Violent crimes and chaos on the street are hard enough for our community to rebuild from, but this past summer it seems as if the forces of nature themselves conspired to punish our good citizens for tolerating the rampant corruption in our streets.  An unusual series of fires have roiled the city this past summer, testing the devoted men and women of the fire department to the fullest of their abilities, and letting them once more prove their metal and true worth to us all.  Time and time again they battled back infernos to save the rest of the rest of the city from being consumed.  Some counts put the total number of fires this summer close to 10, though three in particular stand out for their ferocity, or origins.

The first was a vicious fire that burned down the park, which threatened to burn down half the city with it.  Temperatures were high, with a strong wind and low humidity, making the fire especially difficult to battle.  It began to spread outside of the park before the Fire Department brought all their craft to being it to heel, finally managing to curtail it after hours of battling its blaze.  In the end, despite the risk it posed, it was started by little more than a few teenagers out on a late night party, their careless and wanton disregard for public safety almost costing the city tens of millions in damages, to say nothing of the potential loss of life.  Its events like these that highlight the need to better restrain the troubled youth of this city, and to ensure their time and energy is spent in more productive means.

The second was a random freak accident, albeit one that could have been easily prevented had more caution taken place.  The Pizza Slut almost burned down when the chef was being careless while cleaning out the stove during normal business hours.  Already hot, the stove ignited the fuel lines he was manipulating to clean, resulting in a large fireball consuming the kitchen.  As penance for his blatant disregard for the safety of his patrons, the chef was consumed in the blaze, and several customers and employees were injured.  Luckily, the flash heat was not enough to ignite the structure, and most of the fires were cosmetic in nature and easily extinguished.

Fire at Andi’s Candies

And finally, the fire that burned down a local candy shop is the most significant, both in the potential cost of life, as well as the intent behind it.  Unlike the rest of the fires that have plagued the city this summer, this one was malicious in its intent, set by those who wish to see this fine city reduced to rubble for them to pick apart like vultures.  Andi Bayne, previously the owner of the recently destroyed Candy Shop, had made the applaud-able decision to forgo her previous life of crime in order to do something good for the city, and had joined the police department, using her experience to fight back against the very people who had previous preyed upon her sentiments.  In the sort of attempt of vengeance that is typical of social degenerates such as those, they torched her store, as well as writing the word ‘Pig’ on the wall, in an obvious reference to her honorable decision to follow the path of righteous truth.  However, burning down a store was not enough for these hoodlums, and they almost added the death of a firefighter to the damages.  Lt. Eaton, of the Dead End Fire Department, was trapped within the building as it burned around her.  Injured and alone, Lt. Eaton could easily have been written off as ‘too risky’ to rescue, but it seems no amount of risk will stop our brave men and women in the red and blue of Dead End’s emergency services from doing their job.  The responding police officers, Detective Alsop and Sergeant Kells, quickly leaped to Lt. Eaton’s aid, helping to remove rubble while Lt. Bayne braved the raging inferno to rescue the downed firefighter.  In the end, no one was killed, and the only injuries were for minor burns.  Once more the brave officers of our Police and Fire Departments showed their dedication to duty and integrity, and saved not only more of the city from burning, but lives as well.

-Gabriella Zabalza, DE Daily Reporter