By Doug Leihbacher
At 8:30 p.m., your engine is dispatched second-due to a reported fire on the 22nd floor of a residential high-rise building. As second-due engine, your initial assignment is to assist the first-due engine company in supplying the standpipe siamese from the hydrant in the street and then to proceed to the fire floor to back up the first-due engine and truck with a hand-line. You have responded to this building before, and it has never been anything more than food on the stove. On arrival, you look up and down the building and see a smoke haze from approximately floors 20 to 25. As you assist with the supply line to the siamese, the first-due engine and truck report that the fire is on the 22nd floor. The engine will stretch from the standpipe outlet on the 21st floor in the south stairwell while the truck will control the door in the north stairwell pending ventilation. The chief designates the 20th floor as the staging floor.
A moment later, the engine reports that the windows have failed on the windward side of the fire apartment and fire is blowing out the apartment door and into the hallway like a blowtorch. Members are requesting a second line immediately. The chief directs your company to proceed into the lobby and take the elevator up to assist them. On entering the lobby, you see by the elevator floor indicator that the car is on the 20th floor, where the first-due companies exited. The lieutenant uses his elevator key in the fire service switch and turns it to the "on" setting to recall the elevator. The elevator does not respond. You press the lobby recall button, but the car will not return to the lobby. This leaves you with one rather unpleasant option. What happened?
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