Tommy and Walsh barely had time to think, let alone move, before debris was falling around them. Soon the four-story building was a partial shell and a pile of debris. This fire had moved quickly. Accountability listed 8-trapped firefighters. Now instead of a four-story building on fire they had a debris pile on fire. Command immediately called for additional medic units and a collapse box. They still had not accounted for 6 residents, and now the 8 firefighters.

Mac and Logan immediately began fighting through the rubble to find their coworkers. The Collapse Unit- Rescue 3 rolls onto the scene and begins to set up work immediately. Mark Redman and Tommy Foley begin to work on the side of the building where the stairs once stood. Methodically the firefighters took bucketful after bucketful of debris away from the area. It is a painstaking undertaking. The fires were reduced to smolders.

Walsh tried to move. He couldn't move his legs. He was running out of air and he knew it. He reached to his sides but couldn't find Tommy Doyle anywhere.

"Tommy." He yelled out to no avail. He was muffled by the debris around him. He had to figure out how to get out of the situation before he suffocated from lack of oxygen.

Tommy Doyle didn't move at all. He was unconscious in his capsule of debris. He couldn't hear Walsh or any of the rescuers above call for him.

Lt. Johnson paced nervously at the command center. He had two of his men in that pile. He knew that his men were strong, they would still be alive. He was counting on that.

A heart monitor beeped steadily. DK lay in the bed, asleep. He was still under the anesthetic from his surgery. There was an IV in his right hand, and he had a nasal canula delivering oxygen to him. It was now close to 6 AM. A doctor walks in the room and checks his chart. Then he lifts the hospital gown to check the incision. DK stirs.

"Don't try to talk" the doctor says, "The operation went fine. You're a lucky man Mr. Kitson."

Above the pile a massive effort was underway to find the trapped firefighters and residents. The police officers had to hold back a few people trying to get to the building, only to find out that 4 of those people were among the missing residents, which brought the missing civilian total down to 2.

The rescuers found the central stair well and hoped that the firefighters had gotten into the relative safety of it. They began using airbags to lift the stringers of the staircase and soon enough find Tommy Doyle. He is still unconscious but at least he has a pulse and his breathing on his own. Quickly they get his face piece off to allow air to get to him. He was slowly becoming hypoxic because his SCBA had run out of air.

They backboard him and Doc immediately begins assessing his injuries. He found rigidity to the abdomen, a sign of possible internal bleeding. He also found that Tommy had deformities to his right shoulder and his right ankle. Doc put him on oxygen and then a crew of medics from the 68 took over care and rushed him to Mercy.

The guys from Rescue 3 continued to search for Walsh and the other trapped firefighters. Slowly they began to find the firefighters; unfortunately the pair from Engine 86 had perished in the collapse. They found two more firefighters cocooned in the debris. Both were shaken and desperate for air, but they were okay. The two residents were found close to those firefighters, each had to be taken to the hospital for evaluation.

Lieutenant Johnson paced nervously; he still had one man inside that pile of debris. He hoped that he wouldn't have to make a notification tonight; he couldn't stand the thought of it. He honestly didn't have the stomach for it either.

Tommy Foley continued with his partner to work through the stringers and other debris. The staircase had withstood most of the collapse, but Tommy knew that Walsh had gone down with the stairs. He was about 12 feet down in the rubble when he hit something.

Walsh looked around, it was starting to get hazy to him. The lack of oxygen was starting to get to him. He fought hard to stay awake because without oxygen your body wants to enter a deep sleep and never wake up. He had been out of air for what seemed like hours to him. His air supply had been gone for an hour and he had done his best to contain his breathing. He managed to free himself from his face piece, and that helped. But he hurt.

Foley continued to dig around what he had hit. It was a boot. Walsh was actually upside down. He called out to Walsh.

"Walsh." He called, "Talk to me buddy."

Walsh was fighting to stay awake still. He heard the voice but it seemed so distant to him. He could feel the weight easing off of him but could not fully comprehend what was happening.

"Walsh, you need to talk to me!" Foley called, "I NEED you to talk to me!"

Walsh tried to talk but words wouldn't come out. Tommy Foley knew that this was a bad sign. He suspected that Walsh was in shock and he frantically worked to free his trapped colleague. Finally they managed to get him free. They back boarded him immediately and the medics took over care.

Tommy was right, Walsh had gone into shock, and it looked like it was fairly advanced. Jerry noted that his pulse was tachy at 140, and his blood pressure was only 84 by palp. Doc quickly did a trauma assessment to find a compound fracture of Walsh's left arm. He was guarding his chest, and taking shallow breaths. One side of his chest rose before the other and Doc suspected a pneumothorax.

Jerry established two large bore IVs to try to stabilize Walsh's pressure. Doc began to bag Walsh to make sure that he kept up with adequate respirations. The medics then rushed Walsh off to Mercy.

As they rolled into the ER Walsh started to seize. Doctor Scott immediately ordered 5 of Valium. Nurse Mary Proctor immediately complied with the order and injected it into the IV. Shortly after this the seizure stopped. Dr. Scott also inserted a chest tube to alleviate the pneumothorax. He ordered a chest X-ray as well as a Head CT and X-ray of Walsh's arm.

Lt. Johnson arrived at the hospital to check on his men. He found out that DK's surgery was successful and that he was resting comfortably. Tommy Doyle had ruptured his spleen and was taken upstairs for emergency surgery. He also had a dislocated shoulder and fractured ankle.

Mary Proctor walked out of the trauma room that Walsh was in. Lt. Johnson jumped up and rushed over for information.

"How is he?" He asked

"Damn lucky." Nurse Proctor said. "He had a collapsed lung and a fractured wrist. He had a seizure when they brought him in, but he'll be okay."

"Thank you." Lt. Johnson says as he approaches the window.

There were wires going everywhere it seemed on Walsh. He was hooked up to a heart monitor and a ventilator until they could stabilize his breathing. He still has the IVs and the chest tube.

A transport nurse came in to take Walsh to rest in a room upstairs. Lt. Johnson sat down and breathed a huge sigh of relief. It was the first time that he had to dodge a bullet like this as a Lieutenant. He didn't like the feeling at all.

Lieutenant Johnson made his way to DK's room.

"Hey Lieu." DK noticed his superior enter the room. "What are you doing here?"

"Can't a guy just visit a member of his squad?" Lt. Johnson asked

"Well yeah, but you got that look on your face." DK says

"It's been a long night." Lt. Johnson responded

"You look like you ain't slept a bit." DK noted

"I haven't." Lt. Johnson replied

"Did something happen?" DK questioned

"Yeah, a building collapsed. Tommy and Billy were trapped." He pauses

"They okay?" DK wants to know, he felt guilty for not being there.

"Yeah, they're beat up pretty good but they're alright." Lt. Johnson could finally believe that they were. "Looks like I'm gonna be down a few damn good firefighters for a while."

"I'll be back in no time." DK said

"Don't rush it. I don't want anyone getting hurt." Lt. Johnson said

"Yes sir." DK replies, "They said I could get out of here as early as tomorrow if all goes well."

"Good." Lt. Johnson is relieved. "I'm gonna let you get some rest and check on the others."

"Thanks Lieu." DK says as Lt. Johnson leaves the room.

He walks down the hall and looks in on Walsh who has been extubated. He felt responsible in part for the accident, but not a single firefighter would blame him. He did everything right, they were just victims of circumstance. They did their jobs and that was all that was important. They would live on to fight fire another day. It was in their blood. They were New York's Bravest.