "Hey Qrow, think I should tell utilities to expedite? The odor's pretty strong."

"Wouldn't be a bad idea," Qrow said as he adjusted his tan long coat with orange stripes and pulled tight the straps on his personal SCBA pack. "Why not, Tai?"

"Got it," Taiyang replied as the sirens of other vehicles drew closer. Eventually, an ambulance from PFAS showed up. Out of it stepped 6 volunteers, 3 of whom were interior firefighters that immediately grabbed packs off the truck. One of them, a recently-designated 2nd Captain, asked Qrow, "Where do you want these guys, Qrow?"

"Tell 'em to grab the gas meter and start scanning the house for natural gas," Qrow replied as he walked over to the front of the house, sniffing the air as he went and noticing a distinct and strong gas smell. "Also, nobody light up anything, and no smoking!"

10 minutes passed. It was now 16 minutes into the call. By now, crews had left the house after they established that there was indeed natural gas in the house, and going off of the meter, there was a lot of it.

Qrow and Taiyang congregated behind PFAS's heavy rescue. Qrow said, "So, did ya hear Blake on the radio working dispatch?"

"Sure did," Taiyang replied. "She's a really good dispatcher, actually."

Suddenly, what sounded like a roar of jet engines emanated from the house as Qrow and Taiyang were both thrown to the ground by a strong force of wind and debris flew in every direction. When they both got up and began to regain their hearing, Qrow saw several panicked firefighters run away from him. He yelled, "What the fuck was that?!"

Taiyang walked to the front of the heavy rescue to see what had just happened. In front of him lay the remains of what was once the house. It had been blown to pieces by an intense gas explosion. He immediately grabbed his radio from his belt and said, "Car 87 to Fire Alarm, urgent!"

"Car 87."

"Transmit a Code 99 for this box immediately! We just had a huge explosion level the whole house!" Taiyang then noticed several wounded firefighters walking around aimlessly, still in shock over the explosion.

"10-4, Code 99 to be transmitted."

Yang, working at a Hunting Corps recruitment office that day, was sitting at a computer desk talking to a client when she received a text on her cellphone just as the call finished up. "Alright, my pleasure. Thank you. Goodbye." She then hung up as she read the text, which was from Blake.

"ur dad and ur uncle were in a gas explosion on patch. theyre both ok afaik. working dispatch rn for the box"

Yang's heart immediately sank in response to the text as she dialed Ruby's phone number. She thought to herself, "This can't be good... I hope they actually are okay..." After a few seconds, Ruby answered up from home, having just come home several hours ago from a night-time training session. "Ruby, it's Yang. Dad and Qrow were involved in a gas explosion on Patch."

Ruby, over the phone, replied with a shocked, "What?! No!"

"Calm down, Ruby. Blake is working at Fire Alarm today. She says they're both okay." Yang then sighed. "When I get out at 3, I'll tell you as much as I know about it, okay?"

At 3:36 P.M., Yang, George, and Ruby sat down at a kitchen table at their apartment. Yang started off by saying, "Okay, so Blake called and updated me on what happened not too long ago."

Ruby asked immediately, "Are Dad and Uncle Qrow okay?"

"Yes," Yang said, much to the relief of Ruby. "They're shaken up, but unhurt. However, several firefighters from their companies are in critical condition." Then, Yang got another phone call, again from Blake. "Hello? No... No way..." There was a long pause. "Fuck, that's awful... Okay, I'll go over to his house with Ruby and George soon. Bye."

George asked, "What happened, love?"

Yang wiped her face and said, "A firefighter from Patch First Aid was just declared dead at the hospital. Blake said it was Qrow's cousin. Also, a student at Signal who was part of Signal Fire is taking a turn for the worse."

Ruby asked, "Which one?"

"The cousin? It was Cyril." Cyril and Qrow had been close friends for a long time, having been born just a year apart. He had been born to Qrow and Raven's uncle, and had known Yang and Ruby since they were infants. He, like several other Branwens, was in both the Signal Fire Company and the Patch First Aid Squad. He had served for 7 years in the Army before transferring to the Gendarmerie. "This sucks..."

"Oh no," Ruby replied. "Why Cyril?"

"We should start heading out there now," George said.

"Probably," Yang replied as she got up to get her wallet. "We'll take the subway since there's three of us."

At 7:35 P.M., almost the entire Branwen family had gathered at Cyril's house, grieving and sharing memories of Cyril.

Taiyang, Yang, George, and Ruby all sat together on a couch as Taiyang talked to Qrow's father. Ruby said to Yang, "I kinda feel out of place here, to be honest, since I'm not a Branwen by blood."

"Stop worrying," Yang reassured her sister. "Nobody here cares that you weren't born to Raven. You're still part of the family." She then sighed and pointed to Qrow. "Uncle Qrow's over there talking to his mother. I heard him mention that he's gonna be holding new officer elections for Patch First Aid next week. Cyril was planning to run for a Lieutenant's spot, but... Yeah..."

Taiyang then turned to his daughters and said, "Can one of you run to Signal Fire and see how that kid from there is doing in the hospital?"

Suddenly, Qrow shouted, "Everyone listen!" He then signed as everyone went quiet. "I got some bad news about that kid from Signal. Uhhh, he... He didn't make it. He just died about 10 minutes ago."

Taiyang then got up. "Well, I gotta run back to the firehouse at school." He then wiped his eyes. "Damn, this fucking day sucks..." He then checked his phone as he got the same exact message that Qrow had received.

