The visibility was almost nil. The marine layer was as thick as pea soup. Stoker squinted through the windshield as he forced as much speed as possible out of the heavy rig.
“It’s the next right, Mike,” Captain Stanley advised. He had been glaring out the window searching for familiar landmarks. The view was so obscured by fog that everything took on an alien, almost surreal appearance.
Stoker slowed and made the turn, but suddenly a cold hand grabbed his gut and wouldn’t let go. Everything started happening in slow motion. He tried to slam his foot onto the brake, but it did no good at all. Where the road should have been, there was nothing but air.
Roy and Johnny watched in horror as the rig careened off the road and disappeared into the fog bound ravine.
“Hold on!” yelled Roy as he slammed on the brakes and turned the wheel to bring the rescue squad to a halt just inches from the edge of the drop-off where the engine had disappeared.
“What the hell happened?!” cried Johnny. Gage opened up the door on his side of the squad, only to find no footing to step out onto. “It’s totally gone Roy! The roads gone!”
“Get out this side, Johnny.” Gage got on the radio to advise dispatch what happened and to let them know they would need to dispatch units from the other side of the bridge to handle the call. He knew that would delay rescue by at least thirty more minutes. But it was unavoidable. Right now, their main concern was locating the rig and their colleagues who disappeared with it. He started to hang the mic back up, then thought about the guys in the engine. Maybe he could raise them on the radio.
“Engine 51, this is squad 51. Can you hear me?” He waited, hoping for a reply. He tried several more times, with no luck. That meant the radio was out..or nobody was in good enough shape to answer. He prayed for the former.
Johnny slid across to the driver’s door and got out of the squad, joining Roy on the edge of the cliffside, searching for any sign of the engine.
“I can’t see a damn thing, Johnny,” Roy said, uneasy. “We should at least be able to see the lights.”
“Maybe they went down too far, Roy. In this fog you can’t see more that 20 feet or so. I tried to raise them on the radio, no luck. Dispatch is sending more help, including the Battalion Chief.”
“We need to go down and see if we can spot it. But I want to wait until we get more help here.”
“How about I rope up and just go down part way, maybe I can get below the fog?” suggested Johnny.
“No, we wait. I can’t afford to lose you, too. If any of them happens to make it up here, both of us may be needed to help.”
“Yeah, you're right. That fog looks like it goes all the way into the valley anyway. Probably wouldn’t be able to get below it.”
So they waited, periodically yelling the names of their friends, straining to hear any response. But all they got in return was silence.
They got on the P.A. system that was hooked up to the squad radio, and tried to call them. Still nothing.
The wait was hard. By the nature of their jobs, and their personalities, they usually jumped right in when someone was in need. But this time, they had no choice but to wait. Fifteen minutes later, the first of the responding trucks started came up the road. They heard it long before they saw it. Johnny ran to the squad to radio them, making sure they came up slow and watched for the rotating lights on the top of the squad.
*****
Once the extra personnel was there, it was decided to allow Gage and DeSoto to rope up and carefully make their way down the hill. They didn’t know how far down the engine might be, so they grabbed the longest ropes and started down the hill.
It wasn’t a steep climb down, just long. Gage and DeSoto went down about 25 feet apart so that they could cover a larger part of the hill. As they descended they search for signs of where the rig went. When Roy noticed a large number of broken branches, and then tire tracks, Johnny shifted over closer to that part of the hill.
As the hillside started to flatten out, Johnny stopped. “Roy, hold up. Do you hear something?” DeSoto froze, listening. Then he heard to too. Someone was calling out. Johnny cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled “HELLO!”
“Can you hear me?” yelled Gage. “Keep yelling, so we can follow your voice!”
“Over here,” a faint voice could be heard. “Keep coming this way. We’re over here. Hurry up, we need help!”
Roy pointed, and picked up the pace. He’d spotted the engine, and hurried over to the side where he could see two people standing next to the engine, waving and yelling. As the paramedics got closer, they could tell that it was Kelly and Stanley. They couldn’t see Stoker or Marco, though. Stanley was limping as he walked toward them.
