The Tale of the Fire Ghost

The Tale of the Fire Ghost
Season 4 , Episode 9
Air date	November 19, 1994
Written by	Scott Peters
Directed by	Jean-Marie Comeau
Episode guide
Previous The Tale of the Ghastly Grinner	Next The Tale of the Room for Rent

The Tale of the Fire Ghost is the Ninth episode of the Fourth season of Are You Afraid of the Dark?, as well as the Forty-Eighth episode in total.

Cast

Midnight Society Cast

• Daniel DeSanto as Tucker
• Ross Hull as Gary
• Jason Alisharan as Frank
• Jodie Resther as Kiki
• Raine Pare-Coull as Betty Ann
• Joanna Garcia as Sam

Story Cast

• Myles Ferguson as Jimmy Preston
• Vanessa King as Roxy Preston
• Larry Day as Dan Preston
• Liz MaCrae as Linda Preston
• Serge Houde as Captain Bill
• Michael Copeman as Jake Griffin
• Tim Post as The Police Officer/Fire Ghost

Intro

The night begin with Sam and Kiki fighting about Sam being responsible because she borrowed something from Kiki and it got stolen. They are angrily yelling in each others faces. Kiki is furious saying to her that she said she would be careful with it and she wasn't. Sam snaps back she was careful, she just had no idea someone would break into her locker. Gary passing by asks Sam if she is sure she locked her locker. Sam frustratingly says that yes she was sure she locked her locker.

Frank, sitting next to Betty Ann asks her what the deal with them is? Betty Ann says that Kiki lent Sam her favorite sweater. Then someone broke into Sam's locker and stole it. Sam tries to tell Kiki she is sorry, Kiki tells her that saying she's sorry doesn't get her sweater back.

Tucker comes out hearing the commotion of the fighting and calls out what is going on? Just as he enters the circle, carrying the water bucket he trips and falls down and spills the water. Betty Ann and Frank laugh at him when this happened. Gary is mad and tells him "nice work graceful" He tries to tell him it was an accident. Gary tells him that he should have looked.

Then Sam and Kiki along with Gary and Tucker all begin loudly fighting and arguing and it's getting really out of hand. Betty Ann whistles for them to stop. They calm down and she asks them all to just settle down, so they can start the meeting. Gary madly tells Tucker "Okay Bucket Boy, you're up".

Tucker sits down on the Storyteller's Chair. He tells them all that it might hard to cool down because his story has to do with fire. He tells them all Look at our fire, it's got a life of its own. It gives off light and heat and makes a nice warm, crackling sound. However, given the chance it can cause horrible destruction. He doesn't mean the damage it can do when it's burning, he means the damage it can do after it's been put out.

Tucker, throws in the campfire dust to make the fire more intense while he submits his story for approval for The Midnight Society. He calls his story "The Tale of the Fire Ghost", and begins.

Story

Tucker, tells the story. The story, takes place inside Fire Station 214. Late one night, someone is downstairs on the first floor of the fire station. It is dark and the person lights a match. This sets off the fire alarm. So fire fighter named Dan Preston, who was relaxing upstairs immediately reacts and slides down the fire pole. Suddenly, the lights all go on and his co-workers and his wife and kids Roxy and Jimmy all shout to him "Surprise! Happy Birthday!".

Dan and Linda had split up, but they were still close friends. This was still hard to deal with. especially for their son Jimmy. He had a lot of anger inside of him, and blamed his dad for their parents breaking up. Mostly because of him spending too much time fire fighting. The surprise birthday party went really well, except Jimmy didn't want to sit near his dad. So he kept away and sat at the wall. Then Linda had to go back to the hospital to take care of patients, and left them with their dad.

Suddenly, the lights inside the station begin to flicker off and on. Captain Bill says it is because of the fire ghost who haunts the station. Dan tells his son, there is no such thing and not to worry about it. Then suddenly, the window on the wall near where Jimmy was sitting near inexplicably smashes in. He screams and cuts his hand, then his father then tries to help him put on a bandage. But Jimmy won't let him help him.

