Transcript/Rosie and the Fire

**Narrator:** It was a very hot summer’s day and Rosie was shunting trucks in Vicarstown Yards.

**Rosie:** “Phew! It’s warm work, this.”

**Narrator:** But just before she could rest, Diesel came bustling in, carelessly bumping into a train of oil drums. One drum, that the workmen hadn’t secured yet, fell off the flatbed and onto the ground.

**Rosie:** “Diesel! Can’t you ever shunt carefully? And besides, aren’t you supposed to be helping me?”

**Diesel:** “Bah! I’m way too busy already. Can’t stop to help puny little engines like you.”

**Narrator:** And he rolled away rudely. Rosie sighed. What she didn’t know was that the fallen oil drum had burst its lid upon impact and oil had spilled out all over Rosie’s track. Then everything happened at once. Just before Rosie could puff away, she could hear Phillip tooting frantically. He was rolling helplessly along the line with some really heavy and really troublesome trucks.

**Rosie:** “Phillip! Slow down!”

**Narrator:** But as Phillip braked, some sparks from his wheels flew into a patch of grass on the ballast. And because of the hot weather, the heat from the sun set the grass ablaze. To make matters worse, the grass was very close to the spilled oil. Rosie was shocked out of her mind, when the oil quickly caught fire right in front of her.

**Rosie:** “Aahhh!”

**Philip:** “Wow, thanks, Rosie. I don’t what has gotten into these trucks toda- Cinders and ashes! Quick, Rosie, back up! Back up!”

**Narrator:** But Rosie couldn’t back up very far, as she was in front of a long train of trucks and they could only move a few meters before stopping at some buffers.

**Rosie:** “I- I can’t! I’m trapped!”

**Philip:** “Don’t worry, I’ll go and get help. Hold on!"

**Narrator:** He was uncoupled from his trucks and he zipped off to the nearest signal box. Words couldn’t begin to describe how frightened Rosie was.

**Rosie:** “Help! Help! can’t get out!”

**Narrator:** But to her luck, she soon heard the sounds of an engine combined with a loud, clanging bell.

**Rosie:** “It’s Belle. Can you get me out, please?”

**Belle:** “Just stand still. Try not to panic.”

**Narrator:** And before either of them could say “Sodor Search and Rescue Centre”, she used her water cannons to douse the fire before it could spread any further.

**Belle:** “There you go, Rosie, safe and sound.”

**Narrator:** But then she could see that Rosie was utterly petrified. She had never been in such a scary situation.

**Belle:** “Rosie, it’s alright. The fire is out now.”

**Rosie:** “Huh? Oh, sorry. Thank you, Belle.”

**Narrator:** Just then, Belle’s driver received an emergency call from her radio telephone.

**Belle’s Driver:** “Come on, Belle. There’s another fire, in the forest.”

**Belle:** “Oh, not another one. You know, Rosie, there are just so many fires to put out during the summer, that it’s getting ridiculous. They could come from out of nowhere.”

**Narrator:** She gave a friendly ding from her bell and puffed away to Henry’s Forest. But Belle’s words unintentionally frightened Rosie even more.

**Rosie:** “So many fires? They come out of nowhere? *Oooohhh!*”

**Narrator:** Unfortunately, Rosie was so scared that a fire could happen anytime from anywhere, she didn’t leave her shed for several days.

**Rosie:** “I’m much safer in here. Much safer.”

**Narrator:** But, she had refused to leave the shed for so long, the Fat Controller came to see her, onboard Winston.

**The Fat Controller:** “Rosie? What are you doing stuck in the shed? Many trains had been delayed. The other engines had to shunt their trucks themselves.”

**Rosie:** “I am so so sorry, Sir. It’s just that… well… Belle told me about how sudden fires can be. And after what happened to me a few days ago, I just… *Ooooh!*”

**The Fat Controller:** “I see. In that case, I have a job for you that might cheer you up. You are to collect some water tankers and help the workmen fill up the water towers. With this heatwave going on, we’re going to need all the water we can.”

