Pouring Fire On The Gas

Log Archive » Logs for March 2009 » Pouring Fire On The Gas

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Scene Title	Pouring Fire on the Gas
Synopsis	Jurisdictional battles continue in the wake of a gas station fire.
Date	March 2, 2009

Somewhere in Manhattan

It's probably one of the most dreaded call that can be taken. Murder is one thing, but this is entirely different. Katherine Marks was driving in the area when the call came over her scanner, and she let out a curse under her breath and turns her car and heads down one of the main roads. Once she turns she could see the smoke billowing up towards the sky. As she got closer, the sirens of the fire engines were heard, but there was no way they were stopping this fire. Somehow a gas station caught fire and flames, pushing large smothering puffs of smoke towards the sky. The best they could do was make sure it did not spread to nearby businesses. That in itself would be a feat. The firefighters continue to spray down as much as they can, but the gasoline fire will not be disuaded by mere water. Kat pulls in several blocks away from the station and walks upwards until she gets as close as she possibly can. The heat that radiates off the blaze is astounding. She considers any possibility her powers might have, but everything comes up blank. She can't touch the fire, and she doubts she could create anything to contain the fire. All she can do, is what she's doing. Stand and watch, like most of the others in the area, which the local law enforcement is trying to clear out.

As she pulls in behind the rest of the law enforcement vehicles, Elisabeth too is amazed by the size and heat of the blaze. Even half a block away, it's enough to make her feel like she's sitting right next to a campfire. She walks toward the front of the group, flashing her badge to a uniform, who lets her through. And then she stands with her arms crossed, watching as the fire fighters finally get their suppression system going properly for gasoline, cuz water is always the wrong thing to do. Foam is the only thing useful for this. Then she notes Kat Marks, and sighs mildly. Well… the woman's been looking for her. So she walks over and greets her with a mere, "Marks. Ivanov mentioned he'd updated you on the Thesputa and Dobson cases. I left you an email with the details. Did you need anything else?"

Yeah, that's it. Must be foam. Probably just looks like water from where Kat is standing. She's more concerned with the fact that those idio—er.. officers are pushing those bystanders away. She's about to walk over there and say something, when she hears a familiar voice and turns around. "Well, Officer Harrison. It's nice to see you about these days." It might be hard to tell if the smile being offered from Agent Marks is genuine or not, but it wouldn't be prudent to bet the farm in favor of it. At the mention of email, she pulls up her Blackberry and takes a peek. "Oh. This is the same information I had to come down to your station to get just yesterday." Her attention is diverted for a moment as she remembers what she was about to do. "I hope they aren't letting those witnesses just run off. One of them could have set this fire." she offers another alarming smile, "If I could just have a moment, please." She turns and walks over and flashes her badge. My how she does love to flash that badge. After talking to the officers and satisfied with their answers, she turns back. "If rumor is right, you've had quite the last couple of days."

Oh great, Liz thinks to herself. There's a part of her — a major part — that would *really* like to see Kaydence 'go Damaris' on Kat Marks. She's pretty sure money is going to change hands in the precinct when it happens. She has seen Kay shred veterans of the force with a few well-chosen words, and she doesn't really think Marks stands a chance. "Yeah, it's been a pretty busy couple of days," she says calmly, letting none of her inner thoughts show on her face.

Perhaps one day these two forces of nature will meet and Liz will get her wish, whether the outcome would be what she expects or not. Kat arches a brow and doesn't add anything more for now, turning to watch the fire. "This is not going to be pretty if any of the surrounding buildings catch fire." she comments idly, shoving her hands into her pockets as she leans against the wall of a building across the street.

Elisabeth merely nods, returning her eyes to the situation at hand. "The FDNY know their stuff," she replies quietly. She nods toward a pumper truck parked away from the main fire. "They're ready to wet the surrounding buildings down more," although the snow currently dropping on their heads *should* keep that part unnecessary. If it gets that bad, though, there's no telling. She's assuming at this point that 1) both she and Marks are here out here by coincidence and not a call, and 2) that if the fire captain needs something, he'll go to the first cop on the scene — she sees Captain Greg Dawson directing uniforms off to the left.

