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My radio crackles against my chest.

“Brush 1, Command.” Caleb. “Somebody want to give me a PAR, or am I going to have to drive over there myself?”

Rob keys his radio without taking his eyes off me.

“Command, Brush 1. PAR two, plus one civilian. She’s with medical, Chief. Raines is a little busy.”

There’s a pause before Caleb answers.

“Copy. Folsom, Novak, get back to work. That loft’s still showing heat. I want it checked before we turn this place over. And Wallace? Quit narrating.”

Lindsey starts laughing behind the oxygen mask, which sets off another coughing fit. I put a hand against her back while Alison checks on her.

“That’s it,” I tell her. “No more making out with firefighters until the hospital clears you.”

She glares at me.

“Overhaul,” Novak groans behind us. “I just saved a barn, and now I get to fork it.”

“You heard him,” Nate says. “Get your gear.”

Alison finishes checking Lindsey and adjusts the oxygen flow.

“You’re staying right here until we’re ready to transport you,” she tells her.

Lindsey nods, although she doesn’t look happy about it.

Rob comes around the back of the engine with a grin.

“Your van’s alive,” he tells her. “Bumper’s melted. Nate shut it off.”

She pulls the mask down. “Oh, shit. I left it running.”

“You did what I told you,” I say. “Mask.”

She puts it back and gives me another dirty look.

Up in the loft, Nate and Novak are working on air with a charged line and pitchforks, pulling bales apart and checking for heat. The barn took enough fire along the south wall that embers could have worked their way into the hay through gaps in the boards. Caleb says hay can smolder for hours before anybody notices, and once it gets enough oxygen, it can take off fast.

Overhaul is slow, dirty work. Every bale has to be checked, and anything hot gets pulled apart and soaked down outside. The last thing we need is to leave here thinking we’ve saved the barn, only to have it burn to the ground after we’re gone.

Twenty minutes go by while the crew works. The tender fills Engine 1’s tank, the power company confirms the downed line is de-energized, the deputies start opening North Fork Road so the ambulance can get out, and Alison finishes another set of vitals on Lindsey.

She’s stable enough to transport, and Alison wants her at the hospital for a full workup the minute the road is open. I’m going to ride with her, but I need Caleb to release me from the scene first.

Then Nate’s voice comes over the radio.

“Command, Folsom. We’ve got a hot pocket against the west wall. Pulled three bales out, but there’s more heat behind the stack. We’re opening it up.”

“Copy, Folsom. Watch your air.”

I look toward the barn.

The loft doors are open, and I can see the occasional sweep of helmet lights through the gaps in the boards. Smoke is still coming out around the roofline, and it looks heavier than it did a few minutes ago.

I stand and move closer to the engine so I can get a better look.

Rob follows my gaze.