March 17, 2021

"In life," began a priest at a house of worship as he presided over the caskets of both fallen firefighters, both draped in Valeanian flags as 12 honor guards from the military kept watch. "Cyril Branwen and Russell Harriet were both dedicated to three things: Family, their country, and the fire service. Cyril had served as a volunteer firefighter since he was twelve, following in his family's footsteps. Russell had been a volunteer firefighter for just 5 months, and he had followed his girlfriend into the fire service. Fellow firefighters at both companies described Cyril as a dedicated family man, those families being his own and his brothers and sisters in the fire service, who always had a new idea to help out the department, and they described Russell as a dedicated new member who was willing to take on any challenge."

As the priest went on, Ruby and Yang, both dressed in the formal uniforms of the Vigilant Fire Company, looked on. Ruby thought to herself, "God, I feel so bad for that kid's girlfriend. He was just barely 15! Then again, I got into Beacon at that age..."

George, dressed in the Goodwill Hose Company's formal uniform, looked over at Yang and wondered what she was thinking. "These are the first LODDs the entire department has had this year... I hope they're the last..."

About 2 hours later, Qrow and Ruby talked to each other at the cemetery where the two firefighters had just been buried. "So," Qrow said. "How's one of my favorite nieces doing?"

"Not bad," Ruby replied. "Me, Yang, and Blake are doing Intermediate Firefighter-EMT. I'm still doing special training with the Hunting Corps. Being an officer is hard work."

"Hah, and that's just as a Lieutenant. Try being a Major like me. Anyways, how's the king?" Qrow knew of Ruby and Delwyn's relationship.

"Oh! He's doing well." She then smiled, thinking about him. "I apologize if I get a bit flustered, since we're still in the very beginnings of our relationship." She then giggled. "Good God, he's so sweet."

"That's good." Qrow smiled, knowing Ruby had a good relationship. "How's Yang doing with her boyfriend? They still together?"

"Oh yeah," Ruby replied. "George moved in with us. He's still in Goodwill, though. He's, you know, younger than Yang by like 3 years, but he's got his life settled pretty good. And to think, they started as a one night stand and now they're almost inseparable."

March 18, 2021

"Captain," asked Ruby, who had went over to the firehouse at around 5 to do a 12 hour duty shift starting at 6, as she peered into Arthur's office. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure thing," Arthur replied. "What do you need?"

"I wanna get engineer training," Ruby replied as she entered the office. An engineer was the term used for firefighters who could drive and operate the trucks. "Who would I go to to get that?"

"You'd go to Weiss's dad," Arthur replied as he pulled out a folder carrying engineer training forms. "The 1st Lieutenant handles engineer training at Vigilant. All you need to do is fill this form out and leave it on his desk. He'll call you within the next few days, and from there, you 2 can set up dates to drive around the block and pump out of a hydrant in our area. If you're doing the truck, you'll also operate the aerial ladder on an abandoned building."

"Thank you," Ruby replied as she was given a form to fill out before sitting in a chair and filling it out with a blue pen on the captain's desk across from him. Once she was done, she said, "So, how long will it take me to get all of the trucks, including the ambulance, out of the way?"

"About 5 to 6 weeks," Arthur replied. "You need to do 4 driving evolutions and 2 pump and aerial evolutions per truck, with the exception of the ambulance, which only needs you to do 2 driving evolutions."

Then, they both heard the pager tones and siren tones go over the radio. Ruby quickly sprinted out of the office and to her gear locker as Arthur walked out of the building from the front to get into Car 5. As the siren of the station blared loudly, the 2 paid firefighter-paramedics slid down the ambulance/rescue bay's fire pole from upstairs. Ruby pulled her boots up as she then put her coat and helmet on. From what the dispatcher said over the radio after the tones ended, it sounded like a structure fire in Goodwill's first-due.

The bay doors had been opened by the pager tones, which set off a control box connected to them. The paid firefighters started the ambulance up as Ruby ran over to it to get on along with 3 other volunteers at the station. Ruby and one other volunteer jumped into the seats behind the paid firefighters, while 2 other volunteers jumped into the back of the ambulance.

Once everyone was in the rig, the ambulance pulled out of the station, lights flashing and sirens blaring. As they did, 4 to 6 other volunteers ran into the station. Ruby quickly slipped into the straps of her seat's SCBA as she said, "This is a fire, right?"

"Yep," said the paid lieutenant in the front seat. "Multiple calls reporting flames on the 1st floor of an office building, plus multiple fire alarm station activations and a street box pull."

Then, Ruby heard Car 6 over the radio say, "Car 6 to Fire Alarm."

Dispatch replied, "Car 6."

"If we're getting multiple calls and a box pull in the building and out on the street, go ahead and strike a Code 99 for this fire, K."

"10-4," Dispatch replied.

Ruby said, "Alright, looks like we'll be going to work then." She then took her helmet off and took her mask out of its bag so she could put it on over her face and hair. Once she was done, she leaned forward to pull her SCBA out of its seat so she could reach around and turn it on. Once she turned it on, she waited for about half a minute before she connected her mask's long low-pressure tube to her belt regulator, causing air from her pack to fill her mask. Then, she put her helmet on.

Within 5 minutes of the call, Ambulance 201 from Vigilant and Engine 202 from Goodwill both pulled up at the same time. By then, Car 5, Car 6, Patrol 3, and Salvage 3 had already arrived. Ruby stepped out of the ambulance on air as she ran over to Engine 202 to help pull a second hand line off the rig with 2 other Goodwill firefighters. By now, the first hand line's crew had entered the building from the side as another firefighter used Engine 202's deck gun to partially knock down the raging inferno in the front.

As Ruby and the 2 Goodwill firefighters, both of them also on air, reached the building, they got low and crawled through the front, spraying inside to help cool down the walls as a unit from another company arrived. Ruby thought to herself, "This should be a quick knockdown. This shouldn't take more than half an hour to knock down completely."