Fire!!!!
OK, now that I have your attention, I'll tone down the drama a bit....
We had a little bit of excitement at lunchtime yesterday.
Though it could have evolved into something more serious, the fire at my place of employment turned out to be very minor.
I work in a typical suburban office building; The building is 2 stories tall, with a variety of offices on both floors and a small sandwich shop in the basement. It is surrounded by a parking lot. The landscaping includes flowers and shrubs and etc. adjacent to the building walls.
The fire was not inside the building. Some of the shrubbery caught fire, presumably from a carelessly tossed cigarette, and scorched the exterior wall. However, smoke from the fire made its way inside.
We never heard a fire alarm. Rather, one of my coworkers saw smoke billowing past his window, and told us to. leave the building. We could smell smoke in the hallway.
The custodial staff was able to put the fire out even before the police arrived. By the time the fire department go here (they're just down the street, but they're a volunteer fire department), it was all over but the cleanup. they had to wet the area down, check for hotspots, etc., before allowing us to reenter the building. That took more time than the fire itself.
It's a bit disconcerting, though. I'm used to working in tall buildings, where fire safety is taken very, very seriously, with frequent fire drills, evacuation drills, etc. today the building management had the situation under control fairly quickly, everyone was evacuated safe,y, but it just felt...like there was no sense of urgency.
At least it was a lovely day for an impromptu picnic in the parking lot.
We had a little bit of excitement at lunchtime yesterday.
Though it could have evolved into something more serious, the fire at my place of employment turned out to be very minor.
I work in a typical suburban office building; The building is 2 stories tall, with a variety of offices on both floors and a small sandwich shop in the basement. It is surrounded by a parking lot. The landscaping includes flowers and shrubs and etc. adjacent to the building walls.
The fire was not inside the building. Some of the shrubbery caught fire, presumably from a carelessly tossed cigarette, and scorched the exterior wall. However, smoke from the fire made its way inside.
We never heard a fire alarm. Rather, one of my coworkers saw smoke billowing past his window, and told us to. leave the building. We could smell smoke in the hallway.
The custodial staff was able to put the fire out even before the police arrived. By the time the fire department go here (they're just down the street, but they're a volunteer fire department), it was all over but the cleanup. they had to wet the area down, check for hotspots, etc., before allowing us to reenter the building. That took more time than the fire itself.
It's a bit disconcerting, though. I'm used to working in tall buildings, where fire safety is taken very, very seriously, with frequent fire drills, evacuation drills, etc. today the building management had the situation under control fairly quickly, everyone was evacuated safe,y, but it just felt...like there was no sense of urgency.
At least it was a lovely day for an impromptu picnic in the parking lot.
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