A raging fire was slowly eating a row of houses.
"Get more water here!"
"Here, here, pass it!"
"Get some more!"
"Go higher!"
Frantic voices of people working together with the barangay officers echoed as they pass buckets full of water to one another and splash them against the flames. Behind them, disgruntled families, young and old, helplessly watch the scene unfold while more officers are making sure to keep them in a safe distance and treating the wounded.
"I left my savings in the house!"
"That's our entire money for the month!"
"Our house!"
"Please, stop making this difficult! You can't go in there!"
"His burns are severe. We need to get him to the hospital!"
"Where's the ambulance?"
The rest of the barangay officers and the captain were doing search and rescue.
"Hey, is this house clear?" The captain asked one of the officers next to him.
"Yes. It's cleared."
The captain and the officer watched as the raging flame from the house next door crept towards the house they cleared just now. And then, they heard the familiar siren of a fire truck echoing from the distance as it gained on them.
"What the hell?" The captain stood in the middle of the road, right in the fire truck's path, forcing it to a stop a few feet from him. Confusion tinged with a bit of frustration washed over his features as he continued to speak. "We requested two fire trucks! Where's the other one?"
"Go, go, go!" The captain of the firefighters commanded, the urgency in his voice putting his men on high alert as they worked on the pumps and hoses with expert ease despite the tension. "We got a fire we need to kill! Go, go, go!"
After giving his command and the firefighters began firing water towards the flames, the captain turned to the other captain of the barangay officers.
"The second truck needs an engine repair, so it can't be used," informed the firefighter captain. "We already sent a message from the neighboring district to send one or two trucks, but they're still a few minutes away."
The barangay captain looked back at the citizens, and the firefighter captain followed suit. The two watched as the people tirelessly passed buckets from one to another in a desperate attempt to kill or at least slow the spread of the fire on their side.
But it was no use.
"The fire is too big and is spreading too fast for them to keep up."
"It's because these houses are mostly made of plywood. They just burn so quick."
"And they sit right next to each other too. Incidents like this are bound to happen in this kind of environment."
Both the captains turned to the side of the fire truck. On the fire truck side, multiple hoses were firing gallons of water at the furthest burning house, effectively saving what little remained of it from the fire and also stopping the spread on that end.
Still, on the other end, the spread of the fire showed no sign of stopping.
"We just gotta work with what we have until the other fire trucks arrive," the barangay captain stated, clenching his fists on his side as he ran in the direction of the people desperately trying to slow the fire with everything they could.
When he arrived, another house was already engulfed in flames, frustration and helplessness clear not only in his features but also in the people continuing to get water and throwing it against the towering fire.
"It's impossible," one guy holding an empty bucket said between heavy breaths, taking a few steps back out of danger. "It's not stopping at all."
One man, presumably the father of the family living in the currently burning house, approached his home with a bucket full of water to try and kill the fire. But after seeing how futile his attempt was, all he could do was back down and fall to his knees as his family gathered around him while watching their home get eaten by the fire.
"It's gone. Everything."
"It's fine, Dear. We're still here with you."
Seeing the hurt in the eyes of the family as they lose their home in the fire pained the barangay captain. He felt sorry, not just to them, but to every single victim of this incident.
But this was far from over. The fire was still spreading, and he had a job to do. He went to regroup with the search and rescue team evacuating people from the trajectory of the flames.
Coincidentally, on his way, strong winds came out of nowhere, hitting his back, and he immediately stopped to look back at the fire.
"Oh no," he said under his breath, realizing the implications of the wind's involvement in the ongoing disaster.
The barangay captain found his men at the very end of the street, calling and helping the families vacate their houses. The captain thought that if his men were already that far ahead, that would mean the houses next to him had already been cleared. It did seem that way when he turned to the other side of the street, where a lot of people stood next to all of the belongings they managed to bring with them.
But then, he heard a voice.
"Arnel! Take this bag!"
A woman walked out the door of a two-floor house that was standing right next to the burning one, a mother carrying what she could bring out with her and calling for her son, who was tending to his two younger siblings, to take one of the bags from her.
Before the son could take a step forward, the barangay captain stood in his way. "Stay there," he said in a commanding tone and ran towards the woman. "Hurry! The fire's coming!"
The captain grabbed both heavy bags, presumably the family's clothing along with some important stuff, guiding the woman toward her family. He put the bags down right in front of them before looking up at the woman.
"Is everyone in your family here?"
The woman nodded. "Yes, we're all here." She looked at her son, Arnel, and his two younger siblings and immediately creased her brow as she began looking around in horror. "Wait, where's Chelsea?! Arnel, where's Chelsea!"
"I-I called her multiple times," the son stuttered, his eyes wide in panic. "I thought she was already here with Dave and Ben!"
"You didn't check on her? You know she's a heavy sleeper!"
"I did! I saw her move after I called her the third time and went to grab our stuff!"
Realization dawned on the barangay captain almost immediately, hitting him like a physical blow as he looked back to the family's house.
The side of the first floor closest to the burning house had already caught fire thanks to the wind amping its already fast spread. It didn't take long before the flames reached the door.
"Oh no, Chelsea!"
The barangay captain saw the emotions on the woman's face as she started moving towards her house and knew he had to keep her from taking a step further.
"Stop! The door's already caught on fire!"
"But my daughter is on the second floor! I need to get her!"
"I understand. But you gotta stay calm and stay back with your kids. We'll get your daughter out."
The barangay captain gestured at the eldest son to get his mother so he could talk to the nearby barangay officer.
"Get the fire truck over here quickly! We need a ladder!"
The barangay officer wasted no time and ran straight to the other end of the street where the fire truck was. The captain stayed where he stood, making sure he would be able to stop the woman from recklessly going into the house should the son fail to hold his mother down.
He cursed under his breath as the flames had already covered the entire first floor of the house and were already creeping up toward the second; the thought that the fire truck wouldn't be able to get there in time crossed the barangay captain's mind.
Right when this was happening, on the roof of the house behind the captain, a white figure slowly materialized, sitting on all fours as the figure loomed over him.