the rubber mask edges pressed against your face and you stumbled forward and the nozzle shot up in the arms of the nozzleman and the hose team leader reached out and pushed it back down to the flames with one arm and catching you with the other just as you looked over the edge of the grating and down the ladder into the face of the fire , and then suddenly you were okay and you spread your legs and took sliding steps forward and down the ladder to the fire burning red and orange against the sooty black sides of the building , and as your team worked its way down the ladder with the cooling spray falling all around you and the water on your mask drying off as soon as it hit it you could see that it really all worked .