London's Burning - Tinsel

Written by: Gemma Lambourne
Date first published online: November 2002
Starring: Craig Ross, Adam Benjamin, Charlie Mead, Rob 'Hyper' Sharpe, Mick Callaghan, Geoff Pearce, George Green and Jessica Bartlet.
Disclaimer: The characters featured do not belong to the author. They belong to 'London's Burning' and they are copyright to 'London's Burning' and their affiliates. Made - up characters and owned by the author and are not based on anyone.
Archive: Just ask me.
Authors Notes: I thought I'd write a nice Christmassy story. Also, Sally and Frank has left, there's a new face and an old Watch member returns.
Summary: It's Christmas at Blackwall. A new recruit starts and there are a lot of shouts in store for the Blue Watch. Please read and review!

"No Adam, left!" Craig yelped at Adam. The Blue Watch had begun decorating the station. With it being Craig's first ever Christmas as a fire fighter and on duty over the Christmas period as a fire fighter, he made it perfectly clear to his fellow Watch members, that they MUST decorate the station.

Adam and Charlie were given the job of hanging tinsel in a certain pattern, around the edge of the appliance bay and all the downstairs of the station as Craig told them where to hang it. Adam, however, was either stapling the red and silver tinsel, too high or too low.

"I am going left!" Adam yelled frustratedly in reply.

"You're stapling it too low!" Craig replied in a perplexed tone.

Adam sighed loudly, "Then why don't you get up here and take over!?"

"I'm the decoration co - ordinator," Craig informed him again, after he had done previously about ten times already.

Adam rolled his eyes, "Don't remind me," he muttered under his breath.

"Why don't you compare your side to Charlie's?" Craig asked, "His seem to be perfectly lined up."

Adam glanced over at Charlie, who was now sitting down on the chair that he earlier was standing on. Charlie grinned at the comment of his 'perfectly lined up tinsel' as Adam's face went even more blank.

"Then Charlie can take over," Adam murmured, as he stepped down from the chair and onto the floor of the station.

"And where do you think you're going?" Craig asked Adam, with slight authority in his voice that made Adam chuckle inside.

"To the mess," Adam replied, "To see how the others are doing with decorating in there..."

D.O. Ross had given permission for all of the station to be decorated, but if a call came through, they were ordered to drop everything and go straight to a shout. It was Christmas Eve and the day had been surprisingly quiet. Although the Blue Watch were assigned to the night shift and probably had a hell shift to come.

As the disagreement took place between Craig and Adam, a figure stood in the doorway of the station with an expression of amusement on his face as he remained silent. "Causing arguments with the younger Watch members 'eh Adam?" the voice asked.

Adam recognised that distinctive Irish accent immediately, as he quickly turned, noticing Hyper standing dressed in a warm coat and carrying a large Adidas sports bag. "Hyper!" Adam stated in surprise, "What are you doing here? I though you were in Ireland."

Hyper smiled, as he wandered into the appliance bay, which was awashed with Christmas decorations, "I was in Ireland, but decided a change. Then this Leading Hand position came up..."

"You're our new Leading Hand?"

"You got it in one," Hyper retorted.

"I dunno what to say mate... congratulations and welcome back!"

In the background Craig and Charlie stared at each other, "Welcome back?" Craig whispered quietly to Charlie who shrugged.

Adam glanced around at them for a moment, before gesturing for Hyper to approach them a bit further. "Charlie... Craig... This is Rob Sharpe aka Hyper, he was stationed here for a couple of years a few years back. He's our new Leading - Hand," Adam paused for a brief second as Craig and Charlie murmured 'Hi' in a reasonably shy fashion, before Adam introduced them to Hyper, "Hyper... this is Craig Ross, he's the new boy, well was the new boy and this is Charlie Mead, Blue Watch's prankster and driver."

The four of them remained down in the appliance bay for a while as Hyper helped them hang the remaining decorations that were lying in a box, before they decided it was time for a nice cup of tea and for Hyper to be introduced to the Guv'nor. Charlie dumped the practically empty box in the Watch room, next to the table that the fax machine was sat on, then they made their way, like a heard of elephants, up the stairs towards the mess.

Adam opened the heavy, red door to the mess noticing some of the remaining members of the Watch were still busy decorating the Christmas tree. George was sat at the table with a cup of tea sat in front of him as he was engrosed with the sports section of the paper, he was in a good mood after West Ham's 1 - 0 defeat on Everton and Mick and Geoff added the final finishing touches to the tree. Lisa was also hidden in the kitchen, busy rustling something up for lunch.

