"Keep the pressure steady!"
"Back it up! We're not getting through with this angle—"
"Move that damn hose!"
The street was chaos. Red and orange light flickered against the thick black smoke rising from the upper floors of the burning building. Firefighters shouted across radios and through masks, hauling heavy hoses and coordinating through deafening noise. The main truck sat parked at an angle, long pipe hoses uncoiled and thrumming with water pressure. Twin jets blasted against the inferno above, hammering the flames with everything they had.
"It's not working, Chief!" one of the younger men shouted. "It's not dying down!"
The fire chief adjusted the strap of his helmet and stepped forward, scanning the building. The fire was eating everything—glass cracked and popped under the heat, and metal support beams were glowing red. It had spread too fast, too violently.
"Shift to foam and aim for the upper floors! We're buying time—"
