Chapter 314 - 249: You Could At Least Bring Something! Part 2

"Bang, bang, bang."

The people from the three vehicles got out and closed the doors, following Cao Yi toward the crowd of onlookers.

With no one trapped, the fire indeed seemed to be quite high up, at least around the twentieth floor. Any unfolding operation would require a plan, and no one seemed to be in much of a hurry.

"Is the homeowner here?" Cao Yi shouted at the crowd.

"The firefighters are here!"

"Here, here, here! I’m here! You’ve finally arrived!" A young man with frameless glasses, accompanied by a woman dressed rather stylishly, ran over.

Cao Yi nodded, "Did you make the emergency call? What’s the situation in your home?"

The man frowned and looked up at his apartment again before shaking his head, "I was at work when I got a call from the property management. I rushed back and went up to open the door just for a moment. The place was full of black smoke, with an especially high temperature right when I opened the door. The fire inside was fierce and it reeked! I couldn’t dare go in to have a look! I just closed the door and came down!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the woman beside him became anxious,

"My daughter is still inside! Please hurry and save her!"

At this, everyone was suddenly shocked.

Ye Jiahong, who was also holding the dispatch report, took another look and said, "The phone ending in 2888, that’s yours, right? Didn’t you say there were no trapped individuals?"

The woman immediately pulled the man anxiously and said, "That’s my husband’s phone! He never cares for the child; she’s at home today, he didn’t know!"

The man quickly nodded, "Right, right, right! My wife didn’t tell me, so when I called the emergency services just now, I thought there was no one there! It was only after she arrived that I found out!"

This development somewhat flustered everyone.

For buildings taller than 15 floors, both rescue and firefighting are very challenging.

Because modern aerial apparatus typically only reach around thirty-something meters, and even the tallest ladder trucks only extend to 53 meters. Moreover, deploying them among high-rises is exceedingly difficult. A firefighting passage wider than 4 meters is needed, and the unfolding area requires at least 6 meters. Even if the conditions are met, these apparatuses can only reach approximately the 15th floor.

Even in later times, aerial platforms reaching up to waves of 101 meters aren’t available in just any city.

Moreover, laying hoses up the staircase for firefighting can only pressurize slowly, and the hoses must be laid very straight; otherwise, if the hoses get twisted, the pressure needed for such a long supply line could easily burst the hoses and delay firefighting efforts.

Not to mention that in the event of a major fire, evacuating from such heights is also more difficult.

There are many uncertainties above 45 meters.

At this height, vertical deployment is already impossible; it’s too high. The only option is to try laying hoses up the stairs and then bringing in the property manager to inquire about the indoor fire hydrants on that floor.

But if they encounter a property that hasn’t stored water in the reservoir according to regulations, or there are problems with the firefighting pipes, and water can’t reach the top through the hoses, they might only consider carrying buckets of water up to douse the fire.

(This is something to be aware of when buying a house.)

But these were not the issues Fang Huai was considering at the moment.

If there was a child inside, she definitely couldn’t wait for the water to slowly make its way up.

He looked up again.

The flames bursting from the windows were not minor.

"How big is your apartment, exactly?" Fang Huai urgently asked.

Judging by the intensity of the flames at the windows, if the apartment was not large, one could only imagine the temperature inside.

"Ah?" The man hesitated for a moment and then said, "...146 square meters! Four bedrooms and a living room!"

Yet someone in the crowd shouted, "146 square meters? The actual usable area is only about 123, the rest is all shared property!"

Tsk.

Fang Huai raised his eyebrows.

Being all neighbors here, this man still cared about saving face.

The concept of shared property had not been popular in Guiyang for long; the residents of this district must be among the first in the city to experience the benefaction of Mr. Li from faraway HK.

"How old is your daughter?" Fang Huai continued to inquire.

"Five years old!" the woman replied.

Once the situation was clear, everyone around waited for Instructor Cao’s orders.

For a fire at such a high floor, the ladder trucks definitely couldn’t reach. Without the support of water cannons, the rescue team would have to forcefully enter the fire scene to save people.

"I’ll go in and rescue!" Hao Chengbin was the first to volunteer.

Cao Yi turned his head and looked around.

Zhao Jinchen, Hao Chengbin, Zhang Yang, Huang Yong, Liu Jianfeng.

He Zhijun, Fang Huai.

The suitable people for internal attack were listed in his mind.

Fang Huai was always included in this group, but he was always the last one on the list.

But Fang Huai keenly noticed his gaze.

He swiftly stepped forward and patted him, whispering, "If you send my master in there, I won’t let this go."

Cao Yi turned his head, glaring fiercely at Fang Huai, "This is a fire scene, stop bothering me."

Fang Huai’s eyes didn’t back down, "I’ll go. I promise not to take any unnecessary risks. If I can save her, I will. If not, we’ll think of another way. A shabby little apartment won’t stop me."

Cao Yi hesitated for a moment.

Quickly, Fang Huai whispered again to disrupt his thoughts, "Give the order fast, we don’t have time!"

"...Fang Huai, go."

This time, remembering Little Black, Cao Yi finally relented.

"What are you doing? Old Cao, let me go!" Hao Chengbin immediately stepped up, wanting to grab Fang Huai.

But Fang Huai agilely dodged and walked straight up to the male homeowner nearby, "Give me the keys. Which floor and number?"

"1902, the one to the right of the elevator! Thank you! Thank you so much!" the man said, hastily handing him a set of keys.

"She’s in the master bedroom! The biggest room!" the woman hurriedly reminded.

Upon hearing this, Fang Huai narrowed his eyes and fiercely glared at her:

"Are you sure?!"

A five-year-old girl, in the face of a fire, wouldn’t she run?

Search and rescue, why search everywhere?

Because when people encounter disasters, they hide. Sometimes, they are found in the most unexpected places.

Therefore, Fang Huai didn’t bother to ask them which room the child was in at all.

Normally, every room was a possibility.

Unless it was an immobile person, or someone who had inhaled carbon monoxide and fainted while sleeping, they would remain in one place.

Yet the woman insisted, "Sure! Definitely!"

Fang Huai let out a long breath and gave the woman another deep look.

But with the iron law of rescue being the top priority for firefighters, there was no more time for doubts.

"Instructor Cao, make sure to cut the power to that unit!"

Fang Huai called out, adjusting the straps of his air pack and started running towards the building’s lobby.

Hao Chengbin watched Fang Huai’s retreating figure, wanting to shout out a few words of caution, but Cao Yi pulled him back, sighing,

"Enough, your apprentice is already skilled, and we’re short on manpower. Let’s lay the hoses up the stairs together."

"Well, I don’t care, I have to go up there to watch!"

Without another word, Hao Chengbin turned and ran towards the truck to change into his air pack and go upstairs to back up Fang Huai.

Cao Yi looked around, with only eight or nine combatants, and the staircase to the small twenty-story building seemed quite daunting.

This Hao Chengbin.

With so few people, he still wanted to run upstairs. How were they supposed to lay the hoses?

Seeing Hao Chengbin already grabbing the air pack and closing the car door, Cao Yi couldn’t help but yell,

"At least help carry something up, will you?"

Grumbling, Hao Chengbin turned back and took two rolls of hoses from the truck.