Up close and personal

Yesterday, I had an unpleasant first hand experience with FIRE .. there was a fire in the apartment right in front of mine on the same floor .. it was shortly after midnight, I was already in bed when I heard the commotion .. people running on the stairs and talking loudly .. my first thought was to call security for those tasteless idiots causing this noise, but on second thought, I decided to go out and pick a fight.

The moment I opened my bed room door, I was taken aback by the terrible smell, the power was out, it was dark, so at first I didn't know what was causing this terrible smell and by now I could hear that there was an edge of fear in the voices out side my door.

I picked up a flash light and opened the door, it's difficult to describe what I saw, you hear the stories from people who has been through similar situations but when you meet with it up-close-and-personal it's totally different .. the surprise .. the sheer surprise .. nothing will ever prepare you for this, the door to the apartment on fire was still closed but glowing all around !! Yes .. Glowing with a reddish hue and cracking.

A fireman with a heavy hammer came to the door and took it down, there was a popping sound like that of a bottle of cock opening and that fireman was pushed backward into the arms of other firemen standing right behind him and the lot were tossed onto me, into my own apartment .. one moment I was standing in my doorway watching .. the next I'm on the floor with 3 firemen.

Now .. you can see the beast, the flames were creeping up the walls, on the ceiling and out the door in a curve .. it looks like the fire is alive .. it move around in a way very much similar to that of a snake, a huge orange black snake .. it's not how it looks that get to you .. it's how it sounds ... it's a hissing growling low tone sound that reverberate like a caged beast, it seeps through your ears to your heart leaving an icy raw fear that run through your spine, I'm a tough guy, I've been around and I don't scare easily, but that seen and that sound was really terrifying, It doesn't matter how tough your are, the fire simply don't care.

Later on, the fire department officer told me that he and his men are surprised and terrified by the awesome power of fire just the same, every single time .. no matter how experienced or how many times you come up against it, that fear - he said - is what keeps him and his men alive.

The firemen .. that's another story ..