Burning down the house...

Last night, about 1130 or so I was laying in bed, and I heard a lot of fire trucks and other emergency vehicles going by my house. Curiousity got the better of me, and I threw on some clothes and went to investigate. Two blocks away there was a huge house fire. Apparently it had something to do with exploding propane tanks. The house with the tanks was a total loss, the houses on either side, one of them a duplex, I would imagine are a total loss as well. And apparently, the house on the other side of the duplex is a loss too. Four houses, gone. Luckily, all the people and all the pets, except for one bird, got out alive. It was horrific to watch. And I feel kinda...voyeouristic and explotative to say i took photos, but I did. And I'll post them here to show you what I mean.

This is what I saw as I approached the fire. I know you can't see much, but the street is chock full of emergency vehicles and personnel and hoses and all manner of stuff. I knew I wasn't gonna get close that way. i thought I'd go a block over and walk past it and come in from the other side.

The street a block over just happened to be the way the wind was blowing the smoke. the whole street was covered in it, like a fog. I couldn't see very far in front of me at all. And the whole placed smelled like smoke, like my parents' woodstove.

I finally got to the other end of the street and came back up a bit and managed to get these two photos.



Just terrible to witness. I trapsed around out there for probably 45 to an hour, watching and talking to people there and stuff. But by then, I had had enough. It was like 30 degrees or so and I was out in a sleeveless shirt with a windbreaker on top. I was really cold. I made my way home, and got into bed, thankful that no one was injured.

It was truly something I never want to see again.

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The difference between thirty-sex and twenty-five is that at twenty-five you can't look pathetic. Youth is the one overriding excuse. You can try anything out, do anything at all to your hair, and walk around looking perfectly fine. You're still thinking yourself up, so it's okay. But you get a little older, and you find your illusions starting to sho. - Clare, A Home At The End Of The World