Jimmy set off for his patrol as usual, today was the last day of his night shift and he would soon be switching to day shifts. This constant flipping of day and night had completely messed up his biological clock, and he didn't get much sleep during the day either. If he hadn't rested right after returning to the station at night, he reckoned he would've had a nervous breakdown by now.
Not long after Jimmy set off, a dispatch from the control center came through, there was a house fire in Karmac Town, and an ambulance had been arranged. Police were needed to maintain order at the scene. Jimmy checked his location; he was a bit far from there, so he directly responded by asking the dispatch center to contact the Karmac Police Department, as they could handle it themselves.
The county police often played a supporting role since most incidents occurred in cities or villages which had their own police departments capable of handling things. The county police were there more as a support force, as well as to handle cases that didn't fall under the jurisdiction of other police departments.
This matter of maintaining order could be completely managed by the local police, and it would even be more convenient, as they were locals, familiar with the area and could arrange for extra help to set up police lines if necessary.
Jimmy had been a cop for more than a day and didn't need to go to great lengths to accumulate experience by pushing into a crowd. Actually, if it weren't for Noah being quite serious and responsible, there was no need for them to roam around the West Suburb of Little Stone City during their initial training; it was solely because there were more cases there that allowed Jimmy to quickly gain experience. Also, there was a suspicion that they were snatching cases from the Little Stone City Police Department, given that jurisdiction was considered part of the urban area.
Jimmy roamed aimlessly on the highway, despite the cold weather, he rolled down the car window. This was one of those little tricks of the trade since the United States had a relatively sparse population and vast areas without villages or residents. If something happened in these places, patrol officers might not notice. Of course, generally, police weren't interested in dealing with it either, as such environments also posed significant safety risks to them—better to mind one's own business than make trouble.
Jimmy belonged to the casually vigilant type; if by chance he heard a cry for help, he could respond promptly. Having been in the rescue business for 11 years, he hadn't suddenly turned into an idle fish in just a few months.
Suddenly, Jimmy smelled a familiar scent, the odor of burning wood, a smell he had encountered frequently in the past 11 years. There was a fire nearby.
Jimmy looked around but couldn't spot any obvious flames. He stopped his car to get a sense of the wind direction and where the smoke smell was coming from. Once certain, he drove directly towards the source of the smoke. There were several houses ahead, and it seemed to be coming from there. Since he couldn't see any visible flames, the fire was likely smoldering inside a house.
Jimmy drove around and made a lap around those few houses to pinpoint the target, then reported the location via radio.
Jimmy turned on the siren and emergency lights, along with the low-frequency warning, its aggressive bass sound waking up the families living nearby as lights started turning on in several houses.
Jimmy first went to knock on the door of the neighbor next to the burning house, urging them to come out quickly.
A person emerged from the house and Jimmy asked, "Hi, does someone live in the house next door?"
"Yes, Mr. Anderson lives there by himself," came the reply.
"Do you have a fire blanket in the house? Or give me a blanket," Jimmy requested.
Jimmy ran back to the police car, unloaded his equipment, took a blanket from the neighbor, went to the garden hose, and soaked the blanket and his coat until they were dripping wet. Then, he wrapped a damp cloth around his mouth and nose and ran toward Anderson's house.
Jimmy kicked the door open, then immediately dodged to the side. The swirl of smoke that emerged from the opening door billowed out, but there were no flames to be seen in the black smoke.
As he ran inside, yelling "Mr. Anderson," Jimmy saw that the living room carpet had been partially burnt. Fortunately, it was some distance from the door and hadn't caught fire yet, but the sofa and cabinets were already ablaze.
Jimmy first made sure there was no one on the sofa or the floor, then he ran straight toward the back rooms; if anyone was there, they should have been in the bedroom sleeping at this time.
Jimmy kicked open the two doors inside and found a middle-aged man lying on the bed, completely unresponsive to the thick smoke in the room, which certainly meant trouble.
Jimmy grabbed Mr. Anderson's arms, draped the dripping wet blanket over him, and dragged him off the bed. He hauled him down the hallway and out of the house.
Once outside, Jimmy immediately ran to the neighboring hose to cool off his clothes and pants. Without the blanket's protection, his body had gotten very hot from the smoke. Although cooling down with cold water might lead to a severe cold, it was still far better than getting scalded by the hot steam.
After briskly dealing with that, Jimmy ran to the police car, reported the situation via radio, and called for fire trucks and an ambulance. Then he went back to Mr. Anderson's side to conduct a preliminary check.
Anderson must have been drunk; as the smell of alcohol dispersed from the warmth of his body. He was still breathing, but very hot, and there was no way to undress him right now due to the chilly exterior. A neighbor had contributed another dry blanket, so after removing Mr. Anderson's pajamas, Jimmy wrapped him up and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Going into a fire to rescue someone without any equipment was not a common occurrence. Firefighters normally wear full fire-resistant gear. Today's measures were temporary, and thanks to the short duration, the wet blanket's risk of harming a person was minimal. Otherwise, the risk would be substantial, since blazing fires could vaporize the moisture, creating extremely hot steam that could scald a person.
Jimmy had been trained for this and during the brief moments earlier, he had sized up the house. The time it took to enter, find someone, and get out was short enough to keep this emergency measure within a safe range.
As the house continued to burn, the fire trucks were still on their way; it was too far from the city center. By the time they arrived, the house was nearly burned down. Firefighters doused the flammable areas around the house and smoked-out spots inside, ensuring there were no hidden fires before packing up and leaving. The bill would be mailed directly to Mr. Anderson, who had already been taken to the hospital by ambulance.
After making sure everything was fine, Jimmy also drove the police car back to the station. His clothes were still wet, but fortunately, the car had good air conditioning. Back at the station, he took a hot shower, changed into his own clothes, and lay down to rest.