Page 78 of Controlled Burn
“Mayday, mayday. This is Keith Brooks. I’ve fallen through the second floor. I’m trapped on the first floor. My leg is pinned. I can’t get out.”
Robert grabbed his radio and held it to his mouth. “Hang tight, Keith. We’re coming for you, brother. Just stay with us.” Then he turned to me and Ford. “Let’s go!”
The urgency in his voice sent a jolt of adrenaline through my veins, but as I started gearing back up to go back in, I noticed other firefighters had gathered around us.
Robert turned and looked at them. “He’s trapped on the first floor. We need to move now!”
“Negative,” came a stern voice from nearby. Captain Morris, the one who’d called for the operational retreat, stepped forward. “The hotel is too unstable. We can’t risk more lives going in there.”
I saw Robert’s jaw clench. “It’s Keith in there. We can’t leave him.”
But Morris shook his head firmly. “The structure is coming down. We need to focus on containment and protecting the surrounding area.”
Just then, our chief appeared. He looked at Robert, then at the rest of us. Without a word, he gave a single, decisive nod.
Robert turned to us. “Probie, you don’t have to do this.”
“I’m coming,” I insisted, my tone broke no argument. “One of our brothers is in there, and we’re going to get him out.”
Robert nodded at me. “Stay close and follow my lead.”
We pulled all our gear back on and pushed through the front door. The intense heat hit us immediately. Inside, the hotel was a smoke-filled maze of destruction, and the visibility was near zero, but I focused on Robert’s figure moving ahead of me.
“Ford, where was he?” he called out.
“Back corner. Right about there?” Ford pointed towards the area where he thought Keith had been.
“Keith, if you can hear me, we’re coming for you!” Robert shouted, his voice barely audible over the roar of the fire, but still, the lack of response made my stomach churn. Of course, with all the sirens blaring outside, letting everyone know a retreat had been called, we couldn’t hear much of anything.
Robert led us through with confident, swift movements. I followed behind, trying to match his pace, but the fire was relentless. As we approached the back corner, I saw a pile of what appeared to be ceiling materials where the floor above had collapsed, and my heart sank. Keith was there somewhere, buried under that debris, with his leg pinned down.
“There!” Ford shouted as he flung a piece of what looked like drywall off to the side, revealing Keith’s unmoving body. We moved quickly to his side. He was unconscious, his face pale and sweaty.
There was movement to his left. I was trying to figure out what it was when it lifted its little head and looked at me. It was a puppy, of all things. It was nudging at Keith’s face, trying to get him to move.
“Get that beam off him, now!” Robert ordered as he moved to stand behind Keith’s shoulders. He shoved the puppy to the side and gripped Keith under the arms.
Ford and I positioned ourselves around the beam, ready to lift.
He made contact with me, making sure I could hear him. “On three. One, two, three!”
With a collective grunt, we lifted the beam just enough for Robert to pull Keith free. He groaned in pain, but relief washed over me, knowing he was alive.
“Stay with me, Keith,” Robert said, his voice filled with emotion. “We’re getting you out of here. You hear me?”
Robert and Ford lifted Keith while I scooped up the puppy with one arm. Then I took the lead, carrying the flashlight. We moved as quickly as we could through the collapsing structure. Each step was a battle against the smoke and flames, but we pressed on, determined to get to safety.
Finally, we burst through the front door, the cool night air a stark contrast to the hell we’d just experienced inside. The rest of the team was waiting, their faces a mix of relief and worry.
“We got him,” Robert announced, his voice choked with emotion. “We got him.”
We laid Keith on a stretcher, and Becca and Chris immediately began working on him. I couldn’t imagine what this was like for Becca, with her own brother lying there on the stretcher. I stood there holding a puppy, with no idea what to do now other than pray that Keith would be okay.
“I’ll call Micheal and let him know his son is injured. I’ll tell him to meet us at the hospital,” Chief Sheridan said gravely. “Is there anyone else we need to notify?”
Robert took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah, my son. I’ll call him.”
Chapter 28