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An over view of the festivities earlier this evening [and I'm sure my overall time frame is off, but you know how fluid time can get]:
* The apartment fire alarm goes off somewhere around 1900. After checking the front door for warmth or a strong scent of burning things, I opened the door and looked out. Couldn't smell a hint of structure fire on the air anywhere. Not even a fireplace or burnt toast smell.
* The apartment fire alarm continues to go off, the new maintenance guy is seen headed down the stairs and pretty much everyone else is standing outside looking around.
* The apartment fire alarm has been going off now for at least 3 minutes solid so out come the cat carriers in case I need to leave the building. But luckily I have a shopping cart just outside the door that I can stuff the carriers in so I don't have to dig out the hand truck and straps unless things get really odd. Gods know how I was going to get it down the stairs, but hey. [FWIW: The cat carriers stack one on top of each other and strap onto the hand truck - just perfect for that 'mad dash down the stairs'. It's just the hand truck is a bit buried right now.]
* The apartment fire alarm is still going off and after some contortions and betrayals of trust, I've got three out of four cats in carriers.
* The apartment fire alarm is still going off, it's now been at least 5 minutes and I've got only three out of four cats in carriers because Henry's gone to ground somewhere and I haven't a clue where.
* The apartment fire alarm has been going off for at least 7 minutes with no FD response, yet so I decide it can't hurt to call 911 because I'm *not* evacing the kids unless I have to. So, of course, right at the minute LESA [the 911 folks] conects me to fire dispatch, the alarm finally shuts up. But that's okay, the fire dispatcher says they have units responding and asked me how to find two separate apartment numbers here in the complex once they get there so I give him directions. I figured maybe those two apts. also called it in. [BTW - WTF?? - it's now coming up on at least 8 minutes so I guess Station #16 has been toned out to something and dispatch called someone in from East Bum-Fuck County somewhere. Station #16, for those who want to know, is the next block east up the same street that I'm on. I can stand out in front of the apartments and see them.]
* The apartment fire alarm is still going off but over the remarkably shrill clamor, I can hear what sounds like at *least* three separate sirens - I'm guessing an aid unit, at least one ladder and maybe LEO or the FD BattChief. Hummm... this could turn out to be a bigger party than I originally guessed.
* The apartment fire alarm is still going off, FD has appeared, the apt manger is with them and everyone is beating feet to one of the apartments where there are several people standing outside with the door open. The FD has responded in full bunkers and are pulling on their SCBA before heading into the apartment. [A big WTF!?!?!.]
* A moment later the two fire gods come walking out, soaking wet, carrying a couple of kitty litter buckets full of water which the dump all over the place. It's at that moment I take a closer look and realize that the area in front of that apartment is wet, not from rain like the rest of us, but from a moderate flood of water coming *out* the door from *inside* the apartment.
* So now we know what happens when you accidentally knock off one of the little star heads for the fire sprinklers in your apartment. Hopefully the maintenance guy got the wet/dry shop vacs from downstairs. Right about then I decided discretion was the better part of valor, came back in, un-crated the kids and bribed them all with various goodies.
* And then Henry wanders out from where ever he was bunkered down - wherever the hell that was - wondering when *his* goodies were coming.
[sigh]
* The apartment fire alarm goes off somewhere around 1900. After checking the front door for warmth or a strong scent of burning things, I opened the door and looked out. Couldn't smell a hint of structure fire on the air anywhere. Not even a fireplace or burnt toast smell.
* The apartment fire alarm continues to go off, the new maintenance guy is seen headed down the stairs and pretty much everyone else is standing outside looking around.
* The apartment fire alarm has been going off now for at least 3 minutes solid so out come the cat carriers in case I need to leave the building. But luckily I have a shopping cart just outside the door that I can stuff the carriers in so I don't have to dig out the hand truck and straps unless things get really odd. Gods know how I was going to get it down the stairs, but hey. [FWIW: The cat carriers stack one on top of each other and strap onto the hand truck - just perfect for that 'mad dash down the stairs'. It's just the hand truck is a bit buried right now.]
* The apartment fire alarm is still going off and after some contortions and betrayals of trust, I've got three out of four cats in carriers.
* The apartment fire alarm is still going off, it's now been at least 5 minutes and I've got only three out of four cats in carriers because Henry's gone to ground somewhere and I haven't a clue where.
* The apartment fire alarm has been going off for at least 7 minutes with no FD response, yet so I decide it can't hurt to call 911 because I'm *not* evacing the kids unless I have to. So, of course, right at the minute LESA [the 911 folks] conects me to fire dispatch, the alarm finally shuts up. But that's okay, the fire dispatcher says they have units responding and asked me how to find two separate apartment numbers here in the complex once they get there so I give him directions. I figured maybe those two apts. also called it in. [BTW - WTF?? - it's now coming up on at least 8 minutes so I guess Station #16 has been toned out to something and dispatch called someone in from East Bum-Fuck County somewhere. Station #16, for those who want to know, is the next block east up the same street that I'm on. I can stand out in front of the apartments and see them.]
* The apartment fire alarm is still going off but over the remarkably shrill clamor, I can hear what sounds like at *least* three separate sirens - I'm guessing an aid unit, at least one ladder and maybe LEO or the FD BattChief. Hummm... this could turn out to be a bigger party than I originally guessed.
* The apartment fire alarm is still going off, FD has appeared, the apt manger is with them and everyone is beating feet to one of the apartments where there are several people standing outside with the door open. The FD has responded in full bunkers and are pulling on their SCBA before heading into the apartment. [A big WTF!?!?!.]
* A moment later the two fire gods come walking out, soaking wet, carrying a couple of kitty litter buckets full of water which the dump all over the place. It's at that moment I take a closer look and realize that the area in front of that apartment is wet, not from rain like the rest of us, but from a moderate flood of water coming *out* the door from *inside* the apartment.
* So now we know what happens when you accidentally knock off one of the little star heads for the fire sprinklers in your apartment. Hopefully the maintenance guy got the wet/dry shop vacs from downstairs. Right about then I decided discretion was the better part of valor, came back in, un-crated the kids and bribed them all with various goodies.
* And then Henry wanders out from where ever he was bunkered down - wherever the hell that was - wondering when *his* goodies were coming.
[sigh]