**Rosie:** “Um… okay, Sir. At least water makes me feel safer.”

**Winston:** “Oh and Rosie? Philip told me to tell you that he didn’t mean to set the oil on fire. He is really, really, really, really, really, reeeeeeeeally sorry if he caused the problem.

**Narrator:** There was a long pause.

**Winston:** "What? They were Philip’s words, not mine.”

**Narrator:** Some farmers were busy collecting dry hay at the Vicarage Orchard. They loaded the hay onto Trevor’s trailer and he and Jem Cole took it all to the local farms to feed their stock. One of the farmers was resting on the hay bails. He was smoking a pipe and carelessly poured some ashes onto a small pile of hay. The summer heat soon set the pile ablaze and soon the whole set of bails was on fire.

**Jem Cole:** “You moron! Call the fire brigade, quickly!”

**Narrator:** The careless farmer ran for his life to the vicarage. Soon Belle was racing like the wind, or lack thereof, along Edward’s branch line. But, she was in such a hurry, she hadn’t noticed that the line leading to the orchard had bent from the hot sun.

**Belle:** “Whoa! Oh, bother! Wait, I think I can still reach the fire from here.”

**Narrator:** She was right. Her strong water cannons shot the water, all the way towards the flaming bails, but then there was more trouble. Due to the epidemic, there wasn’t enough water in her tanks to completely extinguish the fire and soon, her tanks were empty and the fire grew again.

**Belle:** “Oh, no! It will keep spreading if we don’t do something and Flynn is busy with his own fire at Bluff’s Cove.”

**Narrator:** So, with no steam left to blow her whistle, all she could do was to ring her bell and call for assistance.

**Belle:** “Help! HELP! Somebody! We have an emergency!”

**Narrator:** There was a water tower nearby, one that Rosie was filling up with her water tankers. Just then, she could see Trevor chugging towards her. He whistled in panic.

**Rosie:** “What’s the matter, Trevor?”

**Trevor:** “Rosie. What a stroke of luck. There’s a fire over in the orchard, but Belle has come off the rails and has run out of water.”

**Rosie:** “Oh, no! Not another fire! What should we do?! What should we do?!”

**Narrator:** Then, Trevor noticed her train.

**Trevor:** “Rosie, you have water tankers on you. You must go over there and put out the fire with your water.”

**Rosie:** “But… But I can’t! What if it burns me like it nearly did before?”

**Trevor:** “Don’t worry. The fire is nowhere near the tracks. Come on, Rosie. Do this for me and Jem. Do it for the Vicar. Do it for Belle.”

**Narrator:** Soon, Rosie had enough courage to move herself forward. Belle was very relieved to see Rosie and her water tankers.

**Belle:** “Rosie. Oh, thank goodness. Quickly, we haven’t much time.”

**Narrator:** Rosie looked at the blazing bails.

**Rosie:** “Trevor was right. It is further away than I thought, but… it could spread its way over here very quickly.”

**Belle:** “Don’t worry about it. You can do it, Rosie. I know you can.”

**Narrator:** The workmen soon prepared their hoses and immediately shot their own jets of water from the tankers onto the bails. Since the hoses weren’t as strong and didn’t cover as much ground as Belle’s water cannons, the dousing took longer than expected. But finally, with a splash, a twist and a big sigh of relief, the orchard was fire free and safe from any more harm. Rosie had her eyes closed the entire time, thinking the inevitable would come.

**Belle:** “Open your eyes, Rosie. You’ve done it.”

**Rosie:** “I have? Oh. I really have.”

**Narrator:** Rosie felt much better.

**Belle:** “You were very brave today. You decided to face up against the fire, even though you were still scared. I’m very proud of you. So, are you no longer scared of fires?”

**Rosie:** “Well… not as much as was before. But, if you wouldn’t mind, I’d rather leave these things to the professionals. After all, I’m a shunting engine, not a fire engine.”

**Narrator:** And the two engines laughed.