"This fire is outta control"

This was the view of a house three doors down from ours last night. Flames shot right through the roof, and caught the roof of the next house on fire. Six engines responded, including a ladder truck. This all started around 10PM, and when I got home from band practice at about 11:45 the street was still blocked off, chocked with fire trucks, ambulances, hoses, emergency responders, and people from the neighborhood.

Heidi & I watched as the firemen hosed down the smoldering house, and throw charred possessions out onto a pile in the front yard. It was a sobering reminder of what havoc and tragedy a house fire can wreak. I can't imagine losing everything I own to a fire and having to start over, instantaneously. No clothes, no computer, no instruments(!), no cookware... nothing. Even with insurance it must be an incredible undertaking to replace all one's things.

We're going to replace the batteries in our smoke detectors, and maybe even get an escape ladder for our bedroom. We also need to make sure our insurance ducks are in a row, especially for our instruments. My upright bass alone would cost a minimum of $5000 to replace, plus the related equipment (bag, bow, bow case, bass stand, etc.).

Nothing quite like learning from the misfortune of others....