Wildfire

Chapter Seven

Ben was up in the microlight again. Down below were the gentle hills and valleys of the vineyards. Kelly had planned a flight path that steered well clear of the fire area.

And Ben had control.

Kelly’s voice came through on his headset. ‘Let’s practise those turns. Remember, don’t just use the stick, use the pedals as well. Don’t turn too sharply because you’ll lose airspeed. Feel what the craft is doing by watching your horizon.’

Ben executed a flawless turn. The horizon barely tilted.

‘Very good,’ said Kelly. ‘Now try the other way.’

Ben had a little think about what each hand and leg had to do, then turned the craft expertly left. Whatever Kelly might say, it wasn’t that different from flight sims on the PC.

‘Always make sure you come back to level after you’ve turned; don’t just assume you have. We try to keep the plane as level as possible. Now tell me your height.’

She certainly was giving him a thorough lesson. Ben took a moment to locate the altimeter. ‘Eleven hundred feet.’

‘That’s getting a bit low. We want to be no lower than a thousand feet unless we’re coming in to land. We prefer to be at fifteen hundred to two thousand feet, because that gives us a bit of leeway in case we drift down or the weather conditions take us by surprise. So gently point the nose upwards and open the throttle — that’s the stick on your left-hand side by the door. Pull it up to increase the revs.’

Ben grasped the throttle. With his right hand he raised the nose and with the left he pulled the throttle lever up. The engine became louder. He felt it pull harder. The plane began to climb.

‘Watch the horizon,’ said Kelly. ‘You don’t want to go too steeply. Take her steadily.’ She peered out of the window.

‘What’s wrong?’ said Ben. ‘Have we dropped something?’

‘I’m keeping an eye on the ground. In case we have to ditch.’

‘Why would we want to ditch?’

‘It’s just something you always have to watch out for. You should be doing it really.’

Ben looked at the altimeter. ‘We’re at fifteen hundred feet now.’

‘That’ll do. Ease off the throttle and let the nose come level.’

Ben did as he was told. The engine became quieter. He sat back, took his hands and feet off the controls and let the plane cruise.

But Kelly didn’t think his job was done. ‘What’s your bearing? Are we still on course or have we drifted?’

Ben checked the compass. ‘Heading south-west. Is that correct?’

‘Yes, that’s fine.’ Kelly looked out of the window again. Ben wished she wouldn’t keep doing that.

‘Look at what’s below us,’ said Kelly’s voice in his headphones.

Ben looked out of the side window. Below them was a vineyard, a rolling tapestry of golden leaves sprinkled with purple. ‘Trees and stuff,’ he said.

‘And what else?’

‘A big hill.’ He straightened up again. Looking down like that made him feel a bit queasy.

‘What height are you at?’ said Kelly.

He gave Kelly a smile. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll get over the hill.’

‘Look at the altimeter,’ said Kelly.

Ben suspected she was doing this to bug him so that he’d be grateful when the lesson was over. ‘I told you a moment ago, we’re at fifteen hundred feet. And I haven’t changed anything. So we’re still at fifteen hundred feet.’

‘Just look at the darned instruments.’

Ben pointed to the altimeter as if to emphasize that he was right. And got a surprise. ‘Oh. It says seventeen hundred feet.’

‘Right, mister vidgame pilot. You get thermals from hills and woods, and they take you up or down without you realizing it. You need to adjust to fifteen hundred feet again. And then, when we’re over the ridge, check the thermals haven’t taken us down. And that we’re still on course.’

‘Is there anything else you want me to do at the same time?’ said Ben. His brain hurt.

‘You wanted to learn to fly — well, I’m teaching you. You don’t just sit here and put your feet up, or fix yourself a cup of coffee. And by the way, you’re getting off lightly. You should also be checking the map, the amount of fuel you have left and how long you’ve been up. Oh, and as I said, keep an eye out for likely landing sites.’

