Into the Flames

Before I throw you guys into the heat of my story, I just want you to have some quick background. I know you are here for the action of the house fire and you'll get there really soon. I just need to give you some minor backstory first. I was hanging out with a friend like any other summer day when all of a sudden my fire department pager went off and I responded to my house-fire call. Here is how it went down on scene:

As soon as my boots touched the ground and I saw the deep smoke billowing from the second story windows it was go time. And then I heard the one order that would forever stick with me to this day.

“Torrioni, get on the hydrant!” exclaimed my lieutenant. In a moment that felt like an eternity, I pondered whether that phrase was really just said to me. I was perplexed why I was chosen for such an essential job. Here I am, a 17 year old junior firefighter at the time being tasked with something that could make or break this house fire operation. The difference of walking away from a torched foundation or a salvaged house was in my hands. Every second counts. With reality finally kicking in I dashed to the back compartment of the truck to get the pony line which attaches the truck to the hydrant. Following that, I got the hydrant bag which contains the wrenches necessary to pop a hydrant. With the hose and bag in hand I ran back to the hydrant. Assisted by some of the other guys we quickly flushed the hydrant. I tossed the coiled hose down the street so it would unroll and kept the end with the adapter in hand to be attached. Within an instant I attached the hose to the hydrant as another one of us attached the other end to the truck.

We screamed “water ready” just like we did in our drills as we opened the hydrant. The truck’s tank began to be surged with water. Just like that all of our other guys on hand lines had water and got to work. We began to have the fire under control and we started to get the ventilation going to prevent smoke damage. This moment was straight out of a movie. Hundreds of civilians on scene watching. I remember connecting eyes with a young child. They looked at me with such an innocent and clear face as I gazed back with a face blackened by soot. As we continued the process to control the damage and extinguish the final flames I finally was able to catch my breath. I had done my job and done it well. I didn’t crack under pressure, I rose to the occasion.