Fires

A few minutes ago, 4 fire trucks went racing down the street to what was a false alarm. It reminded me of when I lived in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood. In the 3-4 years I lived in that neighborhood there were at least 3 homes that were destroyed, at least 10 cars completely torched and various garage fires. At the time, I lived with Nicole and she would discount me whenever I smelled smoke. Actually, she discounted most things I said or did.

One night she was at class and I smelled smoke from the vents. I went outside to see if I could see anything in the basement. My landlords were a little crazy and I could write an entire blog about their techniques in fixing gas leaks. It wouldn't have been unusual for something to be happening in the basement since they used space heaters to warm the apartment's pipes in the basement or for there to be an electrical problem. My upstairs neighbors were coming home so I asked them if they smelled smoke. Yes. They said I should call the fire department. I did but I was very clear that it didn't require a ton of trucks or a huge response.

Seconds later, I could hear the sirens. Multiple sirens. 4 fire trucks. They traipsed through the apartment and also tried to see if anything was coming from the locked basement. Nothing. I was so embarrassed. I made Elston promise to never tell Nicole because I knew I would never hear the end of it. Two weeks later, I was walking Elston and I saw a fire start in the garage across the street. I saw someone run away from the garage. Huge fire and it was definitely arson. Even then, I irritated her even though our place smelled like smoke for several days. What is my point in this entry? I have absolutely no idea other than I felt my neighbor's embarrassment at a false alarm.