Here it is 4:40 in the am and I’m awake because the apartment complex behind my house is on fire. Woke up at 2:30 am by a helicopter circling it and then I smelled smoke.
Fuck!;l A big section just flared up. Well, if I suddenly sign off it means I’ve grabbed the cat and headed for the hills!
Christ that was frightening. Flames looked like they went a hundred feet in the air. Well, the fire department got that tamped down. Jeez, I hope they put it out soon.
All that separates me from the fire is a couple hundred yards of trees. Fortunately it has rained recently and the wind is blowing it away from me. Jeez, I hope the trees don’t catch.
Aint that just the way. No sooner have you shelled out your five dollar subscription, than your computer goes up in flames.
jokes aside tho, ill add my hopes to yours that it doesn’t spread 
Haha! I like your sense of humor
Well the section that flared up before is still going strong. I bet it won’t be long before that side of the building collapses. Oops, there it goes. Well, part of it anyway.
Christ Almighty put it out putitout put it out already! Another big crash something else collapsed somewhere out of view.
This sure is frustrating. I’m sleepy and alert all at once. And the smell of smoke is really starting to permeate things. Thank God the wind is mostly blowing it away.
Well, at 5:00 am the local news came on and I turned it on and guess what was the lead story? I learned that it’s a 4-alarm fire and the fire department’s been fighting it since 1:00 am! Wow! They have to rotate crews out every half hour because it’s such exhausting work. I’m glad I saw them on the news, that’s awfully reassuring. I can’t really see them work from this side of things, other than when they come around the edge of the building to spray the fire from this side. My view doesn’t really give me the big picture, and the news story showed things from the other side.
Unfortunately, not everyone is accounted for. 
I hope everyone turns up alright. They said this affects something like 100 residents!
Thank god the trees haven’t caught.
It looks like it is finally starting to abate. It’s still going strong, but it looks like it’s letting up. God I hope they put it out soon.
Looks like it’ll be out soon. There’s only two open flames I can see now, and they don’t look like much compared to what was going before.
Just heard on another news channel that there’s 30 (!) people unaccounted for. I sure hope they’re exagerrating I sure do.
Still going … but I can see the water sprays coming over the building. Won’t be long now.
I guess this is just self-indulgent rambling. Sorry guys. I just feel so useless and I’ve been up since 2:30 and I guess I’m a little giddy.
That latest local news story mentioned the Red Cross has something like a dozen volunteers working the area getting help to people, so I went over to redcross.org and donated a hundred bucks. I guess maybe I don’t feel completely useless now.
It may not be as bad as is first apparent. Unaccounted for doesnt necessarily equate to perished in the fire. They could be on vacation somewhere, or visting family or anything. Hopefully anyway.
Those same to bits of flame I’ve been watching are still going. The news helicopter has arrived and just showed the view from above. There’s still like a dozen firefighters fighting a heavier bit of fire that I can’t see on the other side of the building.
It’s daylight now (but cloudy) so I can really see the damage now. Damn. Well, I heard this whole side of the building collapse round about 3:30 and now I can see it and into the burnt out insides of the building.
One of those two bits has just gone out. Oops, spoke too soon. There looks to be a lot of water coming over from the other side, though so I’m guessing it won’t be long. Sure is a stubborn thing though! Now that they’re concentrated right there, there’s a lot of smoke coming this way too! Well, I’ve got all the windows closed and the wind’ll eventually blow it back the other way … C’mon go out already!!!
The last big flame just went out in a huge puff of smoke. There’s one little flame still going, despite huge amounts of water in the area. And speaking of water, this side of the building is pouring out huge amounts of water. What’s left of the balconies on the near side is like a waterfall with water shooting out of every floor.
There! The last flame just went out! Woo hoo!!!
There’s still a bunch of smoke and embers and stuff so it’ll be a while before the fire department leaves I’m sure, but the last open flame is gone. Thank you thank you thank you Jesus.
Thanks everyone for putting up with my rambling. I feel comfortable enough now to go get ready and go to work. Signing off for now!
News story, in case anyone was interested. My home would be a few hundred yards to the right of the picture shown. Anyway, gotta get to work while I’m still running on manic energy.
You have to be a registered user to read the news story.
My thoughts are with those who are unaccounted for. Glad you are safe though, Ponder Stibbons.
Registered? I guess I forgot about that. I think it’s a free registration, but you can also check out here but there’s no picture. And it’s looking like, according to that link, that no one was seriously hurt. Thank og!
I’m awake! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz