FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

A Fireman's Prayer

When I am called to duty, God, Whenever flames may rage; Give me strength to save some life, Whatever be its age. Help me embrace a little child Before it is too late

Or save an older person From the horror of that fate. Enable me to be alert

And hear the weakest shout, And quickly and efficiently To put the fire out. I want to fill my calling And to give the best in me To guard my every neighbor And protect his property. And if, according to my fate, I am to lose my life, Please bless with your protecting My children and my wife.

• Author Unknown

Anonymous

"There is an old saying in among the Firemen: You don't need to watch your back, because there is already someone else doing that for you."

• Lieutenant Richard Smith

___________________________________________________

TO PROTECT LIFE - PROLOGUE

___________________________________________________

New York...

I crawl with a certain difficulty by another corridor filled with the smoke that darks everything; I look for and ember... feeling the disturbing high temperature, praying to the floor doesn't disappear beneath my feet suddenly... Just another day of work.

Finally I see... But it seems odd, that is why I don't open the almost three inches hose I carry along with me. Carefully I touch the place glowing with the orange and yellow tones, my paw protected by the glove. Clarity hits me, there is an wall between us and the uncontrolled fire, I am peeking the heel by a tiny hole.

It was indeed a good decision to not open the hose because we would be underwater in a matter of seconds if I had.

"Someone handles me a Halligan" I shout to the fur that I know that are just behind me, even that I can't see them.

"Where is yours, James" I hear of them shout back.

"Just Shut up."

Halligan is the name of a special tool that we use to open passage during a fire, it was invented by a fireman called... surprise... Halligan. I hope he become rich by that, he deserves considering the lives that his invention helps to save.

I hold the halligan with both hands and hammer the walls with repetitive blows. I could just go to the end of the corridor, maybe try to find a door, but I prefer this way, it is quicker, plus, demolish is cool.

As a piece of the wall collapses we can see the hell that the apartment in front of us have become. We barely had stepped back, because of the not cordial greeting of the flames, and it was again no time to think but to act. I hold the hose and point to the burning place that used to be someone's house. Before I release the jet of water I hear the scream and have to change plans.

A bear, a old and fat one comes into that particular room, he is on fire and his scream announced that to us even before we could lay eyes on him.

That always scares the shit out of me. We placed him on the floor and extinguished the fire. I don't say a thing, I don't need, just push him back, I know someone will be there to take him outside.

I have a job to do: Suffocate the fire.

"We are in" I say out loud as I let the hose do its job, just aiming the stream of pressurized water to the flames.

Usually suffocate a fire means to private it from oxygen; oxygen feeds the flames... But the smoke is worse; Accumulated smoke kills... but... and accumulated heat? Accumulated heat gets stronger and restless.

"We have to come on in, but I am not managing to control the fire from here. The focus of it is the side room."

We are stuck, just enough into the room to the three of us be able to stand up, but that is it, fire is still savage around us. No one complains or thinks in stepping back... Courage is not to be brave, but be the only one to know that you are scared.

"Mick, all the windows are closed. It too much hot in here and it is getting hotter and hotter by each second." I shout to the lion that is always there, two steps back from me, my best friend and occasional lover.

I don't see his face, even that if I turned my head face I wouldn't be able to see it because the fire proof helmet we are all using, but we know each other so well that I could even picture his smile as he said: "My turn."

Mick grabbed his own halligan and ran towards the nearest window. You see, the main problem with accumulated heat is that it creates walls of fire. Flashover. Flashover happens when a place gets so hot that, suddenly, everything in it ignites on fire. Everything.

Mick stopped just a few steps before the windows as the couch, the curtain and every piece of furniture next to it lit up on fire, even his own clothes.

"God!" I hear him shout.

I can't shot the water at him yet. Funny, Mick is the best fur from our unity in my opinion, even on fire he always manages to accomplish the job. Blind for the flames coming from him own special clothing, he breaks the window. He knows that we need ventilation, that is why he didn't hesitate when most of other furs would have had pissed already. We need vent because in a place like this even the water can become your enemy, everything would just become steam in the blink of an eye, filling the room, sticking to your skin and boiling you as a thanksgiving turkey. Even so, any fireman will say to you that he prefers to be the man with the hose. Here, the hose is power.

With our vent provided, I shower my friend with the powerful stream of water, he gives me a thumbs up as I move the jet to other parts of the location, trying to eliminates as much flames as I can.

The focus of the fire is now visible among the raising smoke, It looks like a kitchen; why I am not impressed, a fire starting at the kitchen... Maybe the only thing more powerful than the hose here is to save a life, that is priceless.

Mick is now by my side again, the lion seems a bit tired, but he grabs the hose as I ask him to do so, not a second of hesitation; with him taking care of my back I proceed to the kitchen, maybe that old bear had a wife or something.

If you see what we do, you can imagine that is necessary a lot to stop a fireman; actually that is partially true...

I find my way to the kitchen that is worse than the rest of the apartment, the fire here is much more intense and...

"Hi" the sound is sweet, almost childish.

As I turn my head to see a pair of green and deep eyes greet me, I gasp... If there was a way to put sounds in a piece of paper... the most creepy and scary song would be playing now.

"There is a war coming; a lot of people are going to die in it." Said that childish voice.

Everything was on fire, shelves, wooden floor, ceiling, everything, even the remaining of the female bear fallen on the ground. The way she looked like she was beyond salvation. A little boy stands in the middle of the hell, it was him that spoke to me about a war, but that info doesn't call my attention as the boy himself. He has a pink fur and is a really young and small wolf, the flames seem not to touch him neither does the heat disturbs him... he is calm... as nothing was wrong, he hadn't a scratch, a burning mark, nothing, he was perfect. He used a simple black shirt with a band symbol and some ragged jeans.

The boy calmly spoke again:

"There is a war coming; my daddy asked me to tell to someone using uniform, a lot of people are going to die.

I shake my head to try to clear it, despite that boy being strange, I couldn't let him here.

"Well, we aren't going to die." I shout as I run to him before the flames have their opportunity to finally hurt him. I place my paws beneath his armpits and raise him from the floor. The flames were embracing him till the waist line but both, his clothes and him where ok.

"Mick, there is a boy in here" I say out loud to my comrade. But, before I can step any further into the living room of the apartment, the floor of the kitchen gives up and we fall.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The noise from the floor cracking is loud enough to some furs out of the building be able to hear it, what to say about Mick that was just in the next room? He screamed for his friend, but the flames had now blocked his way and he couldn't see the snow leopard that had fallen to the floor below.

"Vehicle one! Lieutenant MacDonald has just fall into a hole!

END OF PROLOGUE