Fire = Block Party!

[notalwaysright]

Quick story from a few days ago. I was home, and it was a pleasant day, so I had my windows open. For a while (maybe 10-15 minutes) I could hear a very faint beeping sound. I ignored it. It's an old neighborhood, with lots of houses, and lots of miscellaneous noises. I tune most of them out. I go into the kitchen for water and can smell a bit of smoke, not like cigarette smoke or BBQ smoke, but like burning plastic. I think "did I leave something on the stove?" Then sirens and I'm like oh crap, the beeping was a smoke detector, duh!

Then I had a terrible thought, what if it's my building! It could be a neighbor's unit, and I might not hear or smell anything, especially if it was upstairs. So I pull on pants (shut up) and head outside to see where the firemen are running to. Then I can see it's my across-the-street neighbor's house. His detached garage, specifically. So there's like 6 fire engines crammed onto the street, which is very narrow and only one lane wide. Everyone is outside watching, at this point. The fire must have been small, and it's out super fast. The garage is metal and hardly looks damaged at all, there was a lot of smoke, that's all.

Afterward, everyone is just chilling, sitting out on their lawns drinking and talking. All the parents bring their kids over and get little plastic fire helmets and hang out with the firemen. This went on for some time, even after the firemen left. I guess I have no reason to share other than I haven't been around anything like this. I mean, I've been around a few incidents, but always out in the boonies where everyone owns 5 acres at least. So there weren't any gawkers. Plus those seemed more... serious. Like sheriffs and ambulances and meth labs. This had a different feeling. I think if something bad were happening, people would come and help. I hope they wouldn't just watch, but it's not like they could have been helping in this case, lol.

[EricKei]

I used to work at a small paper, and they sent me out on the occasional fire call -- the firemen and others do tend to stick around for quite some time after the fire is out, presumably because they need to make 110% sure that it won't reignite. That means setting up fans to blow the remaining smoke out, hosing down intact walls to make sure they don't catch fire simply because the ambient temperature is just that damn high, etc. And, as long as there are humans around, the EMT's need to stay. The cops...? For crowd control, keeping residents from going back in ("What?! It's safe! The fire's out, isn't it? I just wanna go grab my <insert item here>!") and watching out for looters.

[dalesys]

It isn't really a Block Party until someone starts toasting marshmellows and hot dogs over the embers...

[DGoddessChardonnay]

as there are humans around, the EMT's need to stay. The cops...? For crowd control, keeping residents from going back in ("What?! It's safe! The fire's out, isn't it? I just wanna go grab my <insert item here>!") and watching out for looters.

Going back into a house after a major fire was what killed the former owner of my house.

Twelve years ago or so, Jack's house in Atlanta caught fire. The fire was put out and he narrowly escaped but against better judgment (and advice) he went back in to try to salvage deeds to his properties and other paperwork.

Ended up back in the hospital and died not two weeks afterwards. All the chemicals and residual smoke and crap in the air damaged his lungs to the point where they couldn't function. Took his nephews better part of a year to get his estate settled (Jack was a confirmed bachelor) and had to get an attorney to remove Jack's g/f as executor (she had sold off quite a bit of his properties in GA and his Lincoln Town Car that was promised to Rick, one of the nephews and pocketed the cash.)

Needless suffering for that family. He was only in his early 60's then. Rick in particular hasn't been quite the same since (they were especially close.)

[wolfie]

Going back into a house after a major fire was what killed the former owner of my house.

Once you've evacuated the building, DON'T go back. People had started evacuating the South Tower, but were told that it was secure, and they were in the way of the evacuation of the North Tower, so they went back to their offices. A few minutes later, the South Tower was hit - people who HAD been safe outside never made it back out.

[Deserted]

Took his nephews better part of a year to get his estate settled (Jack was a confirmed bachelor) and had to get an attorney to remove Jack's g/f as executor (she had sold off quite a bit of his properties in GA and his Lincoln Town Car that was promised to Rick, one of the nephews and pocketed the cash.)

I'm a "confirmed bachelor" (in theory) and I don't have a will, nor do I need one. My brother is my executor (so to speak), has keys to my place, and if something happens to me, his standing instructions are "loot the place and get out." Of course, he's also supposed to have my obituary read "nibbled to death by rabid piranhas".

[notalwaysright]

I used to work at a small paper, and they sent me out on the occasional fire call -- the firemen and others do tend to stick around for quite some time after the fire is out, presumably because they need to make 110% sure that it won't reignite. That means setting up fans to blow the remaining smoke out, hosing down intact walls to make sure they don't catch fire simply because the ambient temperature is just that damn high, etc. And, as long as there are humans around, the EMT's need to stay. The cops...? For crowd control, keeping residents from going back in ("What?! It's safe! The fire's out, isn't it? I just wanna go grab my <insert item here>!") and watching out for looters.

I actually only saw firemen in this case. And later a natural gas person showed up and that reminded me that we have gas lines all over the place, which was scary. Back when I lived out in the boonies, that's when there was all the different agencies.

If it had been my building on fire I would have gone back. Yes, stupid, I know. But I ran out without my cat. Everything else can burn, but I will try to save my cat.