***
At about 2:15 a.m., I awake to loud voices outside on The Sack. Looking out the window, I am surprised to see several neighbours in the middle of the road, but can't tell what the commotion is about. Mrs. Wonders is fast asleep and I debate whether or not to wake her.
Suddenly, there is a bright flash coming from a house across from ours. It is a fire. It is time to wake Mrs. Wonders up.
We dress quickly and make our way downstairs and into the street. More people, some in still in their sleeping apparel, have gathered on the other side of the street. There is panic and anxious excitement in the air.
The top floor of the house is engulfed in flames. The front upstairs window either implodes or explodes and smoke is now billowing into the sky.
Sirens and the heavy engines of the fire trucks can be heard in the distance. It has taken only mere minutes for the fire department to respond. The fire fighters move quickly with their hoses. Flames are now shooting into the sky at the back of the house.
On the street, we worry about the fire spreading to other houses. Fortunately, it is a calm evening with little, if any wind. Within about half an hour, the fire appears to be out. The house is in ruins, especially at the back.
***
The inhabitants of the house were not home at the time of the fire, neither were the two dogs which live there. Thank God for this.
***
The word on The Sack is that the fire was deliberately set. Remarkably, no one here seemed surprised to see it on fire. The fire itself seems to be the last in an ongoing series of craziness at this particular house over the last six years. I had intended to write a post or two about this house in the near future. I still intend to do so, but it appears that it will now be necessary to write about it in the past tense.
***
I have discovered that it is hard to write about a fire, without using the words "engulfed" and "billowing"
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