Fire!

At about 4:45 Monday morning, Bob woke me up to tell me that he could see a house burning. Sure enough, we looked out the windows on the east side of our house, and we could see flames shooting up into the sky. Fortunately, the fire trucks were there already (four of them, plus various SUV's from the fire department) and a couple police cars. It scares me a little to think that I would not have awakened. Or maybe they turned off their sirens when they got close? I'd like to think that except that the house burning (three doors down from us) is only about a block and a half from the fire department. So you'd think that the sirens were on at SOME point, and that I should have heard them.

This is just part of the activity.

This guy arrived right after the fire trucks left and the police opened up the street again. He's the Servicemaster guy. Honestly, I know there's a need for it, but it grossed me out that he was peddling his services right after the fire.

So it turns out that the entire second floor was engulfed in flames. The fire was started, apparently, by a child playing with a lighter. As Bob pointed out, what's a child doing UP at 4:30, let alone playing with a lighter? Who knows. We know the fireman who led the search and rescue team (he reportedly climbed over another fireman during the fire, because the other guy wasn't moving fast enough for him), and he said that he's not sure if the house is salvageable or not. The first floor has a ton of water damage (go figure!), and there's a dumpster out front where they're throwing all the contents of the house.

It's a big old house, that was cut up into apartments pretty badly. I love old houses, and I'm almost always in favor of saving an old house, but in this case, I feel like it might be better to start over.
I'm really glad no one was hurt. And I am on a smoke detector mission. Smoke detectors, people!