"Guv?" Adam tried to get Mick's attention.

"Adam?" Mick looked up and across at Adam, noticing he was standing beside an unfamilar face.

"This is Rob Sharpe, the new Leading Hand," Adam introduced Hyper. Immediately George and Geoff looked up and across at Hyper.

"Hyper, I thought you were in Ireland!" George stated as he placed the newspaper he was reading, down on the table in front of him, on the page he was reading, then walked over to Hyper.

"I was, decided a change," he said with a smile, "... and London seemed to be calling me back again. Then the Leading Hand position came up here and I couldn't resist."

George smiled, "Welcome back mate."

"Yes, welcome back Rob," Geoff added in his usual manner.

Hyper smiled gratefully, "Thanks Geoff."

Mick stood quietly as the members of the Watch who had been stationed at Blackwall longer than Craig, Charlie and himself, welcomed Hyper back. Then he stepped forward, "Station Officer Mick Callaghan," he introduced himself, holding out his hand.

"Nice to meet you Guv," Hyper replied sincerely as he shook Mick's hand, "Rob Sharpe," he introduced himself again, "But I'm known as Hyper to anyone who knows me..."

A tour wasn't needed as Hyper knew Blackwall fire station like the back of his hand, Mick just gave him a quick talk in his office about what was expected of him as a Leading Hand, although really it was already known to him after he was a Crew Commander at Blackwall before the ranking system changed yet again. Hyper was allocated a locker, then he dressed into his navy blue T - shirt with 'London Fire Brigade' embroidered in red, then he was ready for duty.

The Watch lined up for role - call in the appliance bay, dressed in their burgundy tunics and yellow helmets, with the exceptions of Geoff and Mick, who were stood in their formal clothes. Hyper stood proudly among his fellow Watch members, with a stripe on his helmet.

"As you know fully well," Mick began, "... we're still one man down so to speak. You've all met Rob Sharpe, you're new Leading Hand..."

The Watch glanced over at Hyper, who grinned, then Mick carried on...

"We also have another new recruit starting as of today. Fire fighter Jessica Bartlet who is transfering from Epsom in Surrey. She has four years experience and she's very capable of her job so no..."

"Looking down our noses at her 'cause she's a woman?" Adam asked.

"Exactly," Mick replied, as conversation started between the ranks.

"There'll definitely be none of that Guv," Hyper spoke up, "Well the lads are used to working with a female fire fighter and this is the year 2002..."

The role - call was interrupted by the bells going down, all of the Watch members fell out of the line and Geoff ran towards the Watch room and approached the fax machine, stepping into the disguarded box as he did so and nearly fell over, "Who left this box in here?" he muttered, partly asking a question and partly talking to himself in wonder. Geoff ripped the fax off of the roll and lifted his foot out of the box, before running back out into the appliance bay.

Geoff pressed the button to open the doors of the station, "House fire, 13 Littlehampton Crescent... Both!"

The Watch all lept into the appliances. Charlie was the driver of the Pump, with Geoff seated in front and Hyper and Craig in the back. Whereas George was the driver of the Pump Ladder, with Mick seated beside him and Adam seated in the back. The Pump Ladder crew was one man down, but with the season being busy, they appliance still had to be crewed.

The appliances sped out of the station, the Pump Ladder in front followed by the Pump. It was about midday and the midday winter sun shone brightly through the gaps in the clouds. The streets were damp and the pavements were littered in leaves, which had died, fallen from the trees and dried golden brown.

The appliances turned down Littlehampton Crescent, which was a small street on the Blackwall border near Shadrook and number thirteen was visibly ablaze.

The appliances were parked a couple of metres down the street and all of the Watch members were briefed by Mick. "George..." Mick began, noticing scores of people standing and gazing in awe as if they'd never seen fire before, "... can you clear the area. Get all these people to move back!"

"Guv..." George murmured, as he walked away from the assembled group of Watch members.

"Hyper... Adam... I'd like you two to go inside, in search of any casualties... And the rest of you, lets get started on these flames!"

Charlie, who was also assigned to BA Control, checked both Adam and Hyper's BA kits, before they entered the house through the unlocked front door, equiped with a hose. Charlie then, along with Craig, began to fight the flames from the outside.