“Johnny, Roy!” called the Captain. “Thank God! I wasn’t sure if you guys had been able to keep from going over the edge. We tried contacting you, but I think the truck radio is out. And we didn’t get any answer on the portable.”
“Cap, where are Mike and Marco?” asked Roy. Stanley turned back toward the rig, and walked around the front. Mike Stoker was laying on the ground in front of the large vehicle, illuminated by the headlights. Roy knelt down next to the unconscious man and began checking his vitals. “What about Lopez?” Johnny inquired. Chet and Stanley exchanged grim looks. “Chet..Cap? Where is Marco?”
“We don’t know,” Hank said, quietly. “We haven’t seen him since we ended up down here. After we got stopped, it took a few minutes for us to get Stoker situated. We went to help Marco, and couldn’t find him. He could be anywhere along our path down.”
Johnny had gotten Stanley and Kelly to sit down next to Stoker so he could check them over. He pulled his penlight and shined it into Kelly’s eyes, then took his pulse and respiration. When he finished with Chet, he did the same with Captain Stanley. They both seemed to be okay. Stanley had twisted his knee, which was why he had been limping. Kelly looked like he had a couple of bruised or broken ribs.
Stanley turned to Roy, asking about Mike’s condition.
“Well, his breathing is a little ragged, but his pulse is strong. How long has he been out?”
“About 30 minutes now,” the Captain said, glancing at this watch. Roy reached into his pocket for the radio and tried to call the men on the top of the hill. But the captain had been right, the terrain and the distance combined to keep them out of touch.
“Johnny, we need to get our gear down here. Mike needs to get to a hospital.”
“I’ll go back up. Will you be okay here, Roy?”
“Yeah, but have a couple of the others come down with you. We’ll need the extra help getting all three of them up the hill. Once we do that, we can concentrate on finding Marco.”
Johnny pulled his gloves back on and began the climb back up the hill.
Roy settled in with the others. He wanted to know what happened, but figured it could wait until they got them up the hill. They were all worried about Mike and Marco, so the rest could wait until they were all safe.
*****
By the time Johnny made it back to the top, the fog had gotten worse. He hadn’t thought that would be possible. He had brought the radio with him, and attempted to call several times on his climb up the hill. About half way up, he finally made contact, and apprised the Chief of the situation down below, including the fact that one man was still missing.
He tried to keep an eye out for Marco on his climb up, but he was having a lot of trouble just seeing his own feet. As he reached the top of the hill, Tim Anderson was there to help him over the edge.
“So, Gage,” asked Chief Garrity, “what’s the situation down there?”
“Chief, we have one man in need of a hospital soon. He’s unconscious and is having a little bit of difficulty breathing. Captain Stanley hurt his knee and Kelly probably has some broken ribs. None of them is going to be able to make that climb. Hell, I had trouble with it, and I didn’t just get bumped around like they did.”
“What about the other man, Lopez isn’t it?”
“Marco Lopez, right Chief. They didn’t see him after they got stopped. He must have been thrown clear during the trip down. I didn’t see any sign of him on my way up, but the fog is still pretty thick.”
“What do you need?” Garrity asked, being direct and brief, knowing time was of the essence.
“First off, what’s the chances of getting a chopper to meet us back near the highway to take Stoker out once we get him up the hill?”
“Already checked on it. Choppers are tied up right now with a big accident on Interstate 5, but by the time we get your man up, they might be able to break one free. I’ll check with them on that.”
“Good. We don’t have radio communications down at the bottom. The rig radio is out, and the portables won’t carry from down there.”
“Where were you when you called us?”
“About half way up the hill, Chief.”
“Okay, we’ll send a man to stand-by at the half-way mark to keep communications open.”
Gage nodded, walking toward the squad with the Chief to retrieve some equipment. Anderson and another firefighter, Joe Dixon had gathered the stokes from the squad and loaded it up with the rescue equipment. They decided to leave the bio-phone up top, due to the communications problem down near the engine.
Gage, Anderson and Dixon hooked up and started back down the hill, along with two other firefighters. They hurried, but were careful not to go faster than conditions allowed. Dixon would wait at the mid-point, while Anderson and the others accompanied Gage to the bottom.
