We experienced and unbelievably exciting and tragic Friday night and Saturday morning. Two houses in our neighborhood were completely gutted by a massive fire.
Here is how it went down according to what I saw and talking to the other neighbors.
We arrived home from shooting a great wedding and I was watching tv when I heard a popping sound around 3:20. I thought it might be someone breaking into a car or something so I looked out the sliding glass door. The second I pulled back the curtain I saw the most surreal thing I have ever experienced. The house at the end of the street was on fire. Not smoking or a little bit of flame but fully engulfed with massive flames twice the height of the house were pouring off the right side. I grabbed the phone and called 911 while screaming for Steph to wake up. I quickly told the operator there was a fire in Richmond and they said they had already had a few calls and put me on hold. I threw the phone to Steph and ran down the street to see if I could help. I was pretty much the first person on the scene.
There was no way to approach the house that was on fire. From the street it was like standing real close to a bonfire. I ran next door and the people were milling in the front door. I was screaming at the people to get the hell out because it didn't seem like they were too concerned. It turns out later that the woman I was yelling at was another neighbor who had arrived seconds before me and was helping the elderly couple who live there to get out. The homeowner had also called 911 and at this point was pretty confident his house would be saved. I could tell everyone here was getting out so I ran to the street to see what was going on. Due to the wind or whatever reason the fire seemed to be spreading west so I went to the next house and pounded on the door like a madman. After a few minutes a lady answered and she looked pretty shocked . I told her there was a fire and to get out the house and she had this blank look on her face. I realized what it must look like. It was the middle of the night and a half naked guy was yelling at her to get out of her house. From where she was standing she couldn't see a thing. I pulled her out and pointed to the fire and she quickly saw the severity of the situation.
I went back to the street and by this time the paramedics had arrived. I told them there were people out of the the houses to the west of the house that was on fire but I couldn't be sure about the hose that was on fire.
It turns out that a couple of other guys were behind the first house that was on fire and they heard calls for help. A lady and her two young kids were in the burning house. It was a two story house with no balcony, and the mother dangled her two young children from the window and dropped them to these guys. The mother had to hang herself from the window and lowered herself to the guys. I briefly talked to one of these guys and they are true heroes who stepped up in a time of need. The family was taken to the hospital but appeared okay. Apparently there was also and older woman in the house who did not fare as well. I have no idea of her condition but she was also taken by paramedics and I hope she is okay.
There was nothing else we could do at this time but wait for the fire department. I told Steph to go get my camera and some shoes and a shirt.
To give you an idea of what I originally saw imagine the house on the right has not caught fire and the house on the left was the only one burning. That is what I saw from the balcony. The crazy thing was how quiet it was, there were loud bangs when the cars were on fire and the tires and airbags exploded but the actual fire was surprisingly quiet at first.
The second house really took a while to catch on fire but once it started it was fully engulfed in minutes. The homeowner was devastated. He was out of the house for a good ten minutes waiting for the fire department to show up as his house got closer and closer to burning.
An hour later and the house was still burning, they had four hoses pouring into this house and it just wouldn't go out.
Then the ladder truck arrived around five and put out the fire.
I must say the firemen and paramedics on the scene did an amazing job. I am a little concerned about the response time and small amount of vehicles. As a homeowner I would be pretty upset if it took 15 minutes for the fire department to show up as I watched a fire jump from my neighbors house to mine. I am sure there were other calls or reasons for the slow response. I remember that last time I called 911 about 20 years ago when my little cousin cracked open his head and we had eight fire engines at the house in less than two minutes. I hope that all the people in the first house are doing well and that the families get back on their feet quickly. We have just renovated the top floor of our house and haven't put the fire alarm back up. After seeing this I will always have multiple fire alarms and will remember to change the batteries.
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