Chapter 027: Limit (6)
The only fortunate thing in this terrible situation was that the containers were not blocking the stairs.
Captain Gu quickly gave orders.
"First, evacuate the victims."
"Once we're on the roof, move everyone to a position that's safe from a possible explosion."
"Then we'll decide whether to move those containers."
As they approached the roof, another transmission arrived from command.
"Report your current situation."
Captain Gu snapped back while breathing heavily.
"What do you think the situation is?"
"It's urgent!"
"And dangerous!"
Since he was carrying two victims, polite speech wasn't exactly coming naturally.
The deputy captain, who still had a little strength to spare, explained the situation.
"At the moment, there are around thirty twenty-liter plastic fuel containers in the space between the seventh floor and the roof."
"All of them are full."
"The container temperature has risen to around one hundred and forty degrees."
"It climbed from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and forty degrees in only thirty seconds."
"The containers are continuing to swell."
"If they contain kerosene, an explosion may happen soon."
Aluminum was burning on the third floor.
Kerosene was being heated on the seventh floor.
The only reason the fuel had not ignited yet was because the containers were still sealed.
If one of those containers ruptured and the internal pressure dropped, ignition could immediately lead to an explosion.
Hee-soo was the first person to reach the roof.
The moment he saw the scene, he froze.
"There's..."
"There's nowhere to hide."
The roof entrance was near the edge of the building.
The area shielded by the stairwell wall was packed with cooling units.
There wasn't enough space for people to shelter there.
The roof itself was not especially large either.
The others who came up behind him stared at the scene in disbelief.
The command post also went into emergency mode after seeing the roof situation.
If the kerosene containers hadn't been there, the rescue team could have simply opened an escape route and descended slowly.
But now, if they weren't rescued quickly, everyone on the roof could be caught in an explosion.
If that happened, every piece of junk scattered across the roof could become deadly shrapnel.
Five cranes had been mobilized.
However, they couldn't all be used.
The only side of the building with enough space to set up a crane was the north wall.
That was also the only side of the roof with relatively little debris piled up.
Because of that, only one crane could operate effectively.
Yoon-hee was watching the situation as well.
As she stared at the drone footage being transmitted from above, she felt as though her insides were burning.
But there was nothing she could do.
She could only watch.
Intense flames were already pouring from the windows from the first through the fourth floors.
Around twenty people were trapped on the roof.
Yoon-hee turned to Photographer Jang with a grave expression.
"Should we broadcast this live?"
"I don't know if I can."
They could end up broadcasting a massive tragedy in real time.
Photographer Jang shook his head.
"Let's just record it for now."
"This is too much to handle."
But Yoon-hee thought differently.
"No."
"Let's trust our firefighters and broadcast it."
"The public needs to know what's happening here too."
Photographer Jang still looked conflicted.
"If a major disaster happens, this won't just become a question of journalistic ethics."
"The shock could stay with people for years."
"The path of a journalist was never supposed to be easy."
Her eyes were filled with determination.
Fear was underneath it.
But she wanted not only herself and Photographer Jang, but the entire country to witness what might become Hee-soo's final rescue operation.
Yoon-hee muttered bitterly,
"They can do it."
"They'll definitely save everyone and come out."
The command staff and Rescue Team 3 were also doing everything they could.
Command immediately sent instructions.
"We'll raise a crane along the north wall."
"The working area is narrow, so only one can be operated."
"Open an escape route as quickly as possible."
The rescue team and victims on the roof had no time to waste.
Fortunately, because water was being sprayed from below, the heat on the roof had dropped considerably.
For now, they closed the rooftop door.
However, the door wasn't designed to withstand an explosion.
For emergency purposes, it opened outward.
There was no way a single latch could withstand the force of a blast.
All kinds of junk were piled across the roof.
Wooden desks.
Tools.
And even aluminum scrap, the very material responsible for the current fire.
A transmission came from command.
"We're raising the aerial ladder basket."
"Send people down one at a time."
The moment those words came through, new dots appeared before Hee-soo's eyes.
[People Requiring Rescue: 18]
A chill ran through him.
That's everyone on the roof.
Except me.
There were nineteen people on the roof.
Nine rescue firefighters and ten victims.
No wonder I never got a rescue success message even after bringing everyone up here.
Damn it.
He didn't know exactly what was going to happen.
But the moment every person on the roof had been classified as someone requiring rescue, it meant there was no time to calmly wait and send everyone down one at a time.
There's going to be an explosion.
Were those containers really filled with kerosene?
He couldn't know for sure.
All he could do was act.
"Captain."
"We need to barricade that door immediately."
"We need to reinforce it so the explosion can't blow it open."
"They're saying the ladder basket is coming up."
"If we don't do this right now, everyone on this roof could be caught in the explosion and die."
"They're bringing the crane up the north wall."
"We need to clear a route to it."
Everything was urgent.
Captain Gu looked toward the rooftop door.
If an explosion occurred behind it, the victims directly in front of the door would obviously be in danger.
So would the rescue firefighters.
And that wasn't the only threat.
The building had been vibrating for some time.
Hee-soo understood exactly what that meant.
The metal fire burning at over two thousand degrees was rapidly weakening the building.
That means the building itself doesn't have much time left.
But this still feels too fast.
Even with a rough calculation, it should last at least another two hours...
He had questions.
But there was no time to think about them.
He needed to deal with the immediate danger first.
It was reasonable to assume that the fire on the third floor had already melted through the steel door and was using the stairwell like a chimney.
If that was true, the kerosene inside those plastic containers would reach its ignition point soon.
If all of them exploded at once, the blast pressure would be far beyond what the human body could endure.
They had to reinforce the door enough to prevent the blast pressure from directly striking the people on the roof.
Hee-soo quickly explained his conclusion over the open radio channel.
"The fire on the third floor is a metal fire."
"At those temperatures, the steel doors have probably already melted, and the stairwell is acting like a chimney, raising the temperature."
"Our best option right now is to reinforce the rooftop door as much as possible."
"We need to stop the blast pressure from directly hitting us until we can escape."
The head of the Seoul Disaster Headquarters answered.
"The suppression team is doing everything possible to open an escape route through the emergency stairwell..."
But almost immediately, another transmission came through.
The suppression team that had entered the stairwell was retreating.
"The fire from the first through the third floors is too intense."
"Further suppression work by personnel is impossible."
"The steel doors are melting, which could expose us directly to the flames."
"We're pulling everyone out."
The suppression team retreated.
The Disaster Headquarters chief was stunned.
"What?"
"Then what do we..."
Hee-soo spoke again.
"We'll prepare for the explosion while opening an escape route along the north wall."
"The building itself may also collapse because of the extreme heat."
"The building could collapse?"
"Yes."
"I don't know how much combustible metal is involved in the fire, but at these temperatures, it will definitely affect the concrete structure faster than expected."
"One side of the third floor could begin collapsing first."
"Also, I don't know why, but this building has been vibrating."
"We may not have much time."
The uncertainty was frustrating.
They could only estimate what was happening below them.
In the worst case, everyone on the roof could die, and the building could collapse onto the firefighters working around it.
It's a race against time now.
The most urgent thing is building the barricade.
Hee-soo spoke over Rescue Team 3's channel again.
"We need to split the rescue team into three groups."
"One group reinforces the door so it can survive the explosion for even ten minutes."
"The second group builds a barricade to protect us from the blast pressure."
"The last group clears an escape route toward the crane coming up the north wall."
Captain Gu answered immediately.
"From now on, four people reinforce the door against the explosion."
"The remaining five build cover for the victims."
"Once the first job is done, two people stay and support the barricade."
"The other three clear the escape route and use whatever materials they find to reinforce the cover."
"If we're rescued before the explosion, great."
"But if the explosion starts, we need something that can hold even for a little while."
"Yes!"
Even in the emergency, everyone began moving as one.
Under Hee-soo's direction, they started piling the heaviest objects they could find in front of the rooftop door.
Their stamina had already been badly drained from carrying the victims up to the roof.
But the adrenaline from the emergency made them move as though they had just started working.
They used steel desk legs to create a structure that wouldn't be easily pushed away by an explosion.
Hee-soo handled the design.
It wasn't really a design in the usual sense.
He was simply deciding how to arrange the steel frames.
But in a very short amount of time, he had to create a structure capable of withstanding as much force as possible.
They moved desperately.
But since nobody knew when the explosion would happen, every second made their nerves burn.
Captain Gu asked,
"Is this enough?"
Hee-soo shook his head.
"We've only made it so the door won't open easily."
"It's still extremely weak."
"If the explosions begin, it won't last long."
"The barricade protecting us is more important."
At that exact moment, a dull sound came from behind the door.
Thump.
Even amid all the noise, that small sound struck their ears more ominously than anything else.
Fortunately, because they had worked quickly, the barricade and escape route were mostly prepared.
Then every member of the rescue team felt their hair stand on end.
They instinctively knew what was about to happen.
Captain Gu shouted,
"EXPLOSION INCOMING!"
"GET DOWN!"
