home: September 2002 Archives

I know i drive you all nuts when I say my building is on fire. I can't help it when the fire engines show up every time I'm on the phone.

Okay... so it has never been a real fire, but Samuel Clemens never got anywhere with journalism.

Yesterday though, the exaggeration became almost too real. Honestly, I missed it all. But when I came home, the Arson Investigation unit was pulling out of the driveway. And in a few hours, when the Emergency Services repair truck pulled up next door, it finally hit me what happened while I was in Bethesda.

The five hours of deconstruction, sawing, shattering, and hammering in the middle of last night left the neighboring building with a grim visage. It looks as though the entire right half of the building -- four stories -- was damaged by a fire.

No injuries, from what I can tell.

But it strikes very close to home. Literally. One entire side of my apartment is literally connected to that building. If the fire had spread to the other half of the building...