"Will you all please move back!" George yelled at the crowd, who finally got the idea and back off to a safe distance.

"Oh my God!" a woman shrieked as she ran towards the house, straight past George until she was grabbed by Mick. "My baby sitter and children are in there!"

"It's ok madam, we've got a crew inside there now. How many children are in the house?" Mick asked softly and as calmly as possible, yet retaining a professional state.

"Two... Anne - Marie and Lois..."

Hyper and Adam entered the living room, which seemed to be where the flames were at their strongest. Flames devoured almost everything they could get their hands on. The curtains, carpet, sofa... Blasts from the hose was pointed at the foot of the fires in hope that they would extinguish.

"Hyper... look," Adam pointed in the direction of a polished wooden coffee table, which was beginning to catch light itself and the contents on top were alight.

"A candle..." Hyper stated, noticing what looked like school books, but were too burnt to be able to make out, were on top of a set of small candles.

"BA Control from Fire fighter Benjamin," Adam began.

"Go ahead Fire fighter Benjamin," Charlie prompted.

"Source of fire found BA Control candles..."

Hyper and Adam carried on fighting the flames, along with searching for any casualties who they were still unaware of.

"Leading Hand Sharpe from Station Office Callaghan..."

"Go ahead Guv," Hyper replied.

"There are three casualties inside Sharpe, a baby sitter and two children..."

Adam and Hyper stared at each other, "I'll go upstairs," Hyper announced, "Carry on searching down here..."

Adam carried on searching the living room high and low, before entering the kitchen and all other rooms on the ground floor or the house, but still nothing.

Hyper made his way up the stairs, blasting the hose at all flames that came into contact with him. He walked across the creaking floor boards on the top floor of the house, and pushed open the door to a bedroom with a plaque displaying 'Lois' on the door.

Opening the door proved difficult as bundles of duvets had been placed under the crack of the door in an attempt to stop the smoke seeping through. Hyper spotted three girls, closely sitting together in the corner of the room, one much older than the others.

"Adam!" Hyper yelled, "They're up here!"

Adam and Hyper manged to safely guide the three out of the house where they were immediately met by paramedics who took the girls to the ambulance and the children were greeted by their frantic mother who was glad that they were ok. The flames were soon extinguished and the scene was cleared. Hyper was left to brief Fire Investigation if his findings inside the house.

The Watch arrived back at the station to meet a young woman, who was sitting out the front of the station on her bag.

"Can I help you?" Geoff asked.

The woman quickly stood up, "Jessica Bartlet," she introduced herself, extending out her hand, "I'm joining Blue Watch today..."

Geoff nodded, as if to say 'aah' and shook her hand. "Geoffrey Pearce, I'm the Sub Officer." Geoff gestured for her to enter the station, where the Watch were beginning to clean up after the shout.

Jessica picked up her bag and held it over her shoulder as she entered in front of Geoff and glanced around the appliance bay, "It's good to see someone's in the festive spirit. The guy's at my last station were right miserable gits."

Geoff smiled somewhat unsurely and the Watch members noticed her entrance.

"What would you give her out of ten Adam?" Charlie asked at a whisper, as they pulled all of the tunics out of the appliances.

"By looks... eight and a half..." Adam murmured in response.

Geoff walked Jessica through the appliance bay, then through the glass doors until they were outside Mick's office. Geoff taped on the door lightly, before entering, "Sir... Fire fighter Bartlet is here..."

"Send her through," Mick ordered, after looking up from his paperwork for a brief moment.

Geoff nodded, then peered out of the door at Jessica, "Go through," he told her, as he stepped away from the door and Jessica entered.

She stood a couple of metres away from Mick's desk, before he looked up. "Please take a seat..."

Jessica placed her bag down on the floor, then walked closer to the desk and took a seat.

"Station Officer Callaghan," Mick introduced himself, holding out his hand.

"Nice to meet you sir," Jessica replied, shaking his hand.

"It's Guv please..." Mick informed her, he was already sick enough of being referred to as 'sir' by Geoff.

Jessica smiled lightly, "This is a nice station you have here Guv."

Mick nodded, agreeing, "It is..."

Mick spoke to Jessica for a while, briefing her on the station, the Watch and the area among with the type of shouts that they dealt with.

Mick walked Jessica to the doorway of his office, "Welcome to Blackwall!"