Really good stories today!

I remember a good scare that involved the house across the street, and too close to a disaster for everyone. 

Welders repairing the fire escape at the apartment building across the street started a fire in the roof. They didn't notice right away, then tried to put it out themselves, then it became fully involved in the attic, and then they called the fire department. The fire seemed manageable to the welders because it was just a bird's nest tucked in the exterior metal brackets, but there must have been a gap letting the burning material into the attic. Pretty soon, we had several fire trucks and dozens of firefighters standing around trying to figure out how to get at the fire. (My photos were used in the local news magazine.) Eventually, they chopped through the roof, while at the same time dragging hoses up through three flights into the attic of the adjacent wing, that unfortunately didn't connect to the attic that was burning. Flames were shooting into the sky for about an hour until they drenched everything pretty good and pulled out the hoses and left the poor old house open to the wintry sky.

Six months later, the house was returned to utility and tenants moved back into an improved building. Thank goodness it was insured, and that the landlord was willing to act quickly.



Ilene R. Tyler



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