Witness to A Tragedy--ME!

[KG Erwin]

The Church near my house is burning as I write--it is only 200 yards away. Thankfully, no one was in it. My wife and I were watching in horrified fascination as the rear section is burning--the local fire depts are running out of water . I gave the minister of the church, who lives near us, a hug of condolence. I'm not a religious person, but an event like this saddens me greatly-- not only was this a place of worship, but it also serves as a day-care center. We can only be thankful that no one was hurt. [:(]

[Alby]

wow!! [X(]

[KG Erwin]

Followup: it took about three hours for firefighters to subdue the flames, but the church is 50% destroyed. The congregation held services in the parking lot this morning.

I am happy to report that there were no injuries.

[Riun T]

Please tell me they had insurance??!!

[Wild Bill]

Easy to say, hard to believe sometimes. Triumph can come out of tragedy. Its happened so many times in my life (not a fire, per se - disasters have many faces!). I wish them the best.

At 10 years of age I was forced to watch the Winecoff hotel burn in downtown Atlanta. It was 1947. It was the middle of the night. Seeing people jump to their deaths was something I will never forget. 119 people died early that morning.

Fire is a terrible thing to witness anytime, and worse to be a part of.

WB

[Terminus]

Oh yeah, seeing people jump out of burning buildings is absolutely awful. I still remember with dread watching the Twin Towers on TV, and seeing what at first I thought was bundles of paper being blown out of the windows. I almost threw up when I realised the "bundles" were people falling to their deaths.

[RUPD3658]

Two words...smoke detectors. Get 'um and test 'um regularly.

During my patrol days I responded to several house fires. Never lost anyone in a house that had functioning detectors. Can't say that this was always the case for those that did not.

Also remember..for grease fires in the kitchen water only makes things worse. A fire extinguisher (or flour/sugar in a pinch) does much better.

[Hauberk]

I'm glad no one was injured.Buildings can be replaced,people can't.I have a nephew who had a foolish encounter with a book of matches when he was a child.He will carry the scars for the rest of his life.