Page 27 of Backdraft
I'd earned respect from the fire fighters at my previous job, but I was new here and felt an overpowering urge to prove myself. I drew in a deep breath, put a steadying hand on the wall, and followed the firefighter into the dark, smoking basement.
The back of the room had a lot of thermal damage, and the fire had gone into the walls, finding its way up through the back of the house and fanning out from there. The old furnace was also in this area of the basement.
I nodded. Now I knew what I was looking for and needed photos, to make notes, take measurements, and I was dying of heat.
This was where the fire started, I was sure of it. There could have been an accelerant introduced to the furnace and set alight.
I pulled my camera from around my back, checked the setting for the level of darkness, and started taking photos. These images would help later when I dove into the findings.
While capturing images, I also scanned the floor, looking for anything that could've played a part in the start of the fire. There was so much debris around the furnace, I’d have to double-check for rags or anything else that could ignite.
I saw a lump of something on the far side of the basement. A-ha. And there it was. I took photos from all angles and tipped it over to see the bottom.
Red, intact, and unmelted. A gasoline jerrican.
Suddenly, I felt faint and swayed, lightheaded and hot.
The firefight took my arm. "Alright?" he asked.
I nodded and gently extracted myself from his grip. This was what I didn't want to happen.
Holding the jerrican, I couldn't see it any longer with the sweat pouring down my forehead and into my eyes. It stung, and I was unable to wipe it away without taking off my sealed-up gloves.
I carried on and continued along the back wall until we reached a vertical cinder block wall that looked much newer than the floor and original walls.
I looked up at the ceiling. The floor above was damaged and had come down in this area and pulled some of the insulation and drywall with it. I pushed it aside, and there was another door with what looked like an earthen floor behind the block wall.
The firefighter was beside me, and I pointed.
"Can we pull aside this debris to see what's behind it?"
He raised his halligan, and I stood back when he used it to pull away the pile.
"There's a door here," he said.
"Can you open it? We have to see inside."
He used the tool to pry open the door. Tentatively, I leaned over to look into the dark room. I needed the flashlight and took it from my belt to shine inside.
What the heck were we getting ourselves into?
I swung the flashlight back and forth, cautiously stepping over the mess.
I had a very bad feeling, but I ignored it and went farther into the room. I was really starting to heat up and feel nauseous inside the Tyvek suit. The firefighter was behind me. My eyes finally adjusted to the gloom. There was something in the rubble next to the wall.
I crouched to gently move around the ruins on the floor. It looked like burned drywall. I took a photo of it, because bone can also look like drywall.
As I leaned forward for a closer look, something hit me on the back. I let out a shout and rolled toward the door. Another section of the ceiling collapsed, bringing down pipes wrapped in old plumbing insulation. The building was the right age for asbestos insulation, and I was lucky I hadn't gone farther into the room. The object that caught my attention was now buried underneath all the rubble, insulation, and all kinds of debris from above. Just as I would've been if I'd been farther forward.
I pushed myself out of the pile and looked around for the firefighter. He was also extracting himself. He radioed for assistance and reached for my hand to help me out of the room.
Shortly, the basement was full of his fire crew, and they hustled us out.
I was panting, overly hot and feeling faint. I was either going to throw up in my mask or pass out if I didn't get out of this gear now.
"Okay, we gotta hose you. This is asbestos, and you need to be decontaminated." The lieutenant reached out his hand to grab mine.
"Asbestos." I was warned they thought there was asbestos, but now that it was confirmed, I simply had to get out of this gear.
