I'd awakened early this morning to what sounded like hail. I'd awakened to the sound of shouting outside. I'd awakened to the sound of explosions.
The Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle is relatively quiet at night -- relatively because only frequently I'm awakened to sirens, drunk kids having fun after the bars have closed, the sounds of unrequited love, or muffled cries for help from everywhere & nowhere. Unlike my nights in NYC, I do not often hear gunshots.
The mind can work strange magic when awakened from a deep sleep. I got out of bed & looked out my window to find there was no hail falling, yet the sound persisted. I had then noticed a girl with an expression of disbelief on her face in a window below looking up toward the building next to mine on the other side. Wondering what she could possibly be looking at, I went out to my living room to find it was entirely illuminated in a ghastly, pale orange color.
The mind can work strange magic when awakened from a deep sleep. I got out of bed & looked out my window to find there was no hail falling, yet the sound persisted. I had then noticed a girl with an expression of disbelief on her face in a window below looking up toward the building next to mine on the other side. Wondering what she could possibly be looking at, I went out to my living room to find it was entirely illuminated in a ghastly, pale orange color.
This light was coming from outside my windows -- the windows which take up almost the entire south wall of my apartment. The building next door -- the building slated for more than a year to be torn down in the name of progress -- was on fire not fifty feet from the very windows at which I was now standing in awe.
I quickly found my camera, threw on some clothes & went outside to find chaos.
I quickly found my camera, threw on some clothes & went outside to find chaos.
I was ordered to a spot down the street "out of harm's way" (I really hate that expression). There were more fire engines in the street than I knew Seattle had!
These next shots were taken from the alcove of the building on the other side of my building where I'd taken shelter out of site from the cops with a cute girl from my building & another guy I'd gathered was a cop -- also from my building -- as he was first concerned about a new pair of handcuffs he'd lost & was talking with a fire fighter at one point. He'd told the girl & me about having been hired by Blackwater -- the major outsourcer of troops to Iraq. Apparently he's heading to Iraq soon. The girl & I were not terribly impressed by his courage, rather, perhaps, by his naiveté.
I then got across the street That's my building on the right.
Back in the alcove, as the cops were clearing the sidewalk across the street, sans cute girl & outsourced soldier.
Wandering round looking for shots again....
My apartment manager & I had decided to make a dash for our building, as things were calming down, & there didn't appear to be any flames coming from our building. I got these just before dawn from inside my apartment.
Finally, after the sun rose, I got a couple more.
Productive morning. For me, anyway. I'd heard rumor that there were two people still living in that building, at opposite corners. I won't know till the news tonight if either of the two were in the building at the time. Considering it was a Sunday night/Monday morning, chances are good both were there sleeping when it had started. I should think the explosions would have awakened them too....
UPDATE
I was seriously thinking against updating this post, as the news is sad. The one remaining person occupying an apartment in the building above, had been found by firefighters. The 79 year old man, who had lived in the same apartment for forty years, & had also been so reluctant to leave that he had been forced into court twice by the owner to get him out, had died on the scene.
From a King5 news story, "Fire investigators determined that this was a set fire. An open flame was used to ignite nearby combustible materials in a first-floor apartment".
That's very interesting, to me, considering the owner of the building is already hard at work with people clearing the site. Of course, I'm not suggesting that anyone could have had any reason to go so far as to guarantee the man would leave. I wonder, though, just how long it will be before the wrecking crew arrive....
From a King5 news story, "Fire investigators determined that this was a set fire. An open flame was used to ignite nearby combustible materials in a first-floor apartment".
That's very interesting, to me, considering the owner of the building is already hard at work with people clearing the site. Of course, I'm not suggesting that anyone could have had any reason to go so far as to guarantee the man would leave. I wonder, though, just how long it will be before the wrecking crew arrive....
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