Binjiang Police Affairs

At 9:17 p.m., 001 turned on the water curtain and slowly approached the pier against the high temperature.

Han Yu personally led twenty-six firefighters equipped with firefighting suits from various units who braved the high temperature and the "torrential rain" sprayed by 001 to unload distributors and bundles of high-pressure hoses, laying them out as fast as possible.

"Director Li, Director Li, the hoisting operation is starting, please pay attention to safety."

"Copy that, copy that!"

The ship's fire pumps were powered by two brand new 6135 main engines, which had great power, and one could imagine how high the water pressure was.

The high-pressure hoses were said to be able to withstand high pressure, and they had been tested after 001's second upgrade and renovation, but no one could guarantee they wouldn't burst.

The hoses were so thick and stout that if they burst, they would whip around unpredictably like snapped cables.

There had been no casualties in the fire, and Han Yu didn't want to have any accidents during the firefighting operation.

To ensure absolute safety, the person in charge of No.3 Pier was asked to organize the dock workers to hoist more empty containers over and set up a passage with two rows of containers, laying the high-pressure hoses in the passage, so that even if the hoses did burst, the containers on both sides would prevent nearby people from being endangered.

While everyone was busy hoisting the containers, the first group of reinforcements dispatched by the 119 Command Center arrived.

Han Yu handed over the operation here to Zhu Baogen and discussed the battle plan with a deputy squad leader from the Changzhou Fire Department.

"I called Fang Guoya ten minutes ago, and they'll arrive in no more than fifteen minutes. Your fire engines can get here. We have another distributor on our fireboat, and we have enough hoses. Once connected, we can supply water for you to attack the fire from the southwest corner."

"Captain Han, when do we launch a full-scale attack?"

Han Yu raised his arm to check his watch and said decisively, "There are still many preparations that need to be completed, and you also need time to prepare. The time for the full-scale attack is tentatively set for 9:45 p.m."

"Yes!"

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

No sooner had he seen off the reinforcements from Changzhou Fire Department, the reinforcements from Gaoru Port Police Station Fire Brigade arrived.

Han Yu arranged tasks just as he had done before.

Although Political Commissioner Jiang and Director Liu from the Port Authority didn't understand firefighting, after listening for a while, they basically understood that Salted Fish was planning to wait for all the reinforcements to arrive and then launch an attack from the east, west, and north simultaneously.

The south side was downwind, and the path had already been cut off by the fire. The fire engines couldn't get through, nor could the fire pumps be carried over, so the fire on that side had to be fought by the high-pressure water cannons on 001.

Although it was beyond the operational range of the high-pressure water cannons on 001, at least it could block the fire sparks from drifting over the river to some extent.

Fang Guoya and his team, due to refueling on the way, were six minutes later than expected.

At 9:58 p.m., the nine combat teams entered their pre-set positions, ready for the operation.

Han Yu turned to glance at Secretary Miao, who had hurried to the pier, hesitated for a moment, raised the walkie-talkie with one hand and the megaphone with the other, and ordered: "All teams, pay attention, all teams, pay attention, begin the firefighting operation!"

At his command, more than eighty firefighters from nine combat teams, braving the heatwave, opened their water guns and cannons to attack from three directions at once.

Over thirty water dragons charged into the fire!

However, the fire was not extinguished, the crackling sounds of the burning wood got even louder, and it was even possible to vividly see the explosions caused by the water hitting the flames, with sparks and burning splinters scattering like fireworks.

Han Yu climbed onto the nearest crane to observe the situation from a high vantage point, shouting into the walkie-talkie, "Teams three, four, and six, pay attention, aim at the fire source, you are spraying too high, that's ineffective!"

The firefighters, enduring the baking heat of the fire, heard the command but could not respond.

Han Yu was well aware of the difficulty each team faced in advancing and, seeing that the eighth team could no longer approach, he raised his walkie-talkie again: "Reserve team, reserve team, please respond if you receive this!"

"Copy that, copy that, Director Yu, go ahead."

"Move to the back of the eighth team immediately to cover their attack."

"Received, received."

The reserve team was the only water truck from Binjiang Port Police Station Fire Brigade, previously used for watering green belts, which had not been returned since being borrowed by Han Yu.

The driver took a big detour and drove the water truck behind the eighth team.

Two corporate firefighters started the small pump installed on the water truck, operating the small water gun to sprinkle water on the firefighters in front to cool them down.

It was cold weather, yet the fire ground was intensely hot.

For the fighting eighth team in the front, the reserve team's water was like a timely rain; holding their water guns and dragging their hoses, they continued to charge forward.

Located downwind of the fire, 001 had turned on the water curtain on the port side again to cool down.

Old Han and his son Han Shen could only vaguely see the flames and thick smoke and had no idea of the situation upfront.

"Old Zhu, what's the situation up there? Can the fire be put out?"

"I don't know, but the smoke's thicker than before, although the fire doesn't seem as fierce as it was."

"It seems to be working."