Unfortunately, with the blaze as hot as it is, the snow isn't going to touch it. The agent watches as they at least try to contain the fire, to keep it from spreading. "Oh, I'm sure they do." It's a little too early to speculate about arson, but Kat has this feeling that there's something funny about this fire. It's not too often that they have gas station fires. "Did you get called over here, or were you just in the area?" she asks, glancing over at the officer. "I'm starting to think you're following me around." She returns her gaze to the fire.

"Actually, I was heading toward the office when I heard the call. Lately, it seems like damn near anything that happens gets called in to us to take a quick look anyway, so I thought I'd save us all some time," Elisabeth replies. "If the fire captain says it's nothing, I can file that report as soon as I walk in. If he says it's something, I can keep tabs on it without him having to call and wait for us today."

Kat nods. "Was in the area myself. Figured it was big. Thought I might need to get my fingers into it." She shrugs, "Wouldn't surprise me if there were something more shady involved." Her eyes drift to the crowd as she studies facial expressions, perhaps seeing if there's someone who's a little more interested in this fire than they should be. So far, nothing catches her eye. "You mentioned your friend Ivanov.. was that Officer Ivanov, or Agent Ivanov?" His introductions wasn't all that inclusive. "He said he worked with you, so I wasn't sure which side of the fence he is on." She turns her eyes back to glance at you, a small smirk on her face.

"Agent Ivanov," Elisabeth replies mildly. She, too, is scanning the crowd with both eyes and enhanced hearing — sifting through the chatter she picks up to see if anything strikes her as off. "He's SCOUT's FBI liaison." She slants a look at Kat. "Unless that's a veiled way to ask me whether you have a shot with him, of course."

Kat is watching her eyes when she asks that and shakes her head. "I wouldn't want to take your man from you." She turns her attention back to the fire. "Besides, he doesn't seem my type, really." This will be an all day ordeal, it seems. There's already talk about bringing in another shift in a few hours to give these firemen on duty a breather. Kat does notice that Liz is scanning the crowd as well. "Getting anything?"

Elisabeth can't help the genuine chuckle that escapes from her. "Ivanov is a good friend — been one for years." Which is, perhaps, a bit of an exaggeration, but it sure feels that way these days. She doesn't bother to look at Kat, seeming unconcerned about the other woman's opinions on her love life. "No, I'm not picking up much… everyone's wondering what happened, whether someone was smoking at the pump, whether it was a fight, all that kind of thing. Someone's…." She frowns. "Someone's commenting that there was an argument, but it sounds like it was something the other day, not today."

Kat's eyes narrow as she turns back towards the crowd, as if trying to pick out the talkers herself. She fails, having a fairly useless ability. Well, maybe not so useless. It has come in handy on a couple of occasions. But for the most part she ahs no use for it. "Maybe we should have a word with whoever is doing the commentary track on this fire. Can you tell who it is?" she asks.

There's a look at Kat, though Liz is careful to keep it neutral. "The redhead with the cigarette over to the left of the crowd talking to the black-haired man. She's talking about the owner and his wife, it sounds like." And then her eyebrow raises. "That's interesting… no one's seen either the wife or the husband today." She looks at Kat. "The fire guys say anything to you about people being involved that they know of?

Katherine huhs as she glances over to the one in question. "Quite the talker, isn't she?" She holds up her PDA and snaps off a couple of pictures, just in case she needs them later. She send them immediately to her email as well as Liz' email. She turns and looks at Liz, shaking her head. "There's no way to do an investigation this early yet. And with as hot as that fire is, I'm not even certain the arson investigator will have any evidence left to base anything on, which may be what someone was hoping for. We may need to call in a crack investigator, if nothing pans out in the initial investigation." She glances back out towards the fire, "Either the husband and wife did it and ran instead of waiting for the insurance, or someone else did it and the wife and husband are probably dead somewhere."