Dan apologizes for not seeing him the week before. His reason is because he had to fill in for someone. Jimmy snaps at his dad, saying that he could have had someone else fill in. And that he always has excuses for not being there. Even when he still lived at home with them. He apologizes to Jimmy, promising that things will change soon. Then he asks Jimmy to get some cake and to meet him in the recreational room. Then they can check out the new video game, Jimmy smiles looking forward to it.

Then just on their way, the fire alarm goes off. Captain Bill says there is a fire at a warehouse. Dan tells Roxy to call their mom and let her know that he has to go fire fighting. Jimmy looks mad and let down once again, as he sees his dad heading out to fight the fire. Then after the fire engine leaves, Roxy tries to call their mother on the telephone.  But the phone line is dead and isn't working. Also the lights once again begin to blink off and on until it's dark inside.

Their both wondering what is going on. Then suddenly, they see a fireman sliding down the pole. It is strange, because Roxy thought that they had all left by now. The fireman approaches them, and lights a match to show his face. He tells them that wind must have knocked out the phone line. He introduces himself as Jake Griffin. Then and informs Jimmy and Roxy that he watches the station when the others are gone. He helps them set up some candles, keeping them company until the power goes back on.

Roxy, asks Jake if he's ever heard of a Fire Ghost. He tells them that's he been a firefighter for a long time. And if there's one thing he has learned, is that a fire is like a wild animal. The fire lives, it dies, and it thinks. Because fire will do anything to survive and grow. It's the firefighter's job to stop it, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's dead. The spirit of the fire remains. The Fire Ghost follows the firefighters back to the station looking for revenge. Jake then tells them, do NOT get caught by a Fire Ghost! Or it will pull you into its world of eternal flames!

Hearing this, Roxy seems a bit nervous, then she shakes it off. She says she has never heard of it happening to anyone before. Jake says, it is because the only way a fire ghost can cross into our world, is if someone looks right into the flame. The Fire Ghost, dances and jumps to lure people to watch. Then before you know it, it's too late and it is already here. Roxy asks why it has never happened before. Jake says it's because firefighters face flames everyday. So they know enough not to let it happen. Jimmy says that his dad says there is no such thing. Jake smiles saying that his dad does believe. And he knows that there is a Fire Ghost haunting this very station. They just don't like to talk about it. Jake tells them that Fire Ghost's hate firefighters. And they just happen to be the children of one of the very best firefighters. So they must and to be very careful, while they're in the station. After he leaves them. Roxy thinks that Jake is just old and crazy.

Later that night, they're both trying to rest upstairs. Then Jimmy sees a glowing light aura flickering from the fire pole opening. Jimmy is curious, as to what it is. So he grabs a lit candle, then slides down the pole to check it out. When arriving downstairs, he hears a slight growling and flicking sound. Also from the equipment room closet has a flickering bright yellow light inside. A light that keeps flashes off and on. Then it goes it and his candle blows itself out. Then suddenly, his candle relights itself! Then it flares into a powerful full blast flame. Almost like a blast from a flamethrower. Jimmy stares right at it. Then it instantly goes out. Then inside the equipment room closet. the flickering light slowly goes out.

Then someone taps him on the shoulder. He screams and turns around to see it is only Roxy. Roxy smiles saying to him that the ghost stories must really be getting to him now. Jimmy tries to explain what he saw, then the phone rings. Roxy is happy to hear it working again. So Jimmy answers the phone, but there is no sound. Then suddenly, a sinister voice answers. It says "Listen to me you are the son or a murderer! And your time has come ha ha ha". Jimmy gets scared and hangs the phone back up. As Roxy heard it, she nervously says that they're not alone.

Then suddenly, a thick firefighter hose wraps itself around Jimmy's legs. Then it pulls him into the equipment room and slams the door. Roxy bangs frantically on the door asking for help. Then suddenly, a suit of firefighting equipment comes to life. Then by itself, it raises its ax. The door opens, then firefighting suit chops half the hose off, enabling Jimmy to break free. They run upstairs frantically calling for Jake to help them.

