At 2:10 p.m. on a winter night, most of the people in the city were already asleep.

Suddenly, a shrill alarm call rang.

"Hello, 119 Command Center of the Municipal Fire Detachment, please speak. The police officer replied.

"Hey, 119? The Huancheng Road department store is burning, ahem...... Smoke...... The smoke is big, someone is trapped inside, you come over quickly. A hurried, middle-aged male voice with a native accent came from the other end of the phone, perhaps because the signal was not very good, and the voice was intermittent.

"Do you mean the Ring Road?" the officer asked.

"Ahem, ahem, it's ......" After a violent cough, the phone suddenly went silent.

The police officer felt that he had only heard a rough idea, and according to the caller ID, he called again to inquire, but the phone could no longer be connected.

He wondered if there was a fire, even if it was late at night, there would be more than one person calling the police, the impact and impact should be very wide, and it would inevitably be in flames, and the phone could not be connected. But from the tone of the caller, he should have encountered some danger.

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, the officer immediately reported the situation and preliminary judgment to the commander on duty at the command center that day.

The commander also wondered, and checked the area of the ring road through the Skynet camera connected to the Municipal Public Security Bureau, whether it was the main street or the side road, it was deserted, except for the occasional few cars passing by. It seems to be calm and calm, nothing. Could it be someone playing a prank?

The Huancheng Road Fire Squadron was not far from the department store, and after receiving the dispatch from the command center, Deputy Squadron Leader Wang Zhibin immediately took two vehicles to deal with it.

Huancheng Road Department Store Market is surrounded by the city's famous old residential shantytown, the population density is extremely high, in the early years because of the wholesale market and the formation of scale, large and small shops have thousands, operating all kinds of clothing, groceries, small hardware and electromechanical. In addition, in recent years, the city has expanded in size and there has been a large influx of immigrants, many of whom are looking for cheap rental housing while selling small businesses. For a time, the population was overcrowded, and the already small roads were almost half occupied by stalls, pavements and vehicles. If a fire breaks out here, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Wang Zhibin took two fire trucks along the shop surface of the department store, and the street was relatively dark because of the lack of street lights, and only the flashing lights and headlights from the fire trucks illuminated the road. They checked door to door, but they didn't find the legendary fire, not even the smoke, but he was still not at ease, and picked up the walkie-talkie to communicate with the command center again.

Although the street is not wide in the early morning, and there are few street lights, because few people pass by in winter, it seems to be a lot empty, and Wang Zhibin, who is at a loss, ponders whether to report to the command center to collect the team and stand by.

At this time, the driver and squad leader Marriott said: "Team Wang, are they talking about the underground warehouse of the wholesale market?"

Wang Zhibin is a cadre who has just been transferred from elsewhere not long ago, so naturally he is not very clear about the location of the warehouse. But Marriott is a veteran driver in the squadron, and he often "six familiarizes", that is, he participates in the familiarization activities organized by the squadron in the areas under his jurisdiction, such as roads and water sources. So he figured it was there.

"But there's someone on duty in the warehouse. Without waiting for Wang Zhibin to reply, Marriott said again.

At this time, the two glanced at each other in unison, as if they understood something, and immediately drove the car to the underground warehouse.

It is said that it is an underground warehouse, but it is a layer of the wholesale market, in fact, it is still on the ground, because it is a small hill bag, uneven, and the road surface is also built by the mountain, although the slope is gentle, the amplitude is not large, but when the market is built, the hill bag is flattened, and the road is formed on the bridge deck, the landscape of the floor is down, and the first floor becomes the negative first floor. The building covers an area of 10,000 square meters. The warehouse is more than 2,000 square meters high, which is used to stack various department stores for daily use.

Sure enough, as soon as he got out of the car, Wang Zhibin, who was on the road and bridge, smelled a faint scorching smell, although the cold wind blew his face, but the smell of the rubber being burned was poured into his nose with the wind. Out of experience, he asked everyone to have their hoses and protective gear ready.

Wang Zhibin led two soldiers along the stairs under the road to the gate of the warehouse, which is an old building with mottled walls, and under the light of the headlamp, an old-fashioned iron lock hangs at the gate, and the bottom is tied with a very thick chain. The lighted guard box next to it is where the doorman lives, and the window is covered with an iron fence and is pasted with newspapers.

At this time, the smell of burning was getting heavier and heavier, and it was true that something had been burned, and he suddenly recalled what the police officer had told him, and the unfinished phone call, and a bad thought flashed through his heart.

"Could it be him in the room......"

Wang Zhibin rushed to the door of the duty room with an arrow.

"Knock knock" he slammed on the door.

"Master, master. Wang Zhibin shouted.

But there was no movement in the lighted window. He felt for the doorknob and found that it could be twisted, so he twisted it open to take a look.

The room was empty a few square meters, there was a small electric solar oven that was not turned on, and there was a messy quilt and pillow on the marching bed next to it, and newspapers were plastered on the surrounding walls in addition to the windows.

Wang Zhibin looked back at the two soldiers, the two of them looked dazed, he reached out and touched the inside of the quilt, it was still warm, it seemed that someone was still sleeping here not long ago.

Behind the duty room was the warehouse, and Wang Zhibin walked inside with two soldiers. The only light along the way was the pillars of light emitted by the headlamps of the three people, and he found that the windows of this old-fashioned warehouse were the kind of loose-leaf windows the size of a mailbox delivery opening, and there was one every short section, and the more he walked, the scorching smell was intermittent, and he illuminated these loose-leaf windows with his headlamp, and noticed that blue smoke was coming out of the loose-leaf windows.

"Not good". His heart sank. Although he had just been transferred, Wang Zhibin judged that something in the warehouse had already burned with his police experience.

"Marriott, you quickly organize everyone to get off the bus and lay the trunk hose, and go to the main gate of the warehouse to stand by. He commanded with a walkie-talkie.

Wang Zhibin immediately took two soldiers to continue walking, but found a side door of the warehouse here, the door was hidden, and a soldier couldn't wait to step forward and was about to open the door, but was stopped by Wang Zhibin.

At the same time, a series of questions arose in his mind: First, there are many kinds of items stored in the warehouse of the department store, and most of the substances in them are toxic when burned. What exactly is stored in them? Will it be poisonous to go in and go in? Second, nearly half an hour has passed since the alarm was called, why has the command center not received another call to the police? Who is the person who called the police? Is the janitor in the warehouse? Third, from the outside, there is still no open flame in the warehouse, indicating that the scope of the fire is not very large, and it is even very likely that there is a smoldering phenomenon.

At this time, Marriott told Wang Zhibin on the walkie-talkie that he was in place. However, there is still a distance from the main gate to the side gate, and it will take some time to lay the hose, Wang Zhibin decided to use the walkie-talkie to report the situation to the command center, and the detachment immediately instructed to carry out the investigation under the condition of paying attention to safety, and contacted the sub-district office through the relevant departments to request that someone be sent to the scene to check.

Wang Zhibin took off his protective gloves and carefully touched the rusty doorknob of the warehouse with his hand, only to find that it was cold and biting. This indicates that the indoor temperature is normal. The tense strings in his heart suddenly let go, and when he opened the door, deeper darkness hit, and suddenly he smelled a strange pungent smell.