Kiki's sweater, lent to Sam, has been stolen. Towards their blazing row, Tucker hurries forth with the bucket - and trips, dropping it. As Gary and Tucker fuel the furore, Betty Anne gives a piercing whistle, and calmly calls for grievances to be postponed.
Tucker announces a story about fire. Their campfire gives light, heat and sound. But given the chance, fire can cause horrible destruction - not just as it burns, says Tucker, but after it’s been put out. Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, he calls his story "The Tale of the Fire Ghost."
In fire station 214, Dan Preston reclines on his bunk with a book. The alarm rings. He springs into action and slides down the pole. With a chorus of "surprise!" the lights come on: behind a party table are his fellow firemen, divorced wife Linda, daughter Roxy, and son Jimmy.
By a window, Jimmy eats cake. While his divorced parents remain friends, he finds the split hard to deal with. Burdened by anger, he largely blames his dad.
Linda is called to hospital. As the wind picks up, the lights flicker. Outside, a tree branch thumps the window. Captain Bill half-seriously suspects a return of the station's Fire Ghost. The branch then violently shatters the window. With a yell, Jimmy falls. Dan hurries over, inspects his son's hand, and takes him for bandaging.
Dan apologises for having missed Jimmy’s ball game, having had to fill in for someone. Jimmy bemoans his dad’s frequent absence. Dan pledges to make amends, and invites Jimmy to the rec room to try out the new video game. However, the fire alarm then rings. Captain Bill announces a call to the warehouse. Dan gives Jimmy an apologetic pat on the shoulder, grabs a helmet, and leaps onto the departing engine.
The lights flicker, and the station falls into darkness. Atop the nearby pole, a silhouetted figure looms into view, and slides down. The figure approaches; strikes a match, and introduces himself as Jake Griffin; retired firefighter and watchman.
In the near-darkness of the candlelit party table, Roxy asks if Jake has heard of such a thing as a Fire Ghost. Jake solemnly reflects to have learned, in his long career, that fire is like a wild animal - it lives, it dies, and it thinks. Fire does anything to survive and grow. On extinguishment, it looks for revenge. The only way for a Fire Ghost to reach this world if for its prospective victims to look right into the flames. Jimmy says his dad denies such phenomena.
Dan, sighs Jake, is well aware of the Fire Ghost haunting this very station - it’s just not a nice thing to talk about.
Some time later, Roxy and Jimmy lie on spare beds. On the darkened wall above the pole, Jimmy sees the flickering glow of a distant fire.
With a candle, he slides down the pole. Through the windowed door of the equipment room, he sees the glow of flames. As he approaches, the door swings open. As a stray gust of wind snuffs his candle, the flames in the equipment room fade. They then reappear. Jimmy’s candle then reignites. As he looks back to the equipment room, the candle, with a whoosh, flares into a towering stream of flame. A deep, heavy whoosh, like breath - or laughter - repeats. The crazed candle flame retracts and fades.
Roxy’s hand falls on his shoulder.The phone rings. As Jimmy takes the receiver, from out of the equipment room door, a fire hose glides towards him. From the phone, a deep, coarse voice threatens revenge. The hose then hooks Jimmy's leg, pulls him to the floor, and drags him into the equipment room. The door slams shut.
As Roxy bangs on the door, a wall-hung, visor-helmeted fire suit bulges, until noticeably occupied. Beneath the sleeve, a hand lifts a fire axe. Roxy bursts into the equipment room to find Jimmy on the floor, entangled in the hose.
Behind them, the phantom firefighter swings the axe, and severs the murderous hose. Roxy and Jimmy flee upstairs. In the bathroom, they hide behind a curtain. The helmeted spectre follows, inspects each toilet cubicle, and draws the shower curtain. He lifts his visor - it's Jake. He urges the two to flee the building. How does he know so much about ghosts? Takes one to know one. With a soft whoosh, he fades into thin air.
Roxy and Jimmy slide down the pole, and open a side door. Behind it towers a raging wall of flame. With a nearby wooden chair, Roxy smashes a small window. They climb into the night.
Round the side of the building, a policeman strides into view. The two yelp in fright. He reassures them, and sternly asks about the smashed window. Still shaken, they confess their flight from the Fire Ghost.
Inside, the officer sternly orders them into the equipment room while he takes a look around. They fearfully hesitate. The officer touches Roxy’s shoulder. With a hiss of spectral flame, the lights once more fail. In fright, the two turn to face the officer. His uniform, now singed black, exudes wisps of smoke. Scorched red around the eyes, his face is now ash-black. In the equipment room, a huge spurt of flame whooshes into life. With a warped, booming laugh and a billow of smoke, the "officer" fades into thin air.
At the party table, they find Jake. Abruptly, he instantaneously appears behind them, and gently chides Jimmy’s incautious gaze into the spectral flame.
Having released the Fire Ghost, says Jake, Jimmy must be the one to stop it. Jake lifts a fire extinguisher, and warns that this won’t be easy - this one’s crafty. Having kept the Fire Ghost at bay for years, he’s glad his task nears its end. Jimmy asks who Jake really is.
