Report From Rescue Company 1

by BRBrony9

Valet Parking

'Come on, sweetie! We don't want to be late for your brother's hoofball game!'

'Ok mommy!' Daisy Daze skipped happily through the parking lot. She was cheerful enough; her mother had taken her shopping in one of her favourite toy stores in midtown, as well as to a pizza place for lunch, meaning she had a full belly and a new doll to play with once they got home. Her brother's hoofball game came first, however. He was a rising talent in the Hooflyn Junior High school circuit league, and his family never missed one of his matches. Today would be no different, though they would have to make the drive out to the other borough, back where they lived. Daisy clambered into the large station wagon, a necessary purchase for the family with mother, father, two foals and a dog, plus her brother's sporting equipment. Her mother, Daisy Gleam, made sure her daughter was fastened securely into the child seat in the back before taking her position and starting up the car.

'What do you think the score will be today, sweetie?' Gleam asked her daughter as she checked her mirrors and began to reverse out of the parking spot.

'I think they're gonna win by four goals to one!' Daze replied.

'And will your brother score again like he did last week?' Gleam asked, before slamming on the brakes and popping the car into neutral as a family pushing a pram suddenly appeared behind the vehicle. The father raised a hoof apologetically and they continued on their way. 'Sorry, sweetie. I didn't mean to stop so suddenly,' Gleam apologised, putting the car back into gear and pressing the gas pedal. 'Do you think your brother will score?' she asked again. This time, however, distracted by the near accident with the family behind, she placed the car into first gear, jolting them forward instead of backward. The car smashed into the concrete wall, drawing a scream from the back seat as Gleam threw up her hooves to shield her eyes as the windshield buckled. The car bounced and slumped forward before stopping. Gleam applied the handbrake and turned off the engine, breathing heavily. 'Oh gosh...oh no...' She turned to her daughter. 'A-are you alright, sweetie?'

Daze nodded slowly, her lip quivering, alarmed by the sounds and the sudden jolt. 'I-i'm ok, mommy...'

Gleam looked back around. Then it was her turn to scream.

'Hey bud, you brother's gonna be back on our next shift, right?' Dark Flash called to Blaze across the apparatus floor where he was checking some of the Rescue's gear.

'Yeah, they should all be back,' Blaze replied with a nod. 'Why, you miss him?'

'Nah.' Flash shook her head with a grin. 'It's just that these replacements all came from a Ladder Company, and you know my opinion on truckies!' Blaze shook his head and chuckled.

'Yeah, well, when you get to the Rescue, you'll understand our opinion on both truckies and nozzle jockeys!' he retorted.

'I don't wanna join the Rescue,' Dark Flash responded. 'I joined the department to put out fires, not to become a spokespony for some power tool company!'

'I'll have you know that we not only use power tools, but also manual tools as well, thank you very much,' Blaze continued the back-and-forth banter. 'Sometimes doing something by hoof is better.'

He braced himself for the inevitable masturbation joke in response, but Dark Flash was interrupted by the alert tones sounding in the apparatus bay.

Beep-Boop.

'Rescue. Battalion.'

'Alright, Box 0750, West three-nine between 9th and 10th, car into a building!' Flagstaff shouted from the housewatch station as the rest of the Rescue crew scrambled out from the break room. Blaze packed away the gear he had been working on, making sure it was all stowed and returned to its correct place before climbing aboard. As the rig pulled clear of the building, he could see Dark Flash making a suitable jerkoff! motion with her hoof. He smirked and gave her a mock salute as they turned onto 8th Avenue, sirens wailing, airhorn blaring.

'Manehattan calling Battalion 9?'

'Battalion 9, go ahead,' Firebrand replied from his SUV, following the Rescue up the avenue.

'You're getting the minor technical response. Engine 65, Engine 1, Engine 24. Ladder 4, Ladder 26. Ladder 7 will be your SOB Support Ladder. You're getting Rescue 1, Squad 18, Rescue and Safety Battalions, Tac 1. Reporting a car into the wall of a parking garage, K.'

'Battalion 9, 10-4,' Firebrand answered.

'Another of Manehattan's great drivers, I guess,' Flagstaff grunted. 'Ponies really need to learn how to drive properly. I mean, take Fairway here. What is it now, no accidents with the rig in fourteen years in the department?'

