where have all the internets gone?
well. let's start at the sirens.
on saturday night/sunday morning, i was suddenly aware of sirens. lying in bed at somewhere near three a.m., they were loud and getting louder. "those are really close.." i thought.
and then there was a loud, frantic sort of knock at my door.
i can't say i wasn't apprehensive, a little bit nervous about who was knocking on my door. i opened it to a very panicked looking shavizzle.
"my apartment's on fire. can i borrow some socks?"
the next hour or so i spent watching the firemen (and woman) at work. it didn't seem to take them very long to put the fire out, use their fan machine thing to blow out the smoke, drag some of the really charred (possibly smouldering) stuff out, clean up some of the mess they made, inspect it and leave.. i spent most of the time standing on my front step (or just inside my apartment at the window) looking up in the direction of her place..
after the initial shock and panic, there was a lot of waiting to see what was going to happen, how bad the damage was going to be, if any of the apartments around hers (mine is two over and one down) were in danger or damaged.. that sort of thing..
from what i can remember, the fire inspector said it started in the furnace, or because of the furnace.. she had some clothes sitting near the thing that went up pretty quickly after it started and her attempts to put it out spread it to other points around the place.. i wonder how it would've turned out if she'd been able to pull the pin on the fire extinguisher (her neighbor even tried and couldn't.. she said something about it being zip-tied. which sounds negligible on account of the landlord to me. not very safe).
and she's ok.. she woke up to actual flames in her apartment and managed to only get a few small blisters on her hand.. very scary indeed.. she's moving into an open apartment in the adjacent group of apartments to where we live now, into a bigger place for the same price as her studio while they fix her place.. there's smoke/water damage, some holes in the wall and ceiling but i was actually surprised there wasn't more damage to the place.. and it's still hard to tell how much was ruined/damaged but shit man.. she's lucky to be alive and not badly burned..
it makes you think. would you be able, in a moment of extreme danger and panic, to grab the important stuff? do you have an idea of what you should do if your place of residence was to start on fire? is there anything you know you would definitely take with you? do you know how to operate a fire extinguisher? is your smoke alarm fully functional?
but to tie it all together.. i was pulling internet from her.. so at this moment, i'm down the street at Z's house hooked up to his. (thanks!) ordering my own internet.
so. that's where you'll find me now.
i have more to say, stuff about spending christmas in brooklyn (holla!) with the big sis. but. soon. promise.
here. are some photos of the fire damage:
(that's where she had something hanging on the wall..)
on saturday night/sunday morning, i was suddenly aware of sirens. lying in bed at somewhere near three a.m., they were loud and getting louder. "those are really close.." i thought.
and then there was a loud, frantic sort of knock at my door.
i can't say i wasn't apprehensive, a little bit nervous about who was knocking on my door. i opened it to a very panicked looking shavizzle.
"my apartment's on fire. can i borrow some socks?"
the next hour or so i spent watching the firemen (and woman) at work. it didn't seem to take them very long to put the fire out, use their fan machine thing to blow out the smoke, drag some of the really charred (possibly smouldering) stuff out, clean up some of the mess they made, inspect it and leave.. i spent most of the time standing on my front step (or just inside my apartment at the window) looking up in the direction of her place..
after the initial shock and panic, there was a lot of waiting to see what was going to happen, how bad the damage was going to be, if any of the apartments around hers (mine is two over and one down) were in danger or damaged.. that sort of thing..
from what i can remember, the fire inspector said it started in the furnace, or because of the furnace.. she had some clothes sitting near the thing that went up pretty quickly after it started and her attempts to put it out spread it to other points around the place.. i wonder how it would've turned out if she'd been able to pull the pin on the fire extinguisher (her neighbor even tried and couldn't.. she said something about it being zip-tied. which sounds negligible on account of the landlord to me. not very safe).
and she's ok.. she woke up to actual flames in her apartment and managed to only get a few small blisters on her hand.. very scary indeed.. she's moving into an open apartment in the adjacent group of apartments to where we live now, into a bigger place for the same price as her studio while they fix her place.. there's smoke/water damage, some holes in the wall and ceiling but i was actually surprised there wasn't more damage to the place.. and it's still hard to tell how much was ruined/damaged but shit man.. she's lucky to be alive and not badly burned..
it makes you think. would you be able, in a moment of extreme danger and panic, to grab the important stuff? do you have an idea of what you should do if your place of residence was to start on fire? is there anything you know you would definitely take with you? do you know how to operate a fire extinguisher? is your smoke alarm fully functional?
but to tie it all together.. i was pulling internet from her.. so at this moment, i'm down the street at Z's house hooked up to his. (thanks!) ordering my own internet.
so. that's where you'll find me now.
i have more to say, stuff about spending christmas in brooklyn (holla!) with the big sis. but. soon. promise.
here. are some photos of the fire damage:
(that's where she had something hanging on the wall..)
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