*****
Roy was beginning to get concerned. Stoker still hadn’t come around and his blood pressure was beginning to drop. Stanley and Kelly seemed to be doing okay, but still needed to get to the hospital to be checked out. Hearing noises, he looked up to see Johnny and Anderson nearing the bottom of the hill. They unhooked the stokes basket from the line and carried it over to engine, removing the equipment they had loaded in it.
“Dixon is about half-way up the hill, Roy. Relay the vitals to him, and he’ll pass them on to the Chief up top. Garrity will pass them on to Rampart.” He handed the portable back to Roy, who advised Dixon of Stoker’s vitals and waited for instructions to be relayed back down. While they waited, they got Mike ready to move, first placing him on a backboard.
After hearing from the hospital, they set up an IV and strapped him into the stokes. Anderson and DeSoto carried the stokes over to the lifeline and hooked it up. Roy then notified Dixon that they were heading up.
They got to the top to find the ambulance waiting. And a second rescue squad that the chief had requested had also arrived, manned by Craig Brice and ‘Animal’ Bellingham. Roy relayed Stoker’s vitals to them, since they would be riding in with Mike to the hospital. Roy had debated going in himself, but wanted to stick around and help with the others. They still hadn’t found Marco. The longer he was missing, the more chance that he was seriously hurt or ‘..no, don’t think like that,’ Roy said to himself. ‘He’s okay, you just have to find him.’
The Chief had been able to get a helicopter to respond and it would be landing shortly down by where the road they were on connected to the highway. As they lifted Mike into the back of the ambulance for the ride down to the landing site, Roy land a hand on his shoulder.
“Hang in there, Mike,” he said, knowing the Stoker couldn’t hear, but wanting to say it anyway. “We’ll find Marco and meet you later at the hospital.”
“Don’t worry, Roy,” assured Bellingham, as Brice got into the back of the ambulance with Mike. “We’ll take good care of him.”
“I know you will, man, I just..” Roy stopped as Bellingham nodded his understanding.
Assured the Mike was in good hands, Roy went back to the ropes to help get Chet and Stanley up the hill. Then they could begin to search in earnest for Marco.
It took a while, but finally the men were able to get Kelly and the Captain up the hill. But neither of them wanted to leave for the hospital until Marco was found. The Chief finally had to order them into the waiting ambulance. Since neither required an IV, Roy and Johnny would be able to stay on scene to assist in the search. That made Stanley feel a bit better, knowing that at least two of his own men would be involved in the search.
******
Two hours later, they still hadn’t seen any sign of Marco Lopez. Brice and Bellingham had returned with good news. Mike Stoker had finally woken up, and although he had a severe concussion, and the doctors would have to repair a punctured lung, it looked like he was going to be okay. He would be in the hospital for several days, as would Captain Stanley, whose knee injury was more serious than first thought, and would probably require surgery. And Chet Kelly? He would be fine, no broken ribs, just some bruising. They would keep him overnight for observation.
When Roy and Johnny got the news from the hospital, they had mixed feelings. They were happy that their friends were going to be okay, but still concerned about Marco. They had been over the area thoroughly and still had seen no sign of the firefighter. Where the hell could he be?
They had been ordered to take a break by the Chief, so they were sitting on the ground near their squad, both nursing a cup of hot coffee. Neither of them spoke..there was no need. Each knew what the other was thinking.
They were tired and dejected. If only the damn fog would lift...
“Over here!” Bellingham yelled. “I found him!” Roy and Johnny jumped up, throwing the coffee cups to the ground, all weariness gone. Bellingham was waving from a point about 100 feet down the hill, but further east than they had been looking earlier.
Gage and DeSoto made their way down to Bellingham’s side before they saw Lopez. He was laying on the ground, half covered by a bush. Animal was kneeling down next to him, checking his pulse. Roy knelt on the other side and began to check his breathing and his pupils.
As Bellingham lifted his wrist, Marco stirred, moaning. “Marco, can you hear me, buddy?” asked Gage, who was on the ground next to Bellingham. “C’mon, amigo, talk to me.” Getting no response, Johnny began to feel Marco’s arms and legs for broken bones. “Roy, I think we have a broken left femur.”