As Ben made the adjustments, Kelly sat back, resting her elbow along the window and drumming her fingers. ‘You know, I once had to land a microlight on the West Seattle Bridge as part of a display. Although the bridge was straight and wide enough, there were air currents because of the river. It was a real test of skill. You had to feel what the plane was doing, and if you took your eye off the ball for just a moment—’

‘Save it for when you need to impress George,’ said Ben.

The house was on a hill. A two-storey building over-looking the woods on one side and the Adelaide botanical gardens on the other, it was now shrouded in smoke and steam as thick as a sea fog. The woods were on fire and three crews were trying to stop the flames reaching the house. Engine 33 was one of them.

The fire was getting closer. Wanasri couldn’t see it, but she could feel the temperature rising with every minute she stood there, directing her hose into the dense cloud. Even though she was wearing goggles, her nose was running and her eyes were watering. Andy, Petra and Darren were standing in a row next to her.

Saving the house was top priority, and if they failed, the consequences could be very serious. The fire would spread to the botanical gardens next door. Its fifty acres of unusual plants and trees were all tinderdry in the heat. And beyond the botanical gardens lay a closely packed residential estate.

Saving this house would save all of them.

Suddenly the fire hose went limp in Wanasri’s hands.

She whirled round. What had happened? They had lost water pressure. Andy was running back to the engine to deal with it.

When she looked back, flames were rolling towards her fast like a big orange wave. Without the hoses they couldn’t keep it back. It was too late to run — the flames were already on top of her. Fire licked against her mask, blinding her. The heat seared her, even through the heavy suit. She dived to the ground.

She heard rather than felt the water falling on her. When she looked up, Darren was hosing her down. Andy must have got the water back on. Just in time.

Wanasri got to her feet and gave Darren a thumbs-up. The fire retardant in her turnout gear had saved her from serious burns. But that didn’t mean it didn’t sting.

She retrieved her hose and opened the nozzle again. The water came through, straight and true, and she aimed it into the woods. She couldn’t see anything because of the smoke, but she remembered this from her training. So long as she wasn’t seeing flames, it was under control.

After a few minutes the heat was easing. The smoke thinned out to reveal a blackened mass of twisted branches. Wanasri turned her hose off to give the steam time to settle. Then they would be able to see if the fire really was out. She turned round.

And saw a flicker inside the house.

She yelled at the top of her voice, ‘Fire inside!’ She ran across the lawn, up onto the sun deck and in through the French windows. The hose snaked along behind her. Her eyes searched from left to right, up and down — where was that flame?

Petra’s boots thudded onto the decking behind her. ‘Where is it?’

Wanasri peered through the smears on her goggles. She couldn’t see.

Petra suddenly called out. ‘There!’ She pushed past the sofa then stopped. ‘I’ve lost it again.’ Sometimes chasing a stray flame around a house was like trying to catch a wild bird. ‘Darn you,’ muttered Petra, looking around the skirting board. ‘Come on out.’

Then Wanasri spotted it. She went towards the corner of the room — and realized it was only the amber LED on a computer monitor, flashing every few seconds to show it was on standby. ‘False alarm,’ she called. She reached out her gloved hand and switched it off, just to be sure.

Petra walked back to the French windows. Darren and Andy were coming in, portable extinguishers in each hand. Petra chucked her hose out onto the lawn and took an extinguisher from Darren. Wanasri did likewise.

Now they had to check over the rest of the house. The fire had sent a lot of burning debris into the air and some of it might have blown in. The Engine 33 crew searched upstairs. Other crews came in and took the ground floor. Cupboards were opened, cushions were turned over, rugs were shaken, furniture was moved — all in case a stray spark was smouldering away unseen in a corner.

Upstairs, the house was clear. Wanasri led the way down to the ground floor. The other fire crews were congregating in the hall. The limewashed floorboards were criss-crossed with wet black footprints.

‘All clear down here,’ said a member of another crew as he pulled off his helmet.

