Where There’s Heat – By Aliza Mann
WHERE THERE’S HEAT
BY ALIZA MANN
“People are scared, and the entire city will be grid locked. We’re going to end up congested on the PIP, US nine and forty-six, the ninety-five as well.
With the winds kicking up tomorrow, we should start an evac tonight, followed up with a sweep for people who can’t get out no later than ten hundred. ”
Charity Davis normally thought Fire Chief Michael Henry was as blustery as the Santa Ana Winds. His lack of empathy and compassion toward his team members was legendary, but no one cared about the Palisades more.
All the council people alongside emergency services, the police and fire chiefs, and community resource leadership had convened at the Santa Monica City Hall, waiting for the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem to return.
Time was of the essence and there was no way they could wait on them to arrive given the momentary reprieve in the fires.
They were both out touring damage when news of flaring hot spots and high winds the following day necessitated an emergency meeting.
“If we can get those people out, I believe we’d all feel better,” Charity chimed in.
“I think that’s what we’re planning on, Councilperson,” Michael said.
While he was offering a gender neutral reference, which is something Charity applauded, he almost said the word like a sneer.
Was he completely biased against everyone and or was it special for her?
She had to wonder. “And I was agreeing with the plan, Fireperson... uh, Chief,” she clarified, fully aware that the effort to give him a taste of his own medicine had backfired.
Both Alexis and Clark, the other council members in the meeting, Jane Harper, the Police Chief, and the community team, Rick, Lisa, and Farley all sat quietly or cleared their throats.
Some even held their heads down and looked at their hands.
It was no secret Michael despised Charity as much as Charity loathed Micheal. It was an all-consuming hatred that left scorch marks in their wake.
“Moving on to the evacs, do we have enough volunteers to aid in those efforts? I would like to have as many vehicles in play as possible,” Rick asked.
“Yes, and animal control received a shipment of pet containers for transport as well,” Farley added.
Charity probably should have replied to that question, but she was preoccupied with shooting eye daggers at Michael.
A lot of good it did because he was well versed in ignoring her.
Smug bastard. Even his uniform was arrogant, rows and rows of stars adorned his uniform cuffs.
He was a tall, dark-skinned man, at least six feet four with deep gray eyes.
When he was angry, which was almost every time he saw Charity, they seemed to flash silver.
Simply infuriating dude, who she would rather not deal with.
In fact, anything in the world was preferable to spending time with him.
She even dreamed about him. Even if the dreams sometimes ended in hate sex.
Worst. Nights. Ever.
Lisa tapped Charity’s leg beneath the table. “Psst, pay attention, girl. It gives him more ammunition to use against you later,” she whispered. She’d used the fan of her long hair and a manicured hand to camouflage the word of warning.
Charity nodded and sat up straighter. After all, Lisa was right. There were elections and public appearances, along with a host of other opportunities for him to throw shade in her direction.
Not this time. The fires were negatively affecting too many people and would continue to do so if she couldn’t get around their petty differences to help their collective community.
Then and there, Charity decided to get her head in the game and help save the place she loved with all her heart.
If she had to work hand in hand with a jackal, so be it.
Mike Henry had been trying his hardest to avoid eye contact with Charity.
Every time he spoke around her, she would cut him off, correct him, or the worst, repeat something he’d just said.
In addition to all that, she refused to call him Mike.
Just Micheal. As he said the word mentally, he mimicked her annoying tone.
There was no way she had anything against him – he’d been promoted to Chief three years prior, and she’d been entering her second term on the Santa Monica City Council.
Hadn’t she had to vote in his favor alongside the other municipality leaders?
It was as if on day one she’d decided he wasn’t worth a damn.
It was truly starting to burn him up. At least, there was so much to be done, he would only be stuck with her for another half hour or so.
He would need to get out to speak to the media soon about the plan and thankfully, the urgency of the issue left no room to deal with her.
