Caught in the Middle

Chapter 35

"Alright. Group two! The same rules apply. Good luck!" After their thirty-minute break, they split up into their groups to get their information from dispatch. We all sit back in surprise when the lieutenant from 88 stays put on the training grounds, giving and receiving instructions from her team inside while she writes down possible solutions, asking for blueprints from dispatch. "Well, that's an interesting approach." Ross takes a seat next to me, sipping on her water as we watch the LIC talk to her team over her radio. She sticks up her hand and waves me over, surprising us even more. "Excuse me, lieutenant. Are there any bystanders at the scene who I can talk to?"

I look behind me to the battalion chiefs who nod their heads. Ross comes jogging up to us, pretending to be a concerned parent saying she left her children in the apartment. Lieutenant Connor compassionately calms Chief Ross down while conveying the new information to her team, earning her an impressed nod from our boss. "She's the only one who figured out that she's essentially playing captain and captains don't go into the danger unless it's three alarms or up." Ross takes a pen and gives her a bonus point on her scorecard, smirking at Chief Grimes who fought for Connor to be added to the list.

This simulation is set up to be an apartment fire. Dispatch got reports from tenants saying there was smoke coming from the ceiling. They need to enter four apartments on each floor to sweep, evacuate and find the fire. The first test is figuring out there is an apartment with kids trapped inside. Connor already passed that step by talking to the bystanders, which the other candidates will have to figure out on another way. "Dispatch. We have a locked door in 4C. Can you confirm if we are allowed to break it down?" Good, seems that Vic has caught on. "Yes, LIC Hughes. The building's tenant roster shows that there are two children in 4C."

This is when they get tested on the same as group one, where they need to stand back and trust their team. Formulate a plan and get the fire extinguished. The third test comes from the second lieutenant who was slipped a note before the simulation started. The note stated that when they receive a signal, they need to tell the LIC they feel dizzy. Where group one got tested on how well they handle the mistake of a probie, group two gets tested on humility. Will they be able to trust their second even when they can't see what they do, and reevaluate their plan of action? That is where most of the issues are within the department.

The firefighters with the titles and ranks have too much of an ego to listen to the advice of a seasoned coworker. If a LIC can't bring it upon themselves to listen to everything their team tells them, then they have no place to lead. Connor is already miles ahead of the rest of her group, using dispatch like a fountain of information. Asking them if there is a gas line, previous reports of other toxic materials or 911 calls from the same location for dizziness, nausea or people being found unconscious. She has her team on a tight timeline, instructing them to stay partnered up during their search and having them reserve oxygen.

Vic and Walker easily trust their seconds, brainstorming with them over possible causes. The two of them have a check-in policy in place, telling their teams to not breath in as much. We then have the ceiling rigged to collapse, making their toxicity devices going crazy. Now they have to make a choice. Evacuate and wait for the hazmat team or use the oxygen they have left to save the kids. Option one is the most practical and protocol driven response, but a good leader finds a loophole to save lives. Only one LIC evacuate immediately and calls in hazmat.

Connor's team has been one step ahead thanks to her expert problem-solving and they are the first to emerge from the building with both dummies. The other firefighter who isn't a lieutenant yet, lets the power get to his head and refuses to listen to his second, ignores his warnings and tries to play hero himself. He leaves his team to take the brunt of the collapsed ceiling and pass out from the toxins in the air. He only realizes his mistake and calls in an additional rescue team over the radio, a full two minutes after we told his team to drop to the floor over their comms.