Wanasri felt a broad smile breaking across her face. Cheers and whistles rose around her. They had saved this house — and the botanical gardens, and the housing estate. She saw a gloved hand stretched out to her. She slapped it enthusiastically. High fives took the place of words. Her first day. She felt bone-weary but prouder than she had ever been.

Outside, the air smelled of damp smoke. But it was a good smoky smell — the smell of plain old burned wood, not the acrid, chemical fumes of a house fire.

The hoses were wound away, the ladders stowed, and the crews departed for their stations.

Sitting high up in the cab of Engine 33 between Andy and Darren, with Petra at the wheel, Wanasri could see over the wall of the botanical gardens. It was a calming space with rolling lawns and beautiful manicured trees.

‘You’re having a hell of an initiation,’ said Petra to Wanasri. ‘It’s not usually like this. There must be some mischief-makers about.’

Darren leaned across Wanasri. ‘Talking of initiation — Andy, get her helmet off.’

Andy grinned and unclipped Wanasri’s chin harness. Darren lifted her helmet away. Petra, at the wheel, chuckled.

Wanasri regarded them with big, suspicious eyes. ‘What are you guys doing?’

Darren slid his fingers over the grime on her helmet. It left two rows of clean yellow streaks.

‘Hold her still, Andy,’ said Darren.

Andy pinned her arms by her sides.

Darren extended his sooty fingers towards her face.

Wanasri realized what he was going to do. ‘No!’ she squealed and tried to squirm away. But with Andy’s bulk squashed against her there was nowhere to go. Darren, grinning, drew on her face with the sooty fingers.

As soon as Andy released her, she pulled down the flap of the sun visor and inspected the damage in the mirror. Darren had drawn tiger stripes across her forehead and cheeks.

‘I’ll get you back,’ growled Wanasri, secretly pleased she had been so clearly accepted by the crew.

Petra braked at a junction and looked both ways before easing the big engine through a ninety-degree turn. ‘Hey,’ she noted, ‘it’s getting kinda windy out there. Look at those trees.’

The other crew members had been so busy giving Wanasri her initiation stripes that they hadn’t been paying much attention to what was going on outside. The tall eucalyptus trees along the road were waving hard, as though someone was shaking them. So were the aerials and satellite dishes on the roofs of the houses. Dustbins fell over and their contents were snatched away in a whirling storm.

Darren pointed along the road. ‘Hey, see that smoke over there?’

At the end of the road, a black plume of smoke rose into the sky. It was slanting at forty-five degrees, blown by the wind.

Instantly the mood in the truck turned serious. It was as though someone had flipped a switch. The crew were back on duty.

Petra put the siren on and pressed the accelerator to the floor.

Darren spoke into the radio. ‘Control, this is Engine Thirty-three. We’re going to investigate smoke on Oak Street. We might need back-up.’

The wheel jiggled from side to side in Petra’s hands. She fought to keep it straight. ‘That is some cross-wind. The truck’s steering like a supermarket trolley.’

Wanasri buckled her helmet back on.

When they reached Oak Street, Petra braked, skidding, and the truck pulled up beside a big corrugated-iron fence. They had barely come to a halt before Andy jumped out. He ran over to the gate and started to pull it open. Then he snatched his hand back with a yell.

‘It’s hot!’

Darren brought over the bolt cutters. He hooked them around the handle on the door and yanked the gate open.

Intense heat slammed into them like a wall. With the heat came a choking smell of burning rubber. They were in a scrap merchant’s yard. A mountain of tyres lay in one corner, heaped up against the iron fence, and they were on fire. The wind was fanning the flames, throwing black smoke and burning scraps of rubber into the air. That was why the blaze had looked small from a distance. The high wind was whipping the smoke away, diluting it. But that same wind was also carrying the burning scraps in a wide arc over the houses.

Petra screamed into her radio. ‘Need major back-up on Oak Street now! Code Red! Code Red!’