Frankly, he wasn’t keen on any politics and just wanted to save people.
It was the reason he’d become a firefighter.
Had he known he would be so tied to the whims of people who knew nothing about the job to prevent their asinine decision-making, he may not have been so keen on accepting the role.
Too late for that now. It was time to get them moving. There was a plan in place to search and rescue, remediation efforts for water management, and ultimately, lives would be saved if they did their job right. The blessings of the Mayor and Councilmembers was all that was needed. So far, so good.
“Once we’re done here,” he started again after everyone reviewed and agreed to the task assignments, “we’ll provide briefs on progression every two to three hours.
If we have to enter into any mitigation strategies, we will connect with the tactical leaders as early as humanly possible.
” He glanced around the room at each person.
Each gave nods of understanding with a few verbal acknowledgements.
His eyes caught on Charity, who sat straight as a board in her seat.
She practically glared at him. Her light brown skin was tinged red in her cheeks and her almond shaped, hazel brown eyes were near slits.
Curly tendrils rested along her brow, with waves of black hair in an intricate bun at the nape of her neck.
God, why was she so fucking beautiful? More than her looks, her spirit and smoldering passion for their community made her even more attractive.
She was one of the strongest people he knew and challenged him every step of the way.
If he were being honest, she was the reason he checked and rechecked every presentation he made before the council meetings. Damned if she didn’t make him better...
For that, he both loathed her and was utterly intoxicated by her.
“All right, then. We will reconvene at the next check-in. Be safe out there,” he said.
In an effort to keep from staring her down, he placed his cap on his head and turned on his heels, leaving her line of sight.
The moment he did, his body temperature slowly returned to normal. Damn her, she set his soul ablaze.
It was nearly fourteen hundred hours the following day before most of the residential properties in the Palisades neighborhood assigned to Mike were evacuated.
Normally, he would have been at a command center given his rank, but given the all-call, a requirement that put every person able to help in the field, he was pounding on doors alongside his ladder crewmen.
“All clear on Clifftop Way. Heading onto Malibu Vista,” he said into his comms.
“Clear on Palisades Drive.” Daniel’s voice came through choppy from the rising winds. The entire crew plus volunteers from Canada had worked all night to aid people evacuating and clearing debris, much of which could contribute to the fire triangle.
He took a look around the homes on the upcoming block.
There were very few that still had cars in the drive.
Unlike some of the other neighborhoods, he hadn’t found many elders or physically compromised individuals.
For that, he was thankful. Fires were kicking up in some of the surrounding communities, so the usual pairing for search and rescue was down to one person on two assigned streets providing updates via their comms.
He would be happy when they completed the remaining area. Once he was done, he would head back to the command center to debrief. Given the speed of the fires fueled by the drought, there was precious little time.
Walking up the drive of the first house with a black Audi sitting there, he hoped there was no one home.
In some instances, people with two cars in the family took one so they could remain together.
It was California though, so a lot of families had smaller cars.
He couldn’t be fooled by the appearance of things after twenty years with CAL FIRE.
“CAL Fire patrol! Anyone home?” he yelled while knocking on the door.
Mike glanced around and saw the orange glow on the horizon, along with the haze of ash blowing.
Everything was touched with the hint of smolder and ash, even in the neighborhoods a few miles out from the actual wildfire. “CAL Fire!” he yelled again.
Mike pressed the doorbell in the center of the blue illuminated circle. “Anyone here? ” he yelled once the tones were done.
Nothing came from inside and most people who were terrified and needed help would have at least yelled.
He stepped out into the narrow yard and then peered into the living room window.
It was neat and organized, with no luggage in sight.
No lights were on and he didn’t see any movement inside.
He needed to move on, so he didn’t get trapped himself.
“Puff…” The distant call sounded frantic, but not weak as if someone were injured and crying out for help, but didn’t sound calm either. “Puff,” he heard again. This one shorter and clipped.