He used to be a member of this engine company. One day, he and another firefighter rescued an old woman from a burning house. As his colleague carried her out, Jake went back inside in search of more people. His colleague shouted from outside that the roof was about to go - which it did. Jake didn’t make it. The fire he helped put out that day was the one this Fire Ghost came from. The other firefighter was Dan Preston, Roxy and Jimmy’s father. Dan took the loss hard, and blamed himself for his colleague’s death. Jake heavily ponders the futility of blame.
Alone, Jimmy faces the door of the equipment room, and yells a challenging taunt. The door opens, and in a cloud of smoke, the Fire Ghost, in the form of the charred officer, looms forth. Roxy sneaks up behind it with the fire extinguisher. She discharges it, and the Fire Ghost fades. Jake arrives, and praises Roxy’s deft use of the extinguisher - but with a whoosh and a cloud of smoke, the Fire Ghost is back.
Jake demands the Fire Ghost leave the kids alone. Overhead, Jimmy spots a sprinkler. He begs the Fire Ghost not to use fire - Jimmy’s greatest fear.
The Fire Ghost spreads its hands. Its head and hands ignite in balls of flame. It bellows with laughter. As the flames engorge, they catch the overhead sprinkler - which showers the room with a heavy spray of water. The Fire Ghost chokes its death agony, writhes, compacts, and sinks into a heap of sodden ash.
With a laugh of relief, brother and sister hug. Jake turns off the sprinkler. He smiles, and announces his work to be done. And with that, he contentedly fades.
Just then, the garage door lifts, and the firefighters return. Dan, his face covered in soot, lifts his visor, and perplexedly surveys the wet floor. Roxy and Jimmy laugh with relief, and give their dad a hug.
Mounted on the wall, a black and white photo of Jake is captioned with a plaque:
- In memory of Jake Griffin (1945-1990) from all his proud friends at Station 214
The Fire Ghost, closes Tucker, was seen no more - and Jimmy and Roxy started spending a lot more time with their dad. In a rare moment of open praise for Tucker, Frank smiles his appreciation. Sam meekly approaches Kiki with some bank notes as payment for her sweater. Kiki admits the loss not to be entirely Sam’s fault, and they split the money. Alone by the fire, Gary and Tucker douse the flames with some handfuls of soil. Relieved, they head off. The remains of the fire continue to smoke...
This episode provides examples of:
- Amicably Divorced: Having split up, Dan and Linda remain good friends.
- Ash Face: Played for Horror - the Fire Ghost, in human form, appears as a charred policeman.
- Briar Patching: Jimmy begs the Fire Ghost not to revert to its natural fiery form. Delighted, it bursts into flame, and sets off the sprinkler.
- Creepy Good: Downplayed - in the darkened fire station, the mysterious Jake is initially unnerving, but he's gruffly affable, and entirely benevolent.
- Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: Played with. While it's not outright abandonment, Jimmy resents his dad for how he keeps making time for work instead of being with his family. Later, Jake reveals to Jimmy and Roxy that their father blames himself for his death, implying to Jimmy that their father's dedication to his work is driven by guilt.
- Dead All Along: Jake Griffin, ostensibly a retired firefighter turned watchman; actually the ghost of a member of the engine company.
- Evil Is Burning Hot: The sadistically vengeful ghost of a lethal fire.
- Evil Living Flames: A possible subversion: fire is characterised as a sentient predator, with this particular Fire Ghost having been a particularly vicious, although not necessarily malicious, specimen. As a Fire Ghost, however, it’s a consciously sadistic, indiscriminately murderous fiend.
- Evil Sounds Deep: On reverting to its charred form, the Fire Ghost’s voice lowers to a thunderously deep growl.
- Fire of Comfort: As happily noted by Tucker, the Midnight Society’s fire is of this kind.
- Forgiveness: On realising his dad’s absence to be beyond anyone’s control, Jimmy learns to let go of his anger.
- Friendly Ghost: Jake, a dutifully caring fireman.
- Ghostly Goals: Jake, to hold at bay the brutal vengeance of the Fire Ghost.
- I Lied: Roxy lied to Jimmy about not getting angry at him for asking who's fault for their parents divorce.
- Kill It with Water:Jake: You're the one who released it - you're the one who's gonna have to stop it.Jimmy: Me? How?Jake: Same way you stop any fire.
- Man on Fire: The apparition of the charred policeman starts to revert to its natural fiery state.
- Nothing Is Scarier: In the dark, quiet station, Jimmy hears and sees distant flames, which flicker on and off.
- Poltergeist: The Fire Ghost can animate inert matter, such as a hose.
- Primal Fear: Fire, depicted as a sentient predator, returns as a sadistically vengeful ghost.
- Retired Badass: Jake, an older firefighter who keeps the Fire Ghost at bay, and looks out for Jimmy and Roxy.
- Sadist: The Fire Ghost delights in the fear of its prospective victims.
- Shout-Out: Instead of ghosthunters living in a firehouse, there's a ghost haunting a firehouse.
- Survivor Guilt: Dan is sorely burdened by his inability to have saved Jake.
- When You Coming Home, Dad?: Jimmy bitterly laments his dad’s demanding career. Dan vows to somehow manage more time.