Then the firefighting suit follows them upstairs, as they hide in the bedroom quarters. The firefighting suit, lifts up its visor. It reveals itself to be Jake, he answering saying he knows that the Fire Ghost is here. So now he wants them to get out of the station as fast as they can. That is without stopping or looking back, and to be careful because it's full tricks. Roxy asks him how he knows so much about ghosts. Jake says because it takes one to know one, (meaning he is a ghost too), after saying that he vanishes.

When they return to the ground floor, they cannot exit out the door, because there are flames burning behind it. Therefore, they quickly escape through the window that broke earlier. Then they make a run for it. When they get out, they run into a police officer. The officer tells them he heard them smash the window. They tell him they didn't mean to cause trouble. They were just running away from the Fire Ghost. The Officer doesn't know what they're talking about. They try to explain that a Fire Ghost is after them. And their dad is a firefighter, who works at the station. The Officer wants to see things for himself, so he goes inside with them.

When they return inside the station, to their very surprise all the lights and power work again. The Officer calls out loud if anyone is inside, and no one answers. They lead him to the equipment room where the Fire Ghost was. But nothing is in there now. Thinking it is s a prank or a joke. the officer asks them to wait for him inside the equipment room, while he looks around the station. They keep refusing to go in, until the officer suddenly transforms into the Fire Ghost itself. The Fire Ghost tells then welcomes them to his parlor. Then a scorching flame, burns like a flamethrower inside the equipment room. Then he vanishes in a puff of smoke; while laughing.

They run off terrified, in another room. There they see Jake sitting down. He says that he warned them, that it was full of tricks. Roxy begs him not to hurt them. He tells them he wouldn't hurt them. And he's been watching them since the firefighters left. He instantly moves from one side of the room to the other. He tells Jake that he is disappointed, because he told him not to look at the flame. Hearing this Roxy is furious, but Jake says it was only for a second.

Jake informs them that only a second is all that it takes. So since Jimmy is the one who released it, then he's gonna have to be the one to stop it; but it won't easy. Jimmy asks Jake who he really is. Jake tells them that he used to be a member of the engine company. Then a few years back, him and another firefighter were rescuing an old woman from a burning house. The other firefighter got the old woman out. Then he went back in to help more people. The last thing he remembered, was hearing that roof was about to cave in. Then the roof caved in and he didn't make it out alive. That building's fire, was the very fire that this Fire Ghost came from. The other firefighter with him was their father. Their father, never told them because he was very sad about Jake's death, and took it very hard.

They plan to stop the Fire Ghost, before it can come after them and the other firefighters. So Jimmy approaches the door to the equipment room, calling out to it. He asks it if it well come and get him, or is it too afraid. Hearing this, the window on the door glows brightly with light and opens. Then in a puff of smoke, the Fire Ghost comes out, slowly approaches Jimmy. He tells him that he is the son of a murderer, and his time has come. Jimmy tells him his father isn't a murderer. The Fire Ghost tells him that his dad, and his kind destroy fire. First he will pay, and when they return, they will join the flames and burn forever. Jimmy tells it. that's what you think, and Roxy walks up to it from behind. Then she sprays it with a fire extinguisher and it disappears.

They high five and rejoice, and Jake tells her that firefighting is in her blood, and he's never seen anyone work a fire extinguisher so well. Suddenly, in a thick puff of smoke the Fire Ghost is back with a vengeance. Then It closes in on them sinisterly laughing. Then Jake begs it to leave them alone. Jimmy notices the sprinkler system on the ceiling. Then he tells it that he hates fire, and to do anything just don't use fire. It says "I AM FIRE!" Jimmy says that it's too horrible. And to please do anything, just don't turn into fire.

The Fire Ghost, thinks his revenge is better than he could ever imagine. Then it uses its full power, engulfing itself in blazing scorching flames. From its head and both hands, then eventually its whole body is on fire. The flames burn so high, that they touch the ceiling. Then it sets off the emergency sprinklers. Then instantly the Fire Ghost is doused and drenched, Then it vaporizes into a pile of ash.

