So I was planning to relax tonight. The wife and I were going to walk downtown for some dinner, and after that I was hoping to sit on the porch with a nice smoke. Well, there was plenty of smoke:
http://www.madison.com/tct/news/stories/285309
Just as my wife and I were leaving, our friends (and upstairs neighbors) come bursting in to tell us that their apartment was on fire. We grabbed the dogs and the cat and waited outside while smoke billowed out of the second floor. Fortunately, nobody was hurt. Even more amazingly, our apartment appears to be fine. A light fixture below the burning kitchen was full of grimy water, but there's no other water damage downstairs, and no smoke damage. The Madison Fire Department responded quickly and kept this from turning into a bad situation.
The upstairs apartment has a lot of smoke and water damage, and the kitchen is destroyed, but most of their belongings will probably be salvageable. Red Cross arranged for a hotel room for them for the next few days, and they might be staying with us for a while after that. The little 20-count humidor I gave to my friend apparently survived, though it remains to be seen whether the cigars inside were damaged by the smoke. :dunno:
Tonight wasn't the relaxing evening I had planned on, but it could have been a whole lot worse! I'm feeling very fortunate tonight, thanks in large part to the Madison Fire Department.
http://www.madison.com/tct/news/stories/285309
Just as my wife and I were leaving, our friends (and upstairs neighbors) come bursting in to tell us that their apartment was on fire. We grabbed the dogs and the cat and waited outside while smoke billowed out of the second floor. Fortunately, nobody was hurt. Even more amazingly, our apartment appears to be fine. A light fixture below the burning kitchen was full of grimy water, but there's no other water damage downstairs, and no smoke damage. The Madison Fire Department responded quickly and kept this from turning into a bad situation.
The upstairs apartment has a lot of smoke and water damage, and the kitchen is destroyed, but most of their belongings will probably be salvageable. Red Cross arranged for a hotel room for them for the next few days, and they might be staying with us for a while after that. The little 20-count humidor I gave to my friend apparently survived, though it remains to be seen whether the cigars inside were damaged by the smoke. :dunno:
Tonight wasn't the relaxing evening I had planned on, but it could have been a whole lot worse! I'm feeling very fortunate tonight, thanks in large part to the Madison Fire Department.