There's a shrug and Elisabeth looks at the woman. "Wow… and I thought I was a cynic. It's always possible, you know, that it was an accident. Or that one of them was pissed off enough at the other that they started the fire and also got caught up in it. Or started the fire and ran off and will show up here any minute playing the shocked spouse. I don't think it's going to require a 'crack' team… the FDNY arson investigation squad is quite capable in its own right."

Seems to be the day of shrugs, as Kat follows with a shrug. "What can I say. I'd rather get something good unexpectedly, than something bad unexpectedly. So I tend to expect the worst.. at pretty much everything." Optimists. Who needs them?

Liz merely grunts an acknowledgment. Lately she can't say as she blames the other woman. Watch out! They actually had moment there! It's gotta be a sign of the Apocalypse! "C'mon." Turning toward the crowd, she starts walking in the direction of the two people to whose chatter she's been listening. She nods briefly to the uniform holding back the crowd, murmuring for him to keep an eye for anyone who's acting weird, and then stops in front of the redheaded woman and black-haired man, flashing her badge. "Officer Harrison, this is Agent Marks. We'd like to take a statement from both of you — the uniforms have mentioned you know the owners?" No need to tell them she's been listening to them. We'll see what they have to say instead.

If the Apocalypse as begun, it's started with this particular gas station. The red haired woman blinks, unsure of what to say. "Look, if you just tell us what you know, you can be on your way. Trust us, we know you know something." Words of wisdom from Agent Marks. "Let's start with your name." "Betty Sue Robinson." Kat has flipped on her voice recorder and as most of the formalities has been addressed, "What is it you know about this place?" "Well, I don't really /know/ anything, but I did see the couple who own the place arguing about a debt that the husband owed and was due." Kat glances towards Liz with a skeptical eyeraise. "And did they mention who was owed the money?" she asks the woman again, who shakes her head in a negative response.

Pursing her lips, Elisabeth merely listens while Marks questions Betty Sue. "Out of curiosity, do you know if either of the owners has any family within easy traveling distance? Perhaps if they were arguing, one or the other went to stay with someone overnight," she comments. "They may not even know their place is burning. I'd hate for their first notification be arriving on the scene to see this."

There would probably be an answer, but suddenly someone screams. "Oh my god!" A series of screamings begin as folks around the area start to panic, which causes Kat to turn around and move to see what's going on. When she sees what everyone else is seeing, it earns her first "Oh shit!" for the day. It would not be the last time Katherine Marks, consumate professional, would utter a curse word while on duty today. Coming from out of the fire is someone. On fire. Flailing their arms in the air as the run from inside the fire. Spectators scream as the burning human comes towards them, only to stop and fall over onto the blacktop. Fireman hurry over, but by the time they get to him the flame is out. Kat already has her phone out and records the incident before dialing in and saying. "We need a truck! Now!" She snaps it shut and moves to look at the man. Caucasion male, maybe 30 years old, give or take a couple of years. He is nude as his clothing.. whatever he was wearing was burnt up. He, however, has not one burn mark on him whatsoever.

Whirling in response to the screams, Elisabeth is stunned at the sight of the man coming out of the fire. "What the hell *is* it lately??" she demands under her breath. It seems like there are Evolved people coming out of the friggin' woodwork in this town! She's already heading for the man, along with five firefighters, while Kat records and calls in for a truck. She stands back far enough to let the FDNY medics handle covering the man, checking him for burns, verifying he's alive, and so forth. She shares a look with the fire captain, because… well, what else are you gonna do?

The paramedics aren't far behind as the firefighters return to the blaze. It takes several minutes before the medics can even get close to the man who is still giving off an immense amount of heat. When they can finally get close enough, he's checked. "He's alive." is the verdict as they continue to check on him. Should be no surprise when the next announcement comes. "He's dehydrated. We need to pump some fluids into him through an IV." The others scramble to get the equipment when kat steps in. "Wait. If you give him fluids, he'll wake up.. right?" "More than likely." is the response. Kat seems to be chewing on that for a moment. "Let's not be too hasty here.. we've no idea what set him off to begin with.." "Agent Marks, if we don't get him fluids, he could die." Marks glances over at Liz for a moment, before turning back to the medic. "If we get his hydration level up, he could go off again and kill others.."

