Is the Fire Accidental

"Hello, Captain Han."

"Where are you, Xu Mo? The TV station building is on fire. Someone heard an explosion when the fire started. The cause of the fire is likely due to an explosion. I suspect this is a terrorist attack. We're on our way there now. You should come too."

Xu Mo: "..."

He hadn't guessed wrong after all.

This wasn't just an ordinary fire.

It was a fire caused by an explosion.

There was a good chance that Han Fei's suspicion was correct - this really could be a terrorist attack!

To think, he had just arrived here, and now this incident occurred.

His Conan-like ability to attract trouble was a bit too strong...

Did trouble really follow him wherever he went?

"Xu Mo, are you listening?"

"Yes, I'm listening, Captain Han. I'm nearby, I can see smoke coming from the TV station building."

"Then head there first, we'll arrive shortly." With that, Han Fei hurriedly hung up the phone.

"Everything was fine just a moment ago. How did a fire start in the time it took to have a cup of coffee..." Song Yixue muttered.

At the same time, she looked towards Xu Mo.

"Wait, isn't firefighting supposed to be handled by firefighters? Do police officers also deal with fires?"

Song Yixue knew about Xu Mo's plan to join the police force.

Han Fei had mentioned it in passing when he called her to withdraw from the TV program.

So when she overheard Xu Mo's phone conversation just now, she wasn't surprised at all.

"We don't handle firefighting," Xu Mo said with a wry smile. "But arson is a criminal offense, which falls under our jurisdiction. Someone reported hearing an explosion, so this could very well be a terrorist attack, a case of intentional arson."

"An explosion? We didn't hear any explosion just now."

"The coffee shop is a bit far from the TV station, and there was music playing inside. It's normal that we didn't hear anything," Xu Mo explained.

"Wait a minute, this is the TV station building. You work on TV shows... Your workplace isn't in there, is it?" Xu Mo asked, pointing at the smoking building.

Song Yixue nodded blankly.

"And judging by the floor, the smoking level might be where I work... Let me count."

With that, Song Yixue began counting the floors of the building.

Xu Mo: "???"

Don't tell me...

It couldn't be that coincidental, could it?

Fortunately, after counting floor by floor, Song Yixue shook her head.

"It's not. I'm on the 15th floor, the fire is on the 13th floor."

...

A fire like this wasn't something Xu Mo could handle alone.

All he could do was help evacuate people.

And try his best to prevent a stampede during the evacuation to avoid casualties.

Soon after.

Fire trucks and police cars arrived one after another.

The police continued the evacuation work that Xu Mo had started, clearing the crowds and setting up a police line.

The firefighters immediately went up into the building to fight the fire.

They also deployed aerial ladder trucks to rescue people trapped in the fire.

After the evacuation was complete, the police officers had nothing left to do.

Firefighting wasn't their job, and even if they wanted to help, they lacked the professional skills.

Trying to help recklessly might even make things worse.

They could only watch as the firefighters battled the blaze.

At the same time, they prayed that no one had lost their life in this fire.

"When did you get here? Did you hear an explosion when you arrived?" Han Fei asked Xu Mo.

Xu Mo shook his head, "Everything was fine when I arrived. I sat in a coffee shop for a while, and when I came out, I saw smoke coming from the TV station building. I didn't hear any explosion. I was in the coffee shop at the time, quite far from the building."

Hearing this, Han Fei frowned.

"I don't know what's going on lately, all sorts of things are happening. The crime rate is skyrocketing!"

Xu Mo laughed awkwardly, not responding. Given the nature of his Conan-like ability to attract cases, future incidents would likely only become more frequent...

This explosion case was just the beginning.

...

Half an hour later.

The firefighters came down from the building.

Seeing the firefighters descend after extinguishing the fire, Han Fei immediately approached to ask.

"Thank you for your hard work. How's the situation up there?"

"The fire is out," the firefighter replied. "The fire wasn't too severe, but there were still casualties. A few people with minor burns, several who fainted from smoke inhalation - they've all been rescued and are being sent to the hospital. There was one fatality. We tried to preserve the crime scene as much as possible while fighting the fire. The body is still upstairs. I can take you up to have a look."

"Alright," Han Fei nodded.

He then called to his fellow officers, and they all followed the firefighter up the stairs.

After bringing the police officers to the scene of the fire, the firefighter began to explain.

"Based on the condition of the fire scene, the fire started here, in the bathroom. We suspect someone carelessly tossed a cigarette butt into a waste bin, which started the fire. As the fire spread, it killed one person who was using the restroom at the time, and injured several others."

"A fire that started in the bathroom got this big? And even killed someone?" Chen Ke was a bit confused.

A bathroom was such a small space, and there was water everywhere. How could such a big fire start there?

Moreover, if the fire really started in a waste bin, it should have been easy to put out.

This was a men's restroom after all. If a fire started in a waste bin... a single stream of urine should have been enough to extinguish it. How did the fire grow so large?

"Fires can start anywhere. Don't be fooled by the small size of a bathroom, there are plenty of flammable materials inside. Paper in the waste bin, wooden partitions, and since these are squat toilets, if not cleaned regularly, they can produce a certain amount of methane gas. It's not surprising that a fire could start," the firefighter explained.

He paused, then pointed at two charred, unrecognizable objects on the ground and added,

"There was a fan here. Areas with airflow tend to make fires burn faster and more intensely. I suspect this fan caused the fire to spread too quickly, ultimately leading to tragedy... And over here was a cleaning cart. It was full of flammable materials, including flammable cleaning agents. Not only were the contents of the cart flammable, but the cart itself was made of plastic, which burns easily."

Han Fei, who had been silent until now, was pinching his chin, listening to the firefighter's words while deep in thought.

After the firefighter finished speaking, Han Fei finally spoke up.

"So, a fire started in a waste bin, a fan accelerated the fire's spread, a methane explosion further intensified the fire, and there was a cart full of flammable materials at the scene... So this might not have been arson, but an accidental fire that led to tragedy?"

"That's possible," the firefighter nodded.

He had seen many fire scenes.

Among them were fires in all sorts of bizarre locations.

The causes of fires were even more varied, spanning all kinds of situations.

He had seen bathroom fires more than once.

So, he didn't find anything particularly strange about this fire.

However, at this moment, Xu Mo suddenly spoke up.

"No, this must be arson! The fan and the cleaning cart must have been deliberately placed here by someone!"

The police officers immediately turned to look at Xu Mo, unsure why he had suddenly made such a statement.

Had Xu Mo noticed something amiss?