'Fourteen and a half,' Fairway replied, expertly maneuvering around a slow-moving delivery truck to illustrate Flagstaff's point, as well as showcasing exactly why he had such a long-stranding record of clean driving. It wasn't long before they were on 9th Avenue and racing down to the scene. With the relatively light weekend traffic, it was mainly delivery trucks and buses that had to be dodged, and within three minutes they were on 39th Street.

'Oh boy...that's not a car into a building. That's a car out of a building,' Fairway muttered, peering ahead through the windscreen. Blaze turned to look.

Sure enough, the four-story parking garage had a sizeable hole in the third floor exterior wall, from which protruded the front half of a large station wagon, hanging precariously out over the street. A small crowd of onlookers were gathered foolishly close to the structure, being ushered back by a loud and angry police mare. Engine 1 and Ladder 24 were already on the scene, stopping short and blocking traffic. 24 Truck was in the process of raising its aerial ladder beside the stricken vehicle, from where it could be moved in a number of ways depending on the orders of the incident commander, which was Chief Firebrand. The Rescue parked up and Blaze and the others climbed down.

'Anypony in that thing?' Grey Spike called out to the chauffeur of Ladder 24, who was sitting at the rear turntable controls and moving the ladder around.

'Two occupants!' he called back. Two Pegasi fireponies were in the air beside the car, checking the state of the victims and the stability of both the car, the wall, and the floor of the parking garage. 'Driver in the front, passenger in the rear, in a foal seat.'

'Battalion 9 to Manehattan, have all the units continue in emergency mode. We have a car hanging from the fourth floor of a five storey parking garage with two occupants, K,' Firebrand radioed to the dispatcher, before placing his white helmet firmly on his head. The car was balanced precariously, held by the rubble of the broken wall and the fact that it had bottomed out on the concrete floor; the front wheels were dangling over the four-storey drop, along with at least half of the vehicle.

'Alright, Rescue, get up to the fourth floor with a griphoist and straps,' Firebrand ordered. 'Get it fixed on to the car if you can do it safely, but watch for movement. Work with Ladder 24 to secure the car so we can get the occupants out. We'll use the Pegasi if we can. If you can secure the car then we can winch it back into the structure.'

'On it, Chief,' Grey Spike replied, giving directions to his fireponies as Firebrand continued to issue orders over his radio to other arriving units. Ember Blaze grabbed cribbing blocks to be placed in front of the rear wheels, assuming the back of the car could be safely approached, in order to hopefully stop it from moving forward while the griphoist, a kind of heavy duty manual winch that could be used to drag large objects or restrain them, was set up.

The fireponies approached the garage, making sure to stay well clear of the frontage beneath the dangling car in case it should tip over and fall. Inside, it was a quick ride up the elevator to the fourth floor with their gear. The rest of Ladder 24 were already there, assessing the situation. A foal was wailing mournfully from the back of the car, which, while not exactly wobbling, was clearly very precariously balanced. Any serious shift of weight forward could send it tumbling, with almost certainly fatal consequences for those within it. Blaze and the others quickly sized up the situation. There were indeed two victims in the car, a mare in the driving seat and a young filly in a foal safety seat in the back. Potentially the filly could be extracted from the back doors, but the driver's door was hanging out over the edge. She couldn't get out herself, and if she tried to crawl through to the back seats, it could upset the balance of the car and send it tumbling. Members of Ladder 24 were pleading with her to remain in her seat, taking over from bystanders who had been doing the same thing until the MFD arrived. If she took matters into her own hooves to try and save herself and her daughter, then it could result in both their deaths. She had to rely on the fireponies.

'Help her, please! Save my daughter!' the driver was screaming, pointing frantically at the back seat as the fireponies tried to calm her down. Simply rushing up and opening the door could result in just as dangerous a situation as if the mother tried to crawl out of the vehicle, for it could provide just enough force to tip the car over. Until it could be secured properly, they couldn't simply rush up to it. One of the fireponies from Ladder 24 was using his magic to try and stabilise the car, but it was too heavy for him to simply move or to lower down to the street gently. While all unicorns knew telekinesis spells, they were mostly for lifting small things; teacups, toothbrushes, paper, plates and the like. Objects could be held in place, but that was mentally taxing for the unicorn in question and could only be kept up for so long. Only the strongest and most knowledgeable unicorns could have the power to lift something that weighed several tons, which was why there was still very much a place for the fire department in such rescue operations.

