Fire

Fire is a magazine story.

Plot
Every morning, Thomas is awoken by his fireman who lights his fire. Thomas likes his fire as it keeps him warm, but his fireman often warns him that fire is fine when it's inside the firebox, but it can be dangerous if it gets out of control. The fireman goes onto explain that, should a fire become dangerous, another type of fireman is needed to extinguish it.

Thomas has a busy day and as he is puffing up a hill, he spies some smoke in the sky. Thomas, remembering a previous experience, hopes the washing isn't spoiling any washing. The situation is far more serious as it becomes apparent that the cottage billowing the smoke is on fire! As they pulled up at the cottage, the driver hastily uncouples Annie and Clarabel so that Thomas can fetch help quicker. Down the line, Thomas alerts a signalman who immediately telephones for the fire brigade.

When Thomas returns to the cottage, all of his passengers were in the cottage's garden helping everyone to evacuate the burning building. Then, the fire engine arrives and they start to unreel their hoses. Then one shouts that there is no water. The water pipe is being mended and so the supply is turned off and there were no ponds or streams nearby. Nobody knows what to do, but Thomas does. He offers the firemen the water from his tanks. The firemen do not waste a moment and they are soon dousing the flames with water from Thomas' tanks. When the fire is out, the firemen praise Thomas not only for giving them his water, but for raising the alarm in the first place, too. The cottage is not too badly damaged, thanks to Thomas, but the tank engine is out of water. Edward is sent to push Thomas, Annie, and Clarabel back to the station. At the station, the Fat Controller is very proud and he calls Thomas a really useful engine.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Annie (does not speak)
 * Clarabel (mentioned)
 * Edward (mentioned)

Trivia

 * Some parts of this story may have been the inspiration for the fire at the workmen's hut in the fifth season episodes, Thomas, Percy and Old Slowcoach.