Page 97 of Igniting Her

Ellie kissed Cassie’s cheek.

The contact lasted less than a second. It was also the first time Ellie had touched her with unhidden affection inside Station 12. Cassie felt the room witness it and discovered that visibility did not alter what the touch belonged to.

Within the hour, an engineer from Station 7 congratulated Mo on winning the pool and offered the new battalion chief a couples’ discount at the department golf tournament. Station 12 declined to investigate the leak.

Three weeks later, Cassie’s command vehicle was dispatched to a one-story house at the north edge of the harbor while Harbor Battalion remained committed to a commercial alarm downtown.

Smoke showed from a rear kitchen window when she arrived. The resident stood barefoot on the sidewalk with a dish towel still over one shoulder and confirmed that everyone was out. Engine 12 turned the corner behind Cassie, followed by Engine 4. No wind drove the smoke. The roofline was clean. Fire pulsed orange beyond the kitchen glass and had not yet reached the eaves.

Cassie stepped from the command vehicle with the radio already in her hand.

“Battalion Three on scene. Single-story residential, working kitchen fire, all occupants reported out. Battalion Three establishing Alder Command. Engine 12, fire attack through Alpha. Engine 4, water supply and primary search.”

Engine 12’s crew advanced under the porch light. Their captain checked the entry and waved the line forward. Ellie crossed on the nozzle, compact beneath the weight of her air pack, one gloved hand at the bale. She did not look toward the command post.

She looked at the building.

The line disappeared inside.

Cassie assigned ventilation, confirmed utilities, and watched the smoke. Gray-brown, lifting, pressure moderate. Engine 4 reported water supply established. Search entered behind the attack line.

Ellie’s voice reached the company channel first. “At the kitchen hallway. Closed door ahead, heat contained. No extension visible. Ready to advance.” Her B-shift captain repeated the conditions to Alder Command.

Cassie answered the arriving truck’s staging request, then keyed the tactical channel. “Engine 12, hold the hallway until Search clears the rear bedroom.”

“Copy,” the captain said, then ordered the nozzle team, “Hold here.”

Ellie’s quieter acknowledgment carried beneath the open transmission. “Holding.”

Cassie watched the smoke lift in a steady column while Search crossed behind the protected line. Engine 4 reported, “Primary clear. All rooms clear.”

“Engine 12, open the kitchen and advance. Engine 4, back them up.” The company officer echoed the order; Ellie answered once, and the line moved.

The kitchen window darkened beneath a fast push of steam. Water struck the seat of the fire. Smoke changed from turbulent black to rolling white, then thinned.

Twenty-seven seconds later, Ellie’s voice returned.

“Alder Command, fire knocked down. Checking cabinets and attic access for extension.”

“Copy, Engine 12. Continue overhaul.”

The operation lasted nineteen minutes. One kitchen was lost. The rest of the house remained standing. No civilian rode to the hospital, and no firefighter required more than water and a clean hood.

Ellie emerged carrying the nozzle over one shoulder. Her B-shift captain brought her to the command post and said, “Ridge has the interior conditions.” Ellie reported fire contained to the kitchen, minor extension behind the upper cabinets opened and wet, and thermal imaging clear.

Cassie listened until she finished.

“Good work, Engine 12.”

Ellie’s mouth curved. “Thank you, Chief.”

Then she turned back to her crew and helped reload the line.

Cassie watched long enough to see that every person was where they belonged. She returned to the command board and released Engine 4.

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ELLIE