FIRE!!!

Yeah, so we were sittingin our living room last night when I heard what sounded like something slamming in to the wall of our neighbors row house. Just then Katie said something smielled like it was burning. The last time she said that was last Winter, and one of the houses behind us was on fire.

Well, remembering this, we ran to the back door to see if history was repeating itself. Nothing going on behind us, but out of the corner of my eye I saw an orange glow back towards our house. I looked back to see the adjacent window to ours, glowing with it's curtain ablaze!

Immediatley, Katie and I both started to call 911, while Lydia rushed up to the kid's room, arousing them form their sleep and rushing them downstairs and across the ally to our rendezvous spot, just as we have rehearsed!

The fire trucks were here within three minutes of my call, but the fire had spread throught the whole house. Gratefully, for us, when our home was remodelled, a fire wall was installed to protect us from such instances, when fires typically spread rapidly thorughout the entire row building via the attic space. The wall blocked such a spread, protecting us and the neighbors on the other side.

We ahve much to be grateful for at this time. Although we have smoke and a little water damage in Lydia's room, we did not lose everything as our neighbor, Maria, did. Thanksfully for her, she and her kids (who have a one year old baby) were not in the house when the fire statred. And thankfully for them and us and others, we were home and in a position to hear and smell what was happening so that a response could be made in as quick a time as possible.

So today, we're waiting on insurance adjusters, helping Maria as we can (mostly meals right now), and trying to maintain some sense of normalcy.