CHAPTER ONE

      THE call came in shortly before Red Watch were due to go off duty. Up till then the day had been unusually quiet. Weekends tended to be their busiest periods but there had been just one call that afternoon, to a fire started by some teenagers who’d set light to the contents of a skip left in the car park of a local supermarket.

      It had taken the crew from Hexton fire station less than an hour to get the blaze under control and arrange for the skip to be collected. They’d been on their way back to the station when the second call had come through. It had been immediately apparent that this one wasn’t going to be anywhere near as easy to deal with.

      Ross Tanner nodded as one of the crew finished checking his breathing apparatus and gave him the thumbs-up sign. He waited impatiently while his colleague Terry Green’s equipment was also checked. The fire had started in the basement flat of a run-down Victorian terrace and had spread rapidly through the four-storey building. Even from a distance of several hundred yards, the roar of the flames was deafening.

      Crews from neighbouring fire stations had been called in to assist because of the danger that the fire would spread to the adjoining properties. That wasn’t Ross’s main concern, however. A three-year-old child had been reported as trapped inside the blazing building and the sooner they got him out the happier Ross would be.

      ‘I don’t want either of you taking risks. The upper floors could cave in at any moment. You’re to get the hell out of there at the first sign of trouble.’

      Ross listened while the senior divisional officer, Mike Rafferty—who was in charge of the fire ground—issued some last-minute instructions. As Station Officer at Hexton, Ross knew the rule, of course, that no firefighter should needlessly put his own life at risk. He also knew that when there was a child involved none of the men from Red Watch would hesitate. If there was a chance of saving the little boy then neither he nor his colleagues would pull out.

      Ross led the way to the front of the blazing building and waited while the crew hosed him down. The equipment he was wearing was both heavy and cumbersome but he spent hours practising the drill each week and he was used to the weight of the air tank on his back and the difficulties of breathing through a mask. He was even used to the ferocity of the heat that greeted him as they entered the smoke-darkened hallway and made their way to the staircase at the rear.

      He’d been a firefighter for ten years and he’d attended enough fires during that time to know what to expect. He was trained for this situation. He knew what to do. Now all he had to do was find the child and get him out…alive.

      ‘Will I be glad when this shift is over. If I see one more person who’s injured himself doing DIY then