By Douglas J. Lanzo
Copyright 2023

First published in Literary Yard (July 4, 2025 Issue)

Dedicated to Engineer 6 Firefighter, Tanner Mosher, whose rescued Captain said:
“You can’t teach that kind of heroism…He just had it in him.”

A wall of fire faced them
with great intensity —
a hurricane-swept blowtorch,
killing evacuees.

They were the fire rescue
arrived with Engine 6,
to battle the inferno,
so cars could flee the mix.

As traffic snarled around them,
many fled for their lives…
in panicked desperation:
husbands, children and wives.

With power lines around them,
downed — blocking their escape,
the crew blasted their hose
into smoke-filled landscape.

Overpowered by the heat
the hose burnt in the fray,
forcing the crew to shelter
in the engine and pray.

Intending final message
their Captain texted his wife
that he loved her and his children,
but doubted for his life —
a text that never reached them,
unaware of his strife.

Then the youngest of the crew
decided to be bold.
Exiting the melting truck
with courage to behold,
he jumped into a Skeeter
and over burnt cars rolled,
launching over a rock wall,
dodging obstacles untold…

About a mile down the road,
he saw an SUV,
manned by a policeman,
who let him take the keys.

Returning to the engine,
leaping over cars and wall,
he evacuated crew
saving seven men in all,
including his Captain,
unconscious from it all.

Resuscitating Captain,
they then worked through the night
bringing back all they could,
battling with all their might.