“I think he may have a broken jaw, too, Johnny, but his breathing is okay. He’s been out here a while though; I’m a little concerned about hypothermia. Let’s get him on a backboard and up to the road where there’s better light.”
Anderson and Dixon had gone back for the equipment. They put Marco on a backboard, then into the stokes, and carried him carefully up the hill.
Once they got him on level ground again, they re-checked his vital signs. As Johnny was relaying the information to Rampart, the Chief came over and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Chopper is on the way, Gage, should be here in about 15 minutes.”
“Okay, Chief, we should have him ready by then,” Johnny acknowledged.
Johnny made sure Rampart knew they would be bringing Marco in by
chopper, then started the IV Dr. Brackett had requested. In just
a few minutes, Lopez was ready for transport. The Chief was there
to help lift him into the ambulance. “DeSoto, you and Gage
go in with him. I’ll have Bellingham bring your squad over
to the hospital.”
“Thanks, Chief,” Roy told him, grateful they would both be along in case something happened.
*****
The flight in was uneventful. Marco’s condition stayed the same until they got on the ground. As they were lifting him off the helicopter, they heard him cry out in pain. He had come around for a moment and tried to move.
“Take it easy, Marco,” Roy soothed. “We’re at the hospital, you’re gonna be fine.”
“Roy? Is that you, Roy?” croaked Lopez.
“Yeah, Johnny and I are right here, Marco. Just relax.”
“What happened, Roy?”
“The engine had an accident, Marco. Just take it easy.”
“Accident? The others?! Roy, what about the Cap and...” he began, hissing as the pain hit him again.
They had him in the ambulance then, and were making the short drive to the Emergency Room entrance.
“Marco,” said Johnny, “everybody else is fine. Don’t worry. Just relax and try to control your breathing.”
They wheeled him into an exam room, where Kel Brackett and Joe Early were waiting for them. Dixie McCall began taking his vitals and drawing blood, while Johnny and Roy stood back to let the doctors work.
About 20 minutes later, Brackett and Early conferred with the x-ray technician, then turned to Johnny and Roy, motioning for them to following the doctors from the room.
“Well, Doc, how is he?”
“I’m a little concerned about his breathing. How long was he out there?”
Glancing at his watch, Roy replied, “About six hours, doc, why?”
“His temperature is down to 93 degrees and he’s still pretty groggy. He does have a concussion, which might account for the grogginess, but with the low temp, I can’t rule out hypothermia. His reflexes are good, but he does have some broken bones, including the left leg, and his jaw. As soon as we stabilize him, and set the broken leg, we’ll take him up to ICU. He’ll need surgery later to wire the jaw shut. But I want to be sure we take precautions to prevent pneumonia.”
“Is he gonna be okay, Doc?” asked Gage.
“I don’t know, Johnny. It depends on how quickly he responds to treatment.” Brackett knew the paramedics were concerned, especially considering everyone else on their crew was currently in the hospital.“You guys look bushed. There isn’t anything else you can do here. Head on back to the station and get some rest. I’ll call you when I learn more.”
“What about the others, Doc? How are they doing?”
Brackett smiled. “Last I heard, they were all resting comfortably. Now get out of here, before you both drop from exhaustion. I would really prefer NOT to have the entire crew of Station 51 in my hospital at the same time.”
******
Gage and DeSoto drove back to the station in silence. Roy backed the squad into the vehicle bay, and turned off the ignition. He sat there for a moment before looking over at his partner. Johnny’s eyes were closed, and at first Roy thought he was asleep. Not that he would blame him—-it had been a VERY long night.
Johnny reached for the door handle, and slowly opened the door. He climbed out of the squad, closing the door and leaning on it, staring at the empty space where the engine usually parked. Roy walked around to join him, resting his arms on the hood of the squad.
They glanced at each other, smiling, not saying a word. It had been a rough few hours, but everybody was alive. Hurt-—but alive. They still weren’t exactly sure what had happened up on that mountain road, but they didn’t care. Their only concern was their colleagues.
Roy placed a hand on Johnny’s shoulder, and they walked into the kitchen. Johnny started a fresh pot of coffee, while Roy phoned the Chief to give him an update. When the coffee was ready, they filled their mugs with the strong brew, and walked over to sit on the sofa.
