Horrible January 14, 2008

Yesterday before noon, we heard some beeping, like a semi backing up. Rick looked outside and saw smoke. At first, I thought it was someone burning leaves, but then I put two and two together that someone’s house was on fire, nearby. Turns out, it was very nearby (see the Google map I created) — from just out on the street, we could see between our neighbors’ houses a house with smoke billowing out the attic vent. We already heard police and fire approaching, so we didn’t run to help. It turns out that our neighbor had been in his garage, heard cries for help, and ran and got one child out. The mother of the child got out with some burns; her two other children did not. For news coverage, see here.

It was an odd rest of the day — continuing really through today. We saw the medivac helicopter hovering and then land at the nearby park. We saw people come up our street and then turn around when they found the street closed at the end; it remained closed through the night. There were lights on from investigators and TV crews. I don’t think it was until today though, when we got confirmation of the two deaths, that it hit. It is odd having such tragedy so close and so far (we didn’t know them at all). I am already paranoid about fire and burglary, and I hope this doesn’t make me want to just stay in the house forever. Truly sad though, and an odd way to start the week.

Edit: here’s a follow-up story from the Inquirer.