As I was working this afternoon just after lunch, I heard sirens. I ignored them for a while, then finally looked out the window from my desk and saw smoke. That got me out of my chair pretty quickly.
My window faces an interior courtyard together with two other buildings, with one directly across from me and one adjacent. The fire was one floor up in the building adjacent to me and I could see the firefighters at work with their hoses on the flames and using a huge crowbar to rip open the gutter and roof where the smoke and most of the flames seemed to be pouring out of.
I could see people in the building across from me on their balconies, so my first thought was OK, I must not need to evacuate. Then I called Robert and we decided what I should take in the event of an evacuation, figuring I should grab our passports, my work laptop and Robert’s camera, but leaving behind all our files as they were too heavy. Most everything else is in storage, so I left the packing at that.
As I left the building for an appointment, my street was blocked off with crime tape, so I had to detour around all the fire trucks. When I came back, the fire was out and the firemen were surveying the building from the roof while dirty black water dripped from the balcony onto the balconies below.
I can’t imagine how devastating this loss is for the apartment owners. My thoughts are with them and the other tenants too.
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Hi Sandy, faced with a decision like that it is hard. When living in Port Hedland, we had a cyclone heading our way, I too had the hard decision of what to pack. I filled a suitcase with photos, computer discs with important information (before the days of laptops), 1 set of clothes and sentimental items that could not be replaced. The suitcase was so heavy that I could not lift it. Thankfully, the house did remain standing – although our roof did start to lift a bit.
Take care, love from us
I’m glad you got home to your place in tact. Still…what an ordeal.
I don’t think I was in danger yesterday Kylie, although I did read later that one of the adjacent buildings was evacuated–I’m just not sure which one! I think the cyclone would have been much more scary to go through.
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