Devastating Night for Our Neighbor

Last night was not a typical run of the mill nocturnal occurrence for our neighborhood. I was awaken around five fifteen in the morning - to the sounds of sirens - numerous sirens. I walked to the front room to look out the window and I saw several fire trucks stopped directly in front, and to the side, of our house. Hoses were outstretched and firefighters appeared to be scurrying all around. It was somewhat surreal. I immediately woke Nancy, she was still sound asleep, and told her that we had to get out of the house. I sensed that the firetrucks were not there for a fire in our dwelling, although I couldn't be certain that there might not be a problem on the side of the house, or possibly in the back of the house - but wherever the fire was - it was nearby.

I immediately smelled smoke when I exited our front door. I was in my pajamas and I had quickly put on a light coat, as it was rather chilly outside. When I looked over at our next door neighbor's house, I could tell that the fire was in their garage and that things were already pretty much under control; but I could also tell that there had been some damage to the garage interior. I saw my neighbor(s) standing in front of their house, surveying the damage. It didn't look too bad in the dark, but later today, when I talked to our neighbor, Doug, he said that the smoke from the fire had caused extensive damage to the interior of their home. He said that they would be moving out of their home, most likely for several months. It would take that long to remedy the extensive damage caused by the smoke.

After some time had passed, and I had a chance to process what had actually happened, I realized that my neighbor was actually very lucky. If the fire had gotten into the attic, and onto the roof, they could easily have been harmed -and the house might have been a total loss. As it were, no one was injured and they should be able to restore their house to it's prior condition. Still...this kind of an event really shakes you up and reminds you just how fragile life is. They will be going through some trials and tribulations for a period of time, but I'm sure they will persevere. The cause of the fire, you ask? An extinguished cigarette butt that inadvertently got placed in their trash barrel.