Fire in the apartment building
I was just about to go to the pile of laundry, when the phone rang. My oldest had a short message:
''There's a fire in the apartment below me. Don't worry. I'm outside and I'm safe. Will call you later.''We could follow the fire in the media. The fireworkers managed to extinguish the fire. The apartment below that of my son was declared uninhabitable. It took another two hours before we got the call that matters were settled. So here's the story.
When the fire started the women warned the fire department and everybody in the building, so everyone got out, then opened windows and door to air the place (!!!). So when she told that when they were standing outside waiting for the fireworkers, my son and another man looked at each other and went to close all windows and doors in the building. (Fireworkers later thanked them for that). The police arrived to check if everybody was out. In the meantime my son was already calling some of the other inhabitants and they said they were not in the building at all. So that helped the police. The fire was very fast and fierce. When the fireworkers arrived they wanted access to the apartment of my son, as it was directly above the fire. Coincidence was that he just had done the laundry and had a nice pile of wet tea towels in his bathroom waiting for the line. The fireworker saw this and took them to stuff the ventilation channel. This prevented most smoke entering his apartment through the channel and contained the fire to the apartment below. So he's very lucky. There is waterdamage, as they put the waterhose in the channel, so the walls in his bathroom and kitchen are wet. And there is just minor soot damage. The woman was insured the best way. So the insurance company was very fast to check the immediate damage and all will be covered, including the tea towels. LOL! Next monday a first aid by fires organisation will come and they will clean away the soot , assess the damage again, and start painting. They take 4 days to clean up all the mess. My son can sleep at a friend's house nearby when he can't sleep during the night. But he thinks he can stay at home as the smell is minimal and confined to the rooms where the ventilation channel stretches too. The woman of the burned out apartment is pregnant and she has lost everything. Because of the very good insurance that shouldn't be a huge problem, but still. I've said we can try and get things for her through the give-away groups in this area if necessary. Her parents live nearby, so she can stay there. So I'm very happy all came out without injury. And my laundry is still waiting... :)
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