Baculus Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 So, here I am at a client's office, exploring the wonderous joy of data transfer from a WinME box to a new WinXP box. Suddenly, my girlfriend calls me; I can't quite hear what she is saying, but what I did hear was "...Townhouse on fire!" (I live in the Mount Airy area, btw...) "WHAT?" My heart starts racing: I picture my home on fire, with my girlfriend frantically trying to escape with her life. (She was out of breath and sounded like she was running.) My heart sinks. Next I picture all my wordly possessions on fire as well and my "stuff" going up in smoke, which is of course secondary to my girl, but important never-the-less. I walk outside where I could hear her better, and as it turns out, the row of townhouses two rows away are on fire. Phew! But the fire is pretty big and it is spreading. She calls me back minutes later and says that around twelve fire engines are at the location controlling the fire and our home is not in danger. The fire is under control. Sadly, several families are now homeless right before Christmas, which is a terrible shame, and my heart goes out to them. But I want to thank those fireman, pros and especially the many volunteers in our area, who risk their lives every day in the line of duty. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teller Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Wow. Too close for comfort. Glad your home and your gf are OK. Hopefully the affected families had good insurance and will be taken care of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 Glad to hear you dodged a bullet. You would be amazed how many people lose their homes prior to Christmas every year. Too often it's holiday candles that start blazes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarhog Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 Just a thought, but why not set up a donation fund for them here? I'd donate... I'm always looking for something like this to contribute to at Christmas time... were there any kids living in those houses? Come on - lets adopt one of these families (especially if they had kids)....making SOMETHING positive out of this wreck of a season and sputtering dismal board... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenaa Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 Just a thought, but why not set up a donation fund for them here? I'd donate...I'm always looking for something like this to contribute to at Christmas time... were there any kids living in those houses? Come on - lets adopt one of these families (especially if they had kids)....making SOMETHING positive out of this wreck of a season and sputtering dismal board... Great idea. I can't imagine going through something like this 2 weeks before Christmas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baculus Posted December 13, 2006 Author Share Posted December 13, 2006 Hey guys - thanks for the responses. And yes, we sure did dodge a bullet. My gf was the first person at the scene, yelled for anyone in the house, and moved back once the first truck came onto the scene. Yes, the family living there had a little girl that lived in the house, so a donation fund is a GREAT idea, Tarhog. How would we go about setting up such as that? (Besides the family that lost their entire house, two other houses appear to be damaged, but not as bad.) It is an strange scene from my backyard, looking at the fire crews as they pick over the burnt house. Here is a link to the fire, BTW: http://wjz.com/topstories/local_story_346162038.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halter91 Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 That is a shame. Maybe we can all bring something to the last game for the family, find out what they need, what size clothes they all wear, toys for the little girl? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarhog Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 I have no idea....but honestly - I trust you. If you have a paypal account, I'll start out the donation fund with $50.00 Do you know the age of the little girl?....maybe folks could send you Christmas presents for her as well. Don't let me drag you into anything, just think it might be something nice to do this time of year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DButz65 Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 Had something like that happen when i was younger. Was at work (families sub & pizza shop) late one night, about 11PM , we were closed, just cleaning up and stuff, parents were out of town. All of a sudden i look up, and one of my friends who lived down the street off one block was banging on the windows at the front door and he looked horrified. So i go let him in and im like wtf is wrong. Hes like "dude, there are like 20 fire engines on your street, and it looks like they are right in front of your house, smoke is everywhere! I immediately think of our cats and dogs since no one was home. So i yell at the guys inside in the back at the top of my lungs "my house is on fire!" and tell em im locking them in,then lock the door, and jump in my friends car and head out. We had to park 2 blocks away the street was blocked off, he throws it in park and i take off as fast as i can. As i round the corner i turned .... the house right next to ours was on fire. I think my heart stopped beating right before i turned that corner. I'll never forget that! About 15 mins later im on the street in front of the house, and i see 2 older people running towards us, it was my mom and dad, they got back in town earlier than expected, they had ran 2 blocks themselves thinking it was our house too. No1 was hurt, turns out it was a electrical fire, the house was old as hell and the landlord didnt upgrade the wiring per the countys fire chiefs request for a year, it was being rented at the time. That happening to anyone truely sucks and i wish it on no1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FedExFielder Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 Just a thought, but why not set up a donation fund for them here? I'd donate...I'm always looking for something like this to contribute to at Christmas time... were there any kids living in those houses? Come on - lets adopt one of these families (especially if they had kids)....making SOMETHING positive out of this wreck of a season and sputtering dismal board... Good post and sig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Harris Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 Great idea. I can't imagine going through something like this 2 weeks before Christmas. do you read the local paper? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinsfan44 Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 WOW!!! That was too close, Baculus. I too live in Mount Airy and yesterday afternoon; I was driving up to the store and on the way I had to pull over for a pumper truck from the Green Valley station and was wondering what was going on. As I headed north on Rt. 27 I see a TON of black and dark gray smoke throughout the sky off in the distance. As I got into town, more fire equipment was racing towards the Twin Arch Shopping center and I first thought a store was on fire. So, curiosity got the best of me, so I made my way towards the stores only to see that the smoke was coming from behind the stores, so I just followed a tanker truck back to the townhouses to see one on fire. I saw trucks from Laytonsville, Damascus, Green Valley, New Market and Libertytown so I knew this was no small fire. Glad you and the wife are okay. I would like to help out with whatever I can with the families that lost their homes, Baculus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baculus Posted December 13, 2006 Author Share Posted December 13, 2006 Yep, that was the fire, skinsfan44. Luckily, we do live in area where there are a number of volunteer fire units, so the response was fantastic; I can't say enough praise for the firefighting units in the central Maryland area. Unfortunately, an entire unit of the townhouses were lost, but it EASILY could have spread to the dozen units surrounding the town houses. BTW, do you ever go to Buffalo Wings and Beer and watch the games? Good story, DButz65. In regards to the donations, on the way to work I drove by the burnt units and several folks were standing in front of the house ruins. I spoke with one fellow who turned out to be the brother of the gentleman whose house completely burned down. (All the units are condemned, though.) He is currently organizing a donation drive, in conjunction with the mayor of Mount Airy, so I will have an account and a place where monetary as well as clothing/food/toys donations can be accepted. There are a total of four families, with five children, that can use the assistance, so anyone's generosity will be appreciated. I will post further details once the fellow calls me back with the information; thanks to all that have responded to the thread! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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