Friend Han subconsciously reached for a cigarette, but thinking of the ongoing firefighting onshore, he felt it wasn't appropriate to smoke right now.

With the true machinist Zhang Jiangkun on watch in the engine room, Zhu Baogen didn't worry much. Setting aside the walkie-talkie, he pondered, "So many water guns spraying at once must be effective, but a big fire like this won't be put out quickly. Even if it's extinguished, those timbers are probably mostly burned by now."

"How long do you think it will take to put it out?"

"It's going to take at least an hour or two. If it can be done in a couple of hours, that would be considered fast."

Old Zhu, with years of experience fighting dozens of ship fires, was speaking from rich experience.

Just as he predicted, it took a combined effort of more than eighty firefighters from various enterprises and over a hundred dockworkers an entire hour and a half to extinguish the blaze.

During the past hour and a half, the 119 Command Center had repeatedly asked about progress over the radio.

Considering the constant emergencies on the other end, Han Yu had the logistics group send boxed meals and water up to the fire trucks, and Fang Guoya and his fellow firefighters, who came to support, followed the Command Center's instructions to move onto other fire scenes overnight.

With the main force gone after completing the task, no one could guarantee there wouldn't be a rekindling of the fire.

Han Yu transferred command to the on-duty Deputy Chief of the Binjiang Port Police Station, instructing firefighters from various enterprises organized by the Binjiang Port Police Station to continue the battle.

Now that the fire was finally out, Secretary Miao could breathe a sigh of relief.

Han Yu had been in charge of directing the firefighting, and Miao hadn't felt it appropriate to speak out. Now it was time for accountability.

Before Han Yu could speak, Miao sharply asked, "Salted Fish, our own fire brigade had to go help others first, and it took more than an hour to return to tend to our own fire. You're the Deputy Division Commander, what do you make of this?"

"Secretary Miao, at that time they were following the orders of the 119 Command Center to assist the Gaoru Fire Brigade in fighting a residential area fire."

"I know, Political Commissioner Jiang has reported that. I mean, regardless of the job, shouldn't one prioritize their primary duties?"

"Yes, but firefighting work is somewhat different from other work."

"What's so different about it!"

"Firefighting, like marine rescue, gives the Fire Brigade the authority to requisition any available firefighting resources. Once they receive an order, they must assist without a moment's delay. Moreover, although the fire tonight seemed huge, for our Port District it was not considered a major fire."

Han Yu took a deep breath and continued, "If a real major fire were to occur, relying solely on our own efforts would be very difficult. We would need not only the help of the Binjiang Fire Department, but potentially the support of firefighters from neighboring provinces and cities."

Everyone understood the reasons.

The issue was that when such a situation happens to oneself, it is tough to bear for anyone.

Secretary Miao turned to look at the smoldering fire scene, calculating the economic losses while coldly asking, "Since you understand the importance of firefighting in the port district, why not strengthen prevention?"

"Report to Secretary Miao, we conducted a major safety inspection before the festival. Besides, how the fire started will need investigation."

"I'm not talking about that, I mean knowing the importance of port district firefighting, why didn't you keep some firefighters and at least one fire truck on duty?"

The freshly extinguished fire, although not large, was still beyond the capacity of Binjiang Port Main Fire Brigade's few men and two fire trucks.

Han Yu understood Secretary Miao's feelings and simply chose not to explain.

"Let's leave it at that for today. Starting tomorrow, we must always have a fire truck on combat duty!"

"Yes."

"The fire has been extinguished, but we can't be complacent. Assign personnel to guard the cargo area, and don't dismantle the firefighting hose lines yet."

"Yes!"

After walking around the fire scene and giving instructions, Secretary Miao got into his car and left.

Political Commissioner Jiang and the on-duty Deputy Chief of the Binjiang Port Police Station were well aware that Han Yu was taking the heat for them. As soon as the leaders were sent off, they came up and said, "Salted Fish, it's the New Year and this happens, Secretary Miao is certainly not in good spirits. He always focuses on the issue, not the person, so don't overthink it."

Han Yu hurriedly said, "I'm fine, I won't overthink it."

"The fire is out, I'd better call Director He and report."

Political Commissioner Jiang was just about to use his phone when Deputy Chief Zhang from the Binjiang Port Police Station asked with a wry smile, "Salted Fish, what's next?"

"The fire may be out, but how the fire started needs to be thoroughly investigated."

Facing the river, Han Yu continued, "Arrange for the on-duty police officers to help Director Zhu to initially learn from the two dock workers retrieved from the river. We understand firefighting, but we're not skilled in fire investigation. I'll contact the Binjiang Fire Department right away and ask them to arrange for someone to assist with the investigation."

A fire at the dock means accountability must be pursued!

Political Commissioner Jiang put off the call, turning back to say, "We need to not only speak to those two workers, but also visit and inquire with nearby personnel."

"Commissioner, we don't have enough hands."

"Notify whoever you can reach as soon as possible. With a fire happening, who cares about celebrating the new year? How the fire started must be ascertained within three days!"