morsla | We need that house cooling

Well, not any more. And it was our neighbours (next door, and below them). But there was definitely fire.

aeliel and I heard a bang from outside our window this morning, followed by the sound of breaking glass. I saw smoke coming up from below us, so we grabbed some belongings and headed outside - thinking that there was a minor fire in one of street-level units. When we headed downstairs to the door, we saw flames outside our window, and heard sirens in the street...

mousebane met us at our front door (with a calm "um, your neighbour's house is on fire") as he'd come over for a BBQ... not expecting to find the place burning down. We closed the windows to keep smoke and flames out of the house, locked up, and went across the road to the park. Two fire units had already arrived, and another six would follow them over the next half hour.

We live on levels three and four of a block of townhouses. The fire started on level two, in an upstairs bedroom. It ripped through the house, and set fire to our neighbours' house via an open window. Flames spread up their rear wall, up the stairs and into their bedroom, though fortunately everyone had been evacuated by that stage. Next door lost all their electrical gear (it was plugged in along the back wall), and the people below them lost an entire floor of their home - they don't even have window frames left.

Fortunately, the fire didn't reach our unit. The heat has cracked plasterboard all through our bathroom though, and everything smells like smoke. The fire department tore off our screen door and smashed a window to get inside... closing things stopped the fire getting in, but it means we're now missing a window and door.

Unfortunately, neither our agent or Body Corporate work on weekends, nor do they have after-hours contact numbers. We have contact numbers for two glaziers, but neither will fix anything until contacted by the agent or an insurance company... so I hope that they haven't closed up for Christmas. Instead, we have a wooden board (formerly my gaming table...) bolted across our open window, and a screen door sitting a few metres from the house. I'd like to be able to lock my house up before we go visiting family tomorrow...

Bonus social parasite points go to the guy who jumped on the Channel 7 news team when they arrived, trying to sell them his video footage of the fire. Trying to hock his tapes right next to the family who lost half their house was particularly callous.

In other news: New Year's Eve, our place, housecooling and NYE get together. Now with 15% more smoke damage. Be there!

EDIT: And

aeliel apparently made it onto the Ch7 news, judging by the worried phