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Its siren blaring loud enough to wake those neighbours who weren’t already aware of what was going on, and its lights illuminating its surroundings in sudden flashes of blue, the fire engine raced along the street. It came to a hurried stop outside the blazing house, which had been visible from a distance away, and the men and women who made up its crew disembarked with practised haste.
The watch manager moved away from the truck to speak to the crowd of neighbours who had gathered a short distance away - he needed to know who, if anyone, was inside so he could give his officers the appropriate orders; he also needed to make sure the occupants of the neighbouring houses were safe. While he did that, his crew setup the hoses and started the process of tackling the blaze.
In less than