Roxy and Jimmy rejoice and hug in victor. Jake tells them that his job here is now done, and then he vanishes. The fire engine comes back and their dad comes in wondering what the deal with the big mess is. They both run into his arms giving him a big hug, nearby on the wall is a memorial plaque in memory of Jake Griffin 1945-1990.

Ending

As the story ends, Tucker says that the Fire Ghost was never seen at the station again, and Jimmy and Roxy started spending a lot more time with their dad. Then Tucker says the ends and ends his story. Frank tells him nice job bucket boy, Tucker just smiles. Everyone begins to look guilty and feel bad. Sam goes over to Kiki and apologizes again.

Then she gives her some money to replace her sweater. Kiki, nicely accepts her apology and tells her it wasn't entirely her fault so she gives her half the money back and they happily make up and become friends again. With Frank teasing them saying oh that's so cute and then Kiki tells him to get bent.

Then Frank, Sam, Kiki and Betty Ann leave. Gary is still a little mad at Tucker for spilling the water bucket earlier and asks now what? Tucker says throw dirt on it. So they successfully put the fire out by throwing handfuls of dirt onto it. Tucker says see it's out already, Gary tells him not a bad idea and they leave for home too. Then, we see that the Campfire soon had smoke coming out and it growled!

• Trivia
• Gallery

• At the end of the episode, Sam gives Kiki American money, even though the show was filmed in Canada.
• Myles Ferguson, who portrayed Jimmy Preston sadly passed away in a car accident. The accident happened on September 29, 2000.
• Vanessa King who portrayed Roxy Preston, previously appeared in the series before. She appeared before in the episode "The Tale of the Guardian's Curse" as Cleo Dugan.
• Larry Day, who portrayed Dan Preston, later reappeared in the series again. His next appearance was in the series revival's Season 6 episode "The Tale of the Hunted", as Grant.
• Liz MaCrae, who portrayed Linda Preston, previously appeared in the series before. Her first appearance was in the episode "The Tale of the Hatching" as Mrs. Wilson. Then she later made a third appearance, in the series revival's Season 6 episode "The Tale of Bigfoot Ridge" as Mom/Marie.
• Tim Post, who portrayed the Police Officer/ Fire Ghost, previously appeared in the series before. He first appeared in the episode "The Tale of the Dream Machine" as the Black Robed Figure.
• One of twenty-one episodes where the Midnight Society didn't leave and douse the fire with the water-bucket (since the water had been spilled, they used dirt).

Jimmy Preston

Roxy Preston

Dan Preston

Linda Preston

Captain Bill

Jake Griffin (good ghost)

A cop, who is really the Fire Ghost in disguise!

The Fire Ghost!

Story takes place inside fire station 214

In this fire station, a birthday party is being held for Jimmy and Roxy's dad

Jimmy is upset because his dad is always so busy firefighting to spend enough time with him

Then suddenly the team has to go out to firefight once again..

Jake Griffin warns them that Fire Ghost's are dangerous and looking at a flame for even one second could summon one

Jimmy wakes up to find a burning closet

He looks at a flame and it is just scorching!

They get a threatening phone call saying that their time is coming to an end!

They seek help from a Police Officer

Suddenly the Police Officer, pressures them to go into the closet that was burning earlier

That's because the Police Officer happens to be no one other than The Fire Ghost itself!

The Fire Ghost closes in on Jimmy!

Sneaking up from behind Roxy has a fire hose ready

The fire Ghost is sprayed with an extinguisher

Perhaps it wasn't enough and it didn't work..

Jimmy tells it to do anything it wants, just not to turn itself into fire because fire is too scary

The Fire Ghost has been taunted and decides to scare them using its full power

The Fire Ghost using full power

the heat from the flames has set off the sprinkler system

Nothing left of the ghost but soot now

Jake tells them with the Fire Ghost defeated his job is done and vanishes

the fire is out and their dad comes back to the station safe and sound

They are so happy to see him safe and sound they give him a big hug

The Memorial Plaque to Jake Griffin