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By Root 683 0

the man who just harassed him, but I know what he means. Some Chiefs never yell, but if a fireman is a minute late for work, if he has white socks on instead of black, or if he is found smoking on the apparatus floor of the firehouse, they will not hesitate to write Department charges against the man. The Fire Department is run as a semi-mibtary organization, and we have a Book of Rules and Regulations. These rules are inviolable. If a man is charged with an infraction of these rules and regulations, then, as in the case of a military court-martial, he is required to stand trial before Department administrators. Very few firemen are found innocent at these trials, and when found guilty a man can be fined as much as thirty days pay or even be discharged. So when a fireman says a Chief will never hurt ya, it is a very high tribute.

The fire in front of us has darkened down some, the flames have disappeared into the building. Hundreds of thousands of gallons of water have been poured into it, and it won’t be much longer before it is a smoldering, rickety ash-heap. Tomorrow the cold will sweep through its charred rooms, and its dispossessed tenants will sift silently through the ashes looking for something to save. But there won’t be much left. And they will leave the building forever with half-empty shopping bags.

Lieutenant Welch is next to me, and he is jumping from foot to foot again. His arms are crossed, and he is squeezing himself. “It’s getting to you, Lou, huh?” I say.

“Yeah,” he replies. “When we first got here, I forgot to pull my boots up, and I have about two inches of water in them. My feet are freezing, but I don’t want to pour the water out, you know, because what’s in there is acting like insulation. I think I’d give a week’s pay and two of my children for dry boots and a pair of socks.”

He smiles and I laugh. My own boots are up to my thighs, and my feet are dry, and I feel a bttle guilty that he’s suffering more than I am.

There is a loud cracking noise, and the sky before us is again filled with fire. The rest of the roof has come down, and the fire is let loose from its confinement, but it won’t last long. All the lines around the building are directed at the roof. The fire darkens quickly, and we know it will be over soon. The cold has beaten us, but we won’t have to outlast it.

Chief Marks comes toward us, and in his excited manner yells, “Lieutenant, get an inch-and-a-half line, and take your men to the top floor.” He doesn’t wait for Lieutenant Welch to respond, but passes us to scream his orders to another company.

Bill Kelsey doesn’t wait for Lieutenant Welch’s instructions, and leaves us to get the smaller hose. The fire has suddenly become a challenge, and I can see the enthusiasm in the Lieutenant’s face. He calls to Royce, in a voice loud enough for all of us to hear, “We won’t need masks. The place is vented enough. With the inch-and-a-half we’ll have this fire out in ten minutes.” The smaller hose is much easier to work with.

Kelsey returns with a fifty-foot length of inch-and-a-half hose, and he couples it onto the two-and-a-half-inch nozzle. Carroll makes a motion to take the hose, but Kelsey says, “Up yours, Benny. I went to get it and I get to take it in.”

Carroll laughs, and says, “Well, it was worth a try.” I can see that Benny is disappointed. The real work, the real challenge in firefighting, lies with the man controlling the nozzle.

Kelsey follows Lieutenant Welch into the building. We are right behind them pulling on the big hose, which trails behind the smaller length. Engine 73 is already in the building dousing the small pockets of fire on the first floor. Engine 50 is doing the same on the second floor, and Ladder 42 and Ladder 19 are pulling at the ceilings and walls with hooks and halligan tools.

The smoke is light, but irritating. My eyes are tearing. My head still aches from the cold, but I don’t think about it as the warmth of the fire sinks into my body. We pass the companies working on the second floor, and pull the hose to the third. There is still a lot of fire