I went out tonight for an impromptu gathering to celebrate Howard Dean's elevation in the DNC. I got home later than I expected, but it was fun getting out -- the company was wonderful and we hatched all kinds of exciting plans for a progressive takeover of the world. ;-)
And that was just the beginning of the evening.
At a little after midnight, G-Dog noticed some strange light over at the next-door neighbors' house. We both went outside for further investigation and realized that the side of their house was on fire. I called 911 while G-Dog went and pounded on the door of the house (the woman's car was gone, but the guy's truck was in the driveway). No one responded inside and as the first emergency vehicle arrived G-Dog abandoned the neighbors' door in favor of finding our garden hose to start spraying the fire with water. Right after the cop arrived, the neighbor got home from work and she raced into the house to wake up her spouse, who was inside and is apparently a sound sleeper. He ran out and we both sprayed the fire with hoses until the fire department arrived.
The fire was centered at the corner of the house where the utility lines connect to the house and where they keep their trash can (which is completely melted now). So, the fire either started in the trash or in the wiring -- nobody seems to know which. But the power to both our houses went out shortly before the fire department arrived.
About this time, Emmie was trying to get home and in a panic because she couldn't drive up our street because there were too many emergency vehicles in the way. She called with a very anxious "are you ok?" and after I explained the situation, she parked the car at a friend's house up the road and walked home.
I have to say, I'm incredibly impressed with the speediness of our emergency responders. The cops arrived within minutes, and the fire department was not far behind. And before the fire was even completely out, someone from the fire department had already contacted the power company. They showed up within a half hour to get the power to our house turned back on. Unfortunately, our neighbors will have to do without power until they can get the corner of their house rewired. We've got some extension cords running over to their freezer and aquarium to keep the steaks cold and the turtles alive in the meantime.
Goodnight, kiddies. It's been a long day.
UPDATE: IS this a sign from bob?!?
3 comments:
Mercy!
It's a good thing you guys were out and about - fires like that can spread from house to house pretty easily. :-/
I was up late, knitting. Can't you tell I'm on break?
Seriously, I'm glad that everything ended up okay. Great that you guys had extension cords that could handle the current to the freezer...
{{{{Alice}}}
Long day - and dramatic! As Sravana says, good things you guys were out that late.
It's pretty scary to think about the might-haves. Our bedroom is at that end of the house.
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