It was around 15:15 and we were washing the engine, joking around, laughing, talking about the latest gossip and trying to figure out what's for dinner. Just then we were dispatched to a reported apartment fire. I donned my gear the same way that I always do. I climbed into the engine, put on my air pack and my seat belt like I've done a hundred times before, thinking maybe this will be a good one. While enroute dispatch advised that they had received several calls and possible entrapment. As we entered the apartment complex we were the first engines in, now they are reporting confirmed entrapment. E-663 was assigned to search and rescue. As soon as we stopped I grabbed our 1 3/4 pre-connect and went to the front door of the apartment building. I donned my face piece and went on air. As I was suiting up I heard that a little child had come home from school but had not been seen. I then assumed that we were searching for a child in the involved apartment. Risk7/ Benefit 9. I sized up the building; it was approximately 25% involved, through the roof. I new it was a new construction and we would have to do a quick search because of possible collapse. What I didn't know was that this building had vaulted ceilings without and attic. (From my experience, generally when a roof collapses it usually lays down on the interior walls, they are dangerous but this new concept and vaulted ceiling construction is even more dangerous). Trust me.

I stretched the line up the stairs and to the door of the apartment that was involved. There I met up with a Franklin Twp. FF who had checked and cleared all of the other 2nd floor apartments. I knew that we probably had a victim in here. After straightening out our line my Captain met up with me in the 2nd floor hallway and we were ready to enter the apartment with a left hand search. The conditions were; moderate heat and black smoke with approximately 2' of visibility. Again, I am still thinking we have an attic fire. I knew we didn't have a whole lot of time. I swept the first couch I came to "found nothing" as we moved farther down the couch I thought I ran into a stand up ashtray but it wouldn't move, when I looked at it closer I realized that it was the ceiling fan, so I knew that it was rocking and rolling right above us. As we got a little farther into the room I knocked the fire down a little to slow the roll over so we could keep doing out search. I then found another couch and swept it "found nothing". Just as I turned to tell my Captain that we needed more line and to help him pull it, I heard a crack and then a long thud. Just that quick we were trapped. My very first thought was, "I've got to get out of here" then suddenly I realized that I couldn't move. My right ankle was in excruciating pain and I couldn't move it either. It was rotated heal out, flat on the floor. All I could see out of my mask was my Captains boots and fire all around my face. I could not reach my radio of move this great weight off of me. I was trapped! The heat in the apartment was a lot hotter now ant that's when all the years of training and experience kicked in. I concentrated on slowing my breathing down and tried to figure a way out of here. Suddenly I was able to start pushing up and sliding out from under the ceiling and roof. What I didn't realize at the same time was that 2FTFD FF's were in the vicinity when the collapse happened, and they started digging us out. Thank God for those guys, they saved our lives. As I crawled out from under the roof all I could hear was screaming and chaos. As I looked down at my Captain, the FTFD FF's were pulling him out into the hallway. Just as they got him into the hallway another FTFD FF sprayed him with a hose line to put out the debris that was on fire on his back. I then hobbled around them to the top of the stairs. I used everything I had to stay in that building and help my Captain outside. I knew this was a very, very bad place to be but I had to help my partner. Hat was one of the toughest things I have ever done in my life. Just as we got my Captain fully into the hallway the rest of the apartment roof collapsed. Needless to say I was highly motivated to get him out of this building. I hobbled down the stairs, at the bottom my Captain and I used each other to lean on and exited the building. We made it to the parking lot behind our engine where rescue workers assisted us. About 3 minutes later the hallway fell in. Understand that this could happen to you in the next 10 minutes or less. We have all had close calls, fallen and landed on a floor joist or rafters. We have all had incidents that could have been worse. We usually just blow them off and just keep doing our job because it's fun, it's a rush and it's a noble calling. Besides, everybody loves firefighters and that's the way it should be. An incident like this truly brought reality to this job for me; it has made me seriously think about the price that I might have paid. It gave me a whole new outlook on family, life and what it truly means to be a firefighter. After having said this. I'm still here to tell you that I am very proud to say, I am a firefighter. I love this job and I'll do it all again if I ever have to because this is my calling. I am a firefighter.

Jeff Pine Indianapolis Firefighter