Small fires were lit in the structure and teams of the local firefighters were guided in to extinguish them. However, as the day went on, the fires got larger and larger. I actually saw one guy take his helmet off and hold it around the corner of a doorway into a room that had flashed over so it would melt the shield better. The game was over when the fires got so big that the house could not help but collapse and fall down. Firefighting is not a game, nor is being safe.
Football is a game.
My friend Frank Schaper of the St. Louis Fire Department makes an excellent analogy between firefighting and football. Each player must know and perform their part as designed in order for the team to be successful. In fire fighting the strategy is to put the fire out without getting anybody hurt. In football the strategy is to get the ball across the goal line without getting anybody hurt. When you can't achieve your initial strategic goal, sometimes you have to punt the ball away and go on the defensive.