'Just hold still, ma'am, ok?' the Lieutenant of Ladder 24 was repeating. 'The Rescue is here, they're gonna secure your vehicle first, but you need to stay calm and hold still for them, ok? They'll stop your car from moving and then we can get you and your daughter out of there.'

'Please save her!' the mother repeated. 'Please!'

'We're gonna get you both out of there, ma'am,' Grey Spike assured her, calling out in his strong, firm voice. 'My name is Captain Grey Spike, Rescue Company 1. We'll have you out of there in no time, alright?' He turned to his crew. 'Flagstaff, relieve their unicorn and hold that car steady. Blaze, Oak, High Line, set up that griphoist. Use that pillar for support.' He gestured to a thick concrete pillar holding up the ceiling. They sprang into action, with High Line and Oak Wood prepping the griphoist itself as Blaze unfurled the ropes that would attach the car to it. Together they tied the ropes around the pillar. The heavy-duty wire rope would hold numerous tons of weight, and Blaze and Oak unfurled enough to reach the car. Carefully, monitored by Grey Spike and, from below, Chief Firebrand, Oak looped the wire around the rear axle of the car, securing it and giving a wave of a hoof to Blaze and High Line, who began to work the levers of the griphoist, acting as a winch and slowly winding the rope in, pulling the car inch by inch away from the precipitous edge and back into the safety of the interior of the parking garage.

'Battalion 9 to Rescue 1, looking good from down here,' Firebrand radioed. 'Bring her all the way in. EMS is on scene, we're sending them up to you now, K.'

'Rescue 1, 10-4,' Grey Spike acknowledged. As soon as the front wheels of the car were back on solid concrete, Grey Spike halted the operation and the fireponies from Ladder 24 hurried in, helping the driverout of the car and removing the foal seat and its occupant, reuniting the foal and her mother with a tight and loving hug.

'Oh, thank you...thank you so much!' the mother gripped her daughter tightly. 'Thank you all...you saved us! Oh gosh...I dont't know what happened, even. I was just reversing out of the space, and someone was walking behind, so I stopped, and then I started again, but we went forwards...oh, I'm sure it was my fault but I just don't know what happened, but...thank you...' she rambled on. Paramedics arrived and checked over both patients, who had suffered no apparent injuries from their ordeal.

'Rescue 1 to Battalion 9. All victims accounted for, car secured and made safe,' Grey Spike radioed down to Firebrand. 'Reckon we're done up here.'

'10-4, Rescue 1. You guys can take up. Good job up there. We'll hand this one over to the Department of Buildings for stability checks,' Firebrand replied.

'Alright Rescue! Pack up your gear and back to the rig. We're taking up,' Grey Spike called. Blaze grabbed the ropes and helped unfasten them. The car had been pulled far enough from the edge that it wouldn't cause any further instability, and the handbrake had been applied by the driver, which had made it somewhat more difficult to pull the vehicle, but it would at least hold it in place now.

They headed downstairs to the rig after exchanging a few words with the crew of ladder 24, who were staying on the scene. The gear was packed away and up they climbed into the cab. Grey Spike used the data terminal to set their status to available. It didn't take long for a radio message for them to come in, as they were reversing out of the block.

'Manehattan calling Rescue 1, are you available, K?'

'Rescue 1, we are 10-8 and available,' Grey Spike replied. 'Got a run for us?'

'10-4 Rescue, take it in. Box 1145, Spring Street station on the for a pony under a truck.'

'Rescue 1, 10-4, we're on the way,' Grey Spike responded. Fairway reversed onto 9th Avenue, and Oak Wood and High Line, who had been helping to direct traffic as the rig backed up, leaped aboard into the open rear compartment. Fairway gunned the engine and Grey Spike hit the air horn, and they were off, racing south to answer their next alarm.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

10237305
To be honest, it's probably because the name reminds me of Luster Dawn.