Let me take you back, three years ago to the date. It was, like, 10:00 when Niamh comes running through the house yelling, "FIRE! FIRE!" Now, any logical person in this situation would assume that, of course, their house was on fire. I hear her run to the living room, which is at the front of the house, facing the street, so, naturally, I run out of my room and into the living room, where I realize she's talking about the house across the street, which was currently on fire. Long story short, the house was highly damaged, and the houses on either side were, for the most part, okay, after a bit of renevation. It was determined that the fire was started by fireworks (It was the fourth of July) and wasnt given any thought. The front of the house was black from the smoke, but otherwise fine. But the back was totally ruined.
Three years later, the front of the house was painted by my dad for the house owner(Jack) Soon after the fire. But then Jack dissapeared for three years, so the house was left in ruin and uninhabited. Or was it? It turns out, and we had been complaining about this for YEARS to the city, and they did NOTHING, that there were squatters living in the house. According to a couple of our neighbors, a couple nights before the fire, there were LIGHTS on in the house. As I said, the house was supposed to be uninhabited, so there was no electricity, so it must have been caused by a generator. And what do we know powers most generators? Gas. What can gas cause? Explosions AND FIRES. Now, to the night of the fire. I woke up at 3:00 AM on the day before the 4th of July (Almost 3 years to the DATE.) To Niamh screaming, "OH MY GOODNESS, JACK'S HOUSE IS ON FIRE!" My initial reaction was shock, disbelief, and utter horror. No. This couldnt be happening to us again. But it was. I jumped out of bed and, once again, ran out of my room and into the living room to view Jack's house up in flames. Now, remember how I had told you that the houses on either side had been slightly damaged in the first fire? Well that was a simple 2-alarm fire. This was an inferno, 4-alarm fire. My dad quickly calls 9-1-1 as I stare in horror. We dash outside and make sure everyone is out of their houses. Just after we have everyone evacuated, the fire department arrives. I return to my house and lock my dog and my cat in my room, then go to the glass door to our backyard and watch as embers rain down on our backyard, to make sure none of them caught fire. As I watched this firey rain, I could hear from the living room as the front of Jack's house fell to the ground, and as the Electric wires melted and sizzled loudly, zapping anything they came in contact with, including a car that now has a slightly melted light. In front of Jack's house was a black car, that was quickly on fire. It angered me, as the fire in the car got larger and larger, and none of the 100+ firefighters on my street had the ingenious idea of putting it out until it was near explosion. They got the fire out in under an hour, and my dad had already hosed down our backyard. I was in front when I heard my stepmother exclaim, "Oh my goodness!" My lunatic neighbor had not had the idea of hosing down their backyard, so it was no surprise when a small fire started on his deck and in between our two fences. The fire department quickly got it taken care of, though, and it seemed that the excitement was over.
The fire was, apparently, caused by a couple living in the house at the time. The story goes that their cat knocked over a candle onto their gas generator, lighting it on fire, and creating a small explosion, starting the house fire. They were squatters, who were 'secretly' living in the house. My parents were woken by my Dog, who started barking when he saw the fire, which caused my stepmom to get up and see the fire as well. This would have never happened if the city had paid attention to the dozens of complaints we had about the squatters. This time, the fire had totally destroyed Jack's house, caused severe damage to the houses on either side, and a small ammount of damage to the next house over.
Three years later, the front of the house was painted by my dad for the house owner(Jack) Soon after the fire. But then Jack dissapeared for three years, so the house was left in ruin and uninhabited. Or was it? It turns out, and we had been complaining about this for YEARS to the city, and they did NOTHING, that there were squatters living in the house. According to a couple of our neighbors, a couple nights before the fire, there were LIGHTS on in the house. As I said, the house was supposed to be uninhabited, so there was no electricity, so it must have been caused by a generator. And what do we know powers most generators? Gas. What can gas cause? Explosions AND FIRES. Now, to the night of the fire. I woke up at 3:00 AM on the day before the 4th of July (Almost 3 years to the DATE.) To Niamh screaming, "OH MY GOODNESS, JACK'S HOUSE IS ON FIRE!" My initial reaction was shock, disbelief, and utter horror. No. This couldnt be happening to us again. But it was. I jumped out of bed and, once again, ran out of my room and into the living room to view Jack's house up in flames. Now, remember how I had told you that the houses on either side had been slightly damaged in the first fire? Well that was a simple 2-alarm fire. This was an inferno, 4-alarm fire. My dad quickly calls 9-1-1 as I stare in horror. We dash outside and make sure everyone is out of their houses. Just after we have everyone evacuated, the fire department arrives. I return to my house and lock my dog and my cat in my room, then go to the glass door to our backyard and watch as embers rain down on our backyard, to make sure none of them caught fire. As I watched this firey rain, I could hear from the living room as the front of Jack's house fell to the ground, and as the Electric wires melted and sizzled loudly, zapping anything they came in contact with, including a car that now has a slightly melted light. In front of Jack's house was a black car, that was quickly on fire. It angered me, as the fire in the car got larger and larger, and none of the 100+ firefighters on my street had the ingenious idea of putting it out until it was near explosion. They got the fire out in under an hour, and my dad had already hosed down our backyard. I was in front when I heard my stepmother exclaim, "Oh my goodness!" My lunatic neighbor had not had the idea of hosing down their backyard, so it was no surprise when a small fire started on his deck and in between our two fences. The fire department quickly got it taken care of, though, and it seemed that the excitement was over.
The fire was, apparently, caused by a couple living in the house at the time. The story goes that their cat knocked over a candle onto their gas generator, lighting it on fire, and creating a small explosion, starting the house fire. They were squatters, who were 'secretly' living in the house. My parents were woken by my Dog, who started barking when he saw the fire, which caused my stepmom to get up and see the fire as well. This would have never happened if the city had paid attention to the dozens of complaints we had about the squatters. This time, the fire had totally destroyed Jack's house, caused severe damage to the houses on either side, and a small ammount of damage to the next house over.