Well, spending a portion of the night on a city bus being fed MacDonald's cheeseburgers by the Red Cross was not on my schedule, but there you have it, that's how we spent our night. About 5:00pm someone knocked on our apartment door and said that there was smoke coming out of one of the connected apartment buildings in our complex. I looked out of the floor to ceiling lobby window and there, only about 50 feet from our place and connected by a common roof the other building had flames coming out from the opposite side and black smoke started pouring out. Stuff got real at that point. We spent the next 4 hours on the street as several fire department battalions showed up. There were news and police 'copters circling, everyone from the complex was out on the road - Pretty much chaos.

The Red Cross showed up with a couple of city buses so we'd have someplace warm to sit while the firemen accessed the damage and cut into the roof to make sure the fire hadn't communicated through to the other buildings. Here's the luck part of it, one of the fire departments is right next door to the complex. I have no doubt, if that were not the case, the complex would have been a complete loss, because the fire fighters (bless them) got here right as the fire really started to spread up to the roof. That was my biggest fear, because it's a common attic that's all wood and attaches directly to our building.

We spent the night in a motel, just got back this afternoon. Heat and hot water are restored, but power is a bit sketchy at the moment. We're in the midst of laundering out cloths and tomorrow we'll be cleaning the carpets and furniture to get rid of the smoke smell.

Here's a link to one of the videos I took this afternoon that shows the damage from the outside of the building that had the main fire. For whatever reason, Dropbox insists on playing the vid in vertical format even though I filmed horizontal, so you’ll need to tilt your head a bit until I figure it out:

Apartment Building Fire Damage

It's hard to express how amazingly lucky we feel today. It could have been so much worse in so many ways.

Oh my, Trail! So glad you are ok! How scary!

What a saga, TM. Fire is so scary. You just never know what's going to happen when you get up in the morning (and that's often a good thing). I'm so glad that you are okay and that the firefighters were able to get there so quickly. Whew - very sobering stuff.

Scary stuff indeed!

What a scary thing to happen! Glad you are safe and feeling bad for you being temporarily out. It's awful when you can't be snug in your bed. Hope the residents of the burned apartments are OK.

Do they know how this started. Around here we have 3 reasons for most fires: 1)food left burning on the stove, 2)space heater too close to flammable clothes, 3) candles. Well actually 4 reasons but the last is arson. We have a few serial arsonists lately, setting dumpsters, cars, and garages on fire. Usually 6-10 in one block in a night. They usually catch them though.

Prayers for you and everyone inconvenienced by this mess. Was that rain or just run-off from the firehoses??

Trail,

So glad that you all are safe. Really really glad. That is a scary thing to happen.
I will give thanks that you got through that close call.

Whew...happy that all is safe with you!

I'm glad you are safe Trail. Very scary.

Sorry to hear this news, but glad you are alright. My heart is heavy for the people that lost their apartments.

We haven't heard the official word on how the fire started. The news outlets are all over the place with their "facts." One of the news stations stated that there was $18,000 in damage, I tend to differ. That entire building will need to be replaced. If you can build a connected apartment structure with 8 apartments in it for $18,000 then you should write a book! LOL! Some said it was a kitchen fire, but our neighbors who lived in one of the apartments directly across the hall from where the fire took place said they heard an explosion. The other tenants that face that side of the courtyard said the window blew out of one of the apartments and then a few seconds later smoke and flames started coming out. Who knows, as with any large complex we've got a real mix of personalities, so it could have been anything from a kitchen fire to a Meth lab.

What a frightening experience Trail. Glad to hear you are safe.

How very scary Trail. I'm glad you are OK. Prayers for you and those affected by the fire.

So glad you are safe, Trail_Mystic What a truly horrible experience

Oh my gosh Trail. I was feeling like I was having one of "those" days til I saw this. So glad you guys are ok. I hope the clean up goes swiftly.

Whoa T.M.! Sounds like you had an “action-adventure”, the kind I try to avoid, but sometimes can't. I'm an Eagle Scout, and “be prepared” is ingrained in my soul. I've been stuck in the middle of no where rural SE Georgia when the car broke down at night, trapped in a motel in Atlanta when the electricity went out to that whole side of town (bad lightning storm) at night, etc., and the common theme was it was dark, Dark, DARK!

I never leave the house without a flashlight. I have a Fenix L1T on my key chain (attached by a lanyard), so I can't leave the house without it. No longer in production, but newer models are available. Forget the Photon style mini-flashlights. Not too bright, don't last long, and I have never successfully replaced a battery in one.

On a more positive side, you'd be amazed at how useful they are in everyday life. Drop something on the floor and it rolls under the table, see if kitty is hiding under the couch, find keyholes at night. I use mine all the time. Something like this that is useful and little thought of (until you Really need it) would make a great birthday or Christmas present for all your friends and loved ones.

If you're looking for serious flashlights at reasonable prices, brightguy.com is one of the best places I know of. I attest I have no affiliation with them other than being a repeat customer, and no customer referal or other [blip] involved.

I'm glad that you and yours are well. Best wishes and prayers for all the rest.

Albert