FIRE!

"What one item would you grab if your house was on fire?" This is a common question I heard growing up on the playground or get-to-know-you type questions as an adult. My answer was always my people, animals, maybe pictures, but like many others, never thought much about it after that. A Monday morning in February 2022 changed that. I now know EXACTLY what I would grab, what order I would grab it in, and how long it would take me.

Don't worry, we are all safe.

Our apartment didn't end up catching fire, but opening your shutters to massive flames just feet from your window will make you move like it is. We woke up at 2:17am to a pounding on our front door, needless to say we were not happy and very confused. It was our friend and neighbor across the hall who woke to a lady screaming "FIRE!" outside his window. The building across the road was on fire.

The past few weeks we were unusually windy and stormy . Nothing really for us Midwesterners but it freaked out many of our local friends. We even got scolded for going for a walk one night because of the "bad weather". I only mention this because the wind strength and direction is believed to have contributed to the spread of the fire as well as our extreme concern for it jumping to our building.

"Pack a bag."

After I heard our neighbor say fire, I opened the shutters on our bedroom window that face the building. I stood there in bewilderment at the tornado of fire two stories high, enveloping the building not 30 feet (10 m) from where we were standing. A stunned two seconds passed before I turned to Jesse and said "Pack a bag.".

Neither of us looked back at the fire or at each other for a solid two minutes while we ran around the house packing our essentials. *Note: Had our apartment already been on fire, I would have immediately left the building with Jesse and Zoey. However we knew we had time, so we packed. I knew Zoey would follow us with or without a leash and collar if needed and I had all of her documents digitally saved or they would be easy to get copies. Passports we mostly keep on us so that was already in my purse by the door. I put on an outfit that I could wear for days and packed a secondary one. Next I grabbed our medical and moving files, my contact lens supply, and my computer with all our pictures.

*

Things that I looked at and was willing to let burn.

The surreal and honestly quite interesting part to me looking back, wasn't what we WERE packing it was what we were making the conscious decision NOT to pack. All of the things we weren't taking, I realized, were conveniences or luxuries in our lives. Things that make our home comfortable, easier, or fun. Things, like my Nikon camera, that I looked at and was willing to let burn.

After our bags were by the door (literally no more than 2 minutes aka 120 seconds) we came back to the window to assess if we needed to leave. The fire had already spread and was getting hotter. The police had arrived but no firetrucks yet. Our neighbor who had warned us had also gone to the older woman who lives above us and uses a motorized scooter and she was waiting in his apartment ready to evacuate out the garden gate if needed. Our building's front door faced the building on fire so that wasn't really an option for evacuation. With that said, I also planned on leaving our garden gate unlocked in case people needed to evacuate out the hall window into our garden and get away. Our neighbor asked the police officers and the chief of the fire department numerous times about evacuation but each time they advised us to stay in the building. With the way the wind was blowing and where the fire was tracking they didn't want the door to our building being opened and they were confident they could keep it from jumping.

It was terrifying and incredible at the same time.

With bags by the door, we were ready to leave at any moment. However, because we stayed we had a front row seat to everything. It was terrifying and incredible at the same time. One of the first apartments on fire was that of a friend and her dog. I knew they had gotten out safely so while I didn't know for sure, I was confident most everyone else was able to evacuate. Over 100 people live in the building and since that night there have been a reported 0 deaths and only 4 minor injuries from smoke inhalation.

As expected, we got very little sleep that night. The fire fighters were out there keeping water on the building for two solid days straight. We ended up "sleeping" on the couch that night and Jesse worked from home on Monday. Honestly, even if he wanted to go in to work, the firetrucks and emergency vehicles were completely blocking the entrance to our garage as well as the entire street leading to our apartment.

I had almost no fear as I stared into the flames, packed a bag, and made our plan.

My instinctual response in emergency situations hasn't been rigorously tested (thank goodness) but I have been in some minor emergency situations unprepared (coming face-to-face with a herd of wild African water buffalo in the middle of the night on my way to the bathroom is a good example, who is prepared for something like that?!). In those situations though, my instincts are to remain calm, collected, and thinking clearly. This night, those instincts kicked in big time. I had almost no fear as I stared into the flames, packed a bag, and made our plan. I had made a definitive plan and thought though a dozen contingencies in each case if something changed. Even when the fire was mostly under control and the chances of it jumping to our building were so minuscule, my body didn't leave that emergency response mode. I could feel my exhaustion of the coursing adrenaline for, going on 5 hours since we woke, but I couldn't turn it off to let myself sleep. Jesse finally said the magic words "I'm not going to be able to sleep with the firemen talking where we can hear them." and something in my brain clicked and told me my "watch turn" was over. I think I was asleep before my eyelids were fully closed.

I would wake up in a panic thinking the house was on fire.

The second night, they were still out there keeping water on the building as some parts were still burning. Between the lights and noise, I was struggling to fall and stay asleep in our room. I would wake up in a panic thinking the house was on fire because I could still hear the trucks and the firemen outside as well as still smell the smoke. I spent that second night restlessly on the couch too. Jesse luckily was able to sleep just fine in our room so he was able to get some rest to go into work the next day.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation. This was national and even international news worthy. The way buildings are constructed in Germany this is HIGHLY unusual and unlikely. In the weeks since the fire, there have been hundreds if not thousands of reporters, fire investigators, and gawkers from everywhere coming to look at the ruins. They put up fencing and tape to keep the onlookers from leaning up against our bedroom window, and even weeks later I consistently have to fight through crowds of people to get to my front door or to take Zoey on a walk. While this is a big inconvenience and feels sometimes like an invasion of privacy, we are incredibly thankful we are safe and our lives were not more affected by this tragedy.

The video below is a compilation of all the videos we took that night with time stamps included.

Hugs,

EverydayKellyKay