Elisabeth turns to *stare* at Marks and looks at the paramedic. "Fluids," she orders quietly. And then moves to pull Agent Marks aside to say in a low voice, "We don't even know he's actually a pyrokinetic here — what if his power is just a forcefield that kept him from burning? You can't just arbitrarily deny medical care, I don't care who you work for!" She pauses. "Marks… as I understand it, Homeland Security is here at the NYPD in a support capacity — technically, you do not have jurisdiction on any crime scene. Unless or until my captain tells me otherwise, that's *my* call to make. You can take it up with Will Harvard back at the precinct, but you're not denying *anyone* medical treatment while I stand here."

Kat looks aghast at getting pulled aside by Liz, with a look that says, 'Are you kidding me?" After Liz speaks her turn, Kat shakes her head. "No. You listen to me and stop being so damn naive." She jerks her arm from Liz' grip. "You're going to give that guy fluids and when he comes to, you have no clue what you'll end up with. So instead of one possible dead, you're going to have several because if he torches up inside that ambulance, then you can kiss every one of those paramedics goodbye." She turns and points her finger. "Don't you dare.." to the paramedic. She turns back to Liz. "We need to get him to a secure facility where we can give him fluids there without the risk of additional loss of life." She narrows her eyes. "You have to stop being such a frickin bleeding heart! Civil rights do not apply here, so don't preach that crap to me." She glances several times over to the paramedic who seems to be stuck in the middle of this wonderful power struggle.

"And I'm not talking about anyone's civil rights, I'm talking about waiting for another medical transport that might not *get* here before that man is dead!" Elisabeth says to the agent. "Again, Agent Marks, this is not your call to make — you have no jurisdiction here!" She looks at the paramedic and barks, "Follow your conscience. Do what you feel necessary, understanding that there is a risk he is the source of the fire itself." She looks back at Kat and lowers her voice once again so that their conversation is not fodder for the rumor mill as much as possible. "Even *if* he's a pyrokinetic who lost control, he will *not* be the first one I've had to talk down. You think you have a say here, take it up with my captain."

Kat is about ready to bark back, perhaps even bite if it comes to that when the medic finally raises his voice. "Actually, this is /my/ jurisdiction. I'm the lead medic here and this is what it going to happen. We'll sedate him and then hydrate him. We shouldn't have any issues then." Kat starts to say something, but.. for once.. is speechless. It seems like such a simple answer, yet the two hard-headed females couldn't put it together. The medic has already gone to work as the stretcher comes over and they place the man on it. Still no clue as to he is, but they take him to the ambulance where they begin to hydrate him. Kat glances at Liz, as if to say. "How come you didn't think of that." Stubborn to the day she dies.

Elisabeth just rolls her eyes and turns around to walk away, back toward the redheaded woman and black-haired man they'd been talking to. "Is that one of the owners?" she barks at the woman.

The redheaded woman shakes her head. "I've never seen him before." Ooh. Mystery. Kat on the other hand is done. She's covered in soot from the fallen ash of the blaze, and not too happy about her ruined jacket. She is heading to her car. Without a word. Let devil woman deal with her jurisdiction. Kat will come around later for a report. They're good for that sort of thing.

Elisabeth spends some time talking to a few more people while the paramedics deal with the man on the ground, and then she follows the ambulance to the hospital to speak with the doctors as well as the suspect himself when he wakes from sedation, but any chance to question him is thwarted when a team of Homeland Security 'specialists' come in and whisk the patient away. In disgust, Elisabeth files her report with the final line reading, "Fire is now Homeland Security's investigation — ask them for updates on it regularly so we can close the file." And she washes her hands of the case, refusing to take it back up again.