I had promised my friends a game of Magic the Gathering today because a friend was leaving for a job in China soon. I needed to run out and buy some index cards to substitute for real cards. I had to run out to two different shops to find the index study cards I needed. When I was returning home, I rode up in the elevator with one of the new security guards.
The guy looked at me suspiciously. That’s the job of security guards, but the other parts of their jobs involve doing nothing, watching television, and sleeping. This is the first time any security guard paid any attention to me after two years of living here.
“You live here? What floor,” he asked.
“Uh, yeah, I’ve got my keys right here.”
He gave a sort of shrug and a, “Huh”, as if he didn’t have a clue about me living here. Whatever, I’ll be living at the apartment across the street in a month’s time anyway, and I had been there longer.
* * *
I was walking Yoshi on our route around the apartment when I spotted a fire. The apartment complex I live in had a large brush pile secured behind a gate. This is from all the trimmings around the apartment. I thought that they were doing a controlled burn to dispose of the brush. I wouldn’t past the elderly security guards to burn trash despite the pollution, but it seemed odd that the fire would be that big. I could feel the heat and had to leave the walking trail for fear of being burned.
It’s only when I got closer that I realized that there were spectators, the fire was large, and it was feeding on the wind and catching nearby trees on fire. This was NOT a controlled burn. I called my friend that I was going to meet after the walk, then completed my lap around the apartment. I expected it to be out before I returned, but secretly wanted to catch what was going on.
When I arrived behind my apartment, the fire was still out of control. It was two stories tall, and there was a small hose from one of the apartments trying to contain the fire.
There was a crowd gathering, and I was late to meet my friends due to all the picture snapping, so I decided to head up to my apartment for a better view. When I was leaving, a firefighter hopped a fence in dramatic fashion and started battling the blaze close range with a hose.
I got this shot right before I went into my apartment of fire fighters on the small building’s room fighting the fire. It was easily under control at this point.
When I returned home from playing cards with my friends, this was what was left of the fire.
I’m just waiting for a “wanted” picture with my picture on it to start circling around. “Suspicious foreigner sighted in neighborhood for the first time on the same day as the fire. Claims to live in building, never seen before. Possible arsonist.”
