Fire Engines and Ambulances Galore

The building where we live was having the parking garage power washed this weekend. That meant we needed to remove the car from its space and park outside. The first day went without incident, but the second day was rather eventful. When we parked our car back in the garage we could hear that the crew was still working one level below. Shortly afterwards we noticed a fire engine and an ambulance parked next to the building. Someone from a work car was exited to a gurney and placed in the ambulance. We assumed there was an accident in the garage and sat down to watch tv. But then we heard another siren. This time when we looked out the window it looked like Christmas. There were hundreds of blinking red and green lights! The building was surrounded by several fire trucks and ambulances. There was no notice from management/front desk about what was going on and no one was answering the phone. It didn’t look like a catastrophe because people were milling about and my husband kept saying it must be some sort of drill. But it didn’t feel nor look like some sort of drill to me. Then we saw several firemen enter the garage and the side entry door. When we saw the fire people standing outside our door through the peep hole we knew it was something more. So my husband went out and asked what was going on. Apparently there was a carbon monoxide scare. One of the workers was overwhelmed - which is why the first ambulance was called. When they realized it was carbon monoxide the building emergency was called. The dozens of firemen were literally on every floor monitoring the carbon monoxide levels. They suggested to open our windows. We offered the workers water or cookies but they said they were fine. It wasn’t until after eleven PM that a notice was finally sent about what had happened. It is rather concerning to see MANY fire trucks and ambulances surrounding the building. Thank goodness it was handled as quickly as it was. We hope the worker is ok. It was determined the problem was related to the chemicals being used rather than a building problem. That puts our minds at ease, but was scary regardless. When we lived on Capitol Hill the fire engines surrounded our house there too. There was a fire in the laundry room and that’s the scene we returned to from a morning walk. Aren’t we lucky!?

Fire Trucks and Smoke

It’s not the kind of thing you want to see outside of your house when coming home from a morning walk. We heard the fire engine sirens in the distance but got a bit nervous when they all started turning down the street that we live on. I had a feeling that it was our building out of all the houses on the block. And for one time I wish I was wrong - but I wasn’t. The circle drive had one truck in it with the ladder extended to the roof, and there were at least 15 vehicles of all sorts surrounding the house on both sides - and they kept coming. All the neighbors were out in the street looking to see what was going on. Of course I could only think of the worst, and wondered what we would do if everything burned to the ground. But I didn’t smell anything - a good sign! We finally reached the house and spoke with a few residents to learn what happened. The front door was wide open with many fire hoses ready to get turned on. Apparently the boiler room was smoking from some malfunction and someone happened to notice it and called 911. The big fans came in as the carbon monoxide level was higher than anyone could live to tell about. After about an hour or so things started to settle down and it was just a matter of clearing things away. The DC fire department was very responsive and communicative. It all could have been a lot worse. Thank goodness it wasn’t.