And that’s where Captain Hampton found them when he came in an hour later. He had been notified by the Chief that he wouldn’t have an engine for the beginning of B shift. Temporarily, they would be a fire station without a fire engine.
As he walked into the kitchen, he spotted the two paramedics sitting on the sofa, still clutching half-full coffee mugs----sound asleep.
Hampton called the hospital to check on the conditions of Captain Stanley and the others. He was able to speak to Dr Early, who assured him that everyone would be fine. Lopez’s temperature was beginning to return to normal, and he was alert and coherent, although he didn’t remember much of the accident, and he couldn’t talk because of his broken jaw.
Hampton hung up the phone, then walked over to wake the two paramedics. He reached over and took the mug from Johnny’s hand, then Roy’s. The movement woke them both. Johnny yawned, rubbing his eyes, as DeSoto stood up and stretched, trying to work the kinks from his back.
“Hey Cap,” Roy said. “What time is it?”
“Time for you two to go home, take a shower, and get some sleep...in a bed this time,” he added with a smile.
Glancing at his watch, Gage looked up at his partner. “We still have an hour left on our shift, Cap. And we should check with Rampart, see how the guys…”
“No need,” Hampton interrupted, “I just talked to Dr. Early. They’re all resting. Marco is stable now, and out of danger.”
Gage and DeSoto looked at each, Johnny sighed, while Roy muttered “thank god.”
“The squad is unavailable until Harris and Page get here. Now, you two, get out of my station!” ordered Hampton, with a smile on his face.
*****
Later that afternoon, Johnny and Roy met at the hospital. They had both been able to get some well-deserved sleep. They would visit for a while with Stanley, Stoker and Lopez, then give Kelly a ride home, since he was due to be released.
As they entered the room where Stoker and Lopez were, they saw the Cap sitting in a wheelchair next to Mike’s bed. Lopez was asleep, which was just as well, since he had been in some pain earlier. They had seen Mike’s wife in the hallway, and been able to speak with her for a short while. She hugged them both, and thanked them for getting Mike to the hospital so fast.
Stanley looked over his shoulder when he heard the door open, pleased to see his two paramedics. “Johnny, Roy, good morning!” he called.
“Hey, Cap, how ya feeling?” asked Gage.
“Fine, I’ll be having surgery day after tomorrow, so won’t be back at work for several weeks. And Stoker here will probably be out before me.Marco will be a little longer I think, but he will lose some weight while he’s here, seeing as how he will on a liquid diet for a while.”Stanley was in a good mood, thankful that his men were all going to be okay.
“So, Mike, what the hell happened?” Roy asked. “One minute you were right in front of us, the next you vanished into the fog.”
“According to Chief Garrity, the road we were supposed to be turning up got washed away during the rains last week. Apparently, nobody thought to notify the fire department, figuring it wouldn’t be necessary.”
“Yeah, but you should have seen this guy handle the rig, Roy,” Stanley said, in awe. “I still don’t know how we got down that hill in one piece, much less that we didn’t roll. Mike saved all our lives by being able to keep control of that monster like that. I’ve already talked to the Chief about a commendation for him.”
“But I damaged it, Cap,” Mike said sheepishly, though quietly pleased.
“So, I’ll take it out of your pay,” Stanley joked. “Of course that means you can’t retire until you’re, oh, 105 years old.”
“Not a problem, Cap,” piped in Chet, who had just walked in the door, “Stoker will probably still be a better engineer at that age, than most of the guys in the department.”
“Yeah,” interjected Roy, “just think of all the experience he’ll have by then.” Everybody laughed, then looked over at Marco when they heard a soft chuckle. Lopez was awake and following the conversation. He looked over at Stoker, and since he couldn’t tell him in words what he wanted to say, he just raised his right arm, and gave him a “thumbs up.” Stoker returned the gesture, as did the others, one-by-one.
************************
"Foggy Night" ©1999 Pat 'Charli' Charleville. "Emergency!" and its characters © Mark VII Productions, Inc. All rights reserved. No infringement of any copyrights or trademarks is intended or should be inferred. This is a work of fiction, and any similarity to actual persons or events is purely coincidental.
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