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| The scene outside our building on Saturday night. |
I was watching TV and scrolling through my phone, and dh was doing our taxes (deadline is April 30th in Canada) when the fire alarm went off.
(We've had several alarms since we moved into this building six years ago (almost to the day). Most of them have been false -- but once, a furnace unit overheated and set off the sprinklers in a unit down the hall from us -- fortunately for us, WAY down the hall, at the other end. Needless to say, there was a LOT of water damage to that unit as well as ones nearby and below.)
I went out on the balcony to see if I could see anything (and to get away from the incredibly LOUD alarm, lol). There were already people outside, several of them standing out in the parking lot and looking up at the building. Someone outside on the ground called up to someone on a nearby balcony that there WAS actually a fire (!) -- so dh & I pulled on our masks and shoes and jackets, grabbed our phones, keys and purse/wallet, and headed down the nearby stairwell and outside. (I forgot to put on my wedding & engagement rings (!), but did think to grab the portable hard drive that has all my laptop backup files on it.)
Turned out someone had carelessly flicked a cigarette butt into a potted plant on a balcony on the 7th floor (the top floor -- three floors above us, and at the opposite end of the building, fortunately)... which then caught fire. (This is why ashtrays were invented, people...!) Luckily, someone in the condo building across the street saw the flames and called 911.
It could have been much (much) worse.
You can find more of this week's #MicroblogMondays posts here.
Oooh, quick thinking to grab your hard drive with the backups!
ReplyDeleteI guess fire alarms are a downside of living in a condo. Glad it was minor, short-lived, and that you have good condo neighbours across the street!
Oh! How could someone be so thoughtless and careless? Very scary, and I'm glad it was resolved quickly and without much lasting impact.
ReplyDelete