MumDrum: House on Fire!

Friday, August 30, 2013

House on Fire!

We had a very eventful week in our complex last week...not in a good way! First we were without water from Sunday morning. A water pipe had burst nearby, but a boulder was blocking access to the area so we remained without water till late on Tuesday afternoon. When you have 4 kids, having no water is not a fun adventure. But the week was not done with us yet! On Thursday, while cooking, I received a call from my neighbour Mary, who had a a distinctly panicked tone in her voice, asking me if I was home. When I said I was she told me to grab the kids and get out of the house because the neighbour's house just one house away from me was on fire! I immediately turned off the stove, called to Bilaal to come downstairs and help me get Sumayah and Yusuf in the car, while I strapped Uthmaan into his car seat. As we pulled out of the garage I saw the smoke in the air, I could smell the fire, and saw all the complex neighbours (among other strangers I didn't recognise), standing around looking toward my neighbour's house. Even passersby outside our complex on the other side of the road were standing staring at the blazing fire, which had already broken through the roof. It was quite a frightening sight and an even more frightening thought that I while I was indoors cooking, I was blissfully unaware of all that was happening just one house away!

I drove to the top of the complex and parked at the top parking area when the owner of the house arrived. There was nobody home when the fire started and her daughter was the first to return home from school to the fire. Random strangers who drove past our complex and noticed the fire came in to see if they could help and she, remarkably calm for a teenager, had them carry as much of their belongings as possible from downstairs, into the opposite neighbour's garage. But when her mom arrived, she was already in a state of panic having received a call from ADT informing her that her house was on fire. On route she could see the smoke in the distance and as a result drove into another car. She didn't cause serious damage and she says she tried to tell the driver to just take her licence and number and call her at a later stage because she needed to get home, even pointing to the smoke. But apparently this man was not interested in her personal drama and insisted on writing down all her details meticulously. So by the time she pulled into the complex and saw, the now out-of-control flames ripping through her roof, she was completely distressed to say the least! While parking up there we also saw the fire engines driving past the complex in the wrong direction! They didn't know how to get to the entrance of the complex so they had to continue in that direction to a point where they could turn around. By the time they arrived most of the other neighbours had been notified and were already home. There was police, ambulance, 4 fire engines and armed response. Even residents from the neighbouring complex walked over to see what was happening.

Mary (the neighbour who called me) also has young kids, so we bundled them all together in the boot of my car with the box of toys she had with her and could do nothing but wait while the disaster unfolded. In the end, all that remained of the first floor was a charred shell of a building. While the downstairs section was untouched by the fire, the water from the fire hoses had damaged almost everything else. We had to leave our cars at the top and walk back home while the emergency vehicles finished up their work. By the end of the day, when the kids were all in bed, a wave of complete exhaustion just rushed over me. But getting to bed, all I could think of was my neighbour and how grateful I was to have a safe, warm bed to climb into that night with all my belongings intact, but most importantly, that all my loved ones were safe and comfy...