Tomas
Banned
Well, I was sitting at my computer, doing some Photoshop playing when I heard thundering footsteps up above, running down the hallway (at 2:08AM). I popped out of my apartment and headed toward the stairwell they were running toward to see what I could see when the building fire alarms went off.
At that, I charged up the stairs to the third floor (from the second) and met one of our other tenants with panic in his eyes and an extinguisher in his hand banging on the manager's door. He said there was a fire in his apartment and took off back toward it. I followed him (to the fourth floor apartment) after letting the manager know, calling 911 on the way.
The power was out on the east side of his apartment and the only light was from the fire on his deck. My EDC's came in handy (two LS's). By this time another tenant, an ex volunteer fire type, showed up and we sent him for another extinguisher (he returned with two).
All in all it wasn't that bad - a fair amount of smoke damage and probably $5-6000 worth of structure. Ignition source was the deck light fixture wiring.
Only injury was the tenant who's apartment it was - some smoke inhalation (he sounded like a gagging frog when he talked and his asthma was acting up) and a cut hand from breaking the glass to get the first extinguisher. He went through 4 extinguishers keeping the fire controlled until the fire department got here and took over (they arrived in probably 4 to 6 minutes from the time they were notified). The worst part of the smoke was some hard-shelled plastic luggage was part of the fire (that stuff not only stinks, but four '2A-10BC' dry-chem extinguishers won't put it out.
As The FD was arriving we left the building, with me making a quick stop on the way out as we passed my apartment on the second floor to grab my big rechargable spotlight.
An interesting night was had by all 230 or so folks who live in this building. I saw people in the parking lot I'd never seen before. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Some of those fire folks really seem to enjoy taking chainsaws and fire axes to a building. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif Since we are a bit taller than the average building in town, they even dragged out the ladder truck. A good turnout, really, with six fire and one rescue truck.
All is back more or less to normal, and we'll look things over tomorrow when it's light. (We are checking the area of the fire once an hour at the FD's request just to make sure nothing sneaks up on us before then.
Think I'll drink some tea - my throat is rather sore from the smoke, too.
P.S. As good as LS's are, they don't cut dense smoke ... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif
At that, I charged up the stairs to the third floor (from the second) and met one of our other tenants with panic in his eyes and an extinguisher in his hand banging on the manager's door. He said there was a fire in his apartment and took off back toward it. I followed him (to the fourth floor apartment) after letting the manager know, calling 911 on the way.
The power was out on the east side of his apartment and the only light was from the fire on his deck. My EDC's came in handy (two LS's). By this time another tenant, an ex volunteer fire type, showed up and we sent him for another extinguisher (he returned with two).
All in all it wasn't that bad - a fair amount of smoke damage and probably $5-6000 worth of structure. Ignition source was the deck light fixture wiring.
Only injury was the tenant who's apartment it was - some smoke inhalation (he sounded like a gagging frog when he talked and his asthma was acting up) and a cut hand from breaking the glass to get the first extinguisher. He went through 4 extinguishers keeping the fire controlled until the fire department got here and took over (they arrived in probably 4 to 6 minutes from the time they were notified). The worst part of the smoke was some hard-shelled plastic luggage was part of the fire (that stuff not only stinks, but four '2A-10BC' dry-chem extinguishers won't put it out.
As The FD was arriving we left the building, with me making a quick stop on the way out as we passed my apartment on the second floor to grab my big rechargable spotlight.
An interesting night was had by all 230 or so folks who live in this building. I saw people in the parking lot I'd never seen before. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Some of those fire folks really seem to enjoy taking chainsaws and fire axes to a building. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif Since we are a bit taller than the average building in town, they even dragged out the ladder truck. A good turnout, really, with six fire and one rescue truck.
All is back more or less to normal, and we'll look things over tomorrow when it's light. (We are checking the area of the fire once an hour at the FD's request just to make sure nothing sneaks up on us before then.
Think I'll drink some tea - my throat is rather sore from the smoke, too.
P.S. As good as LS's are, they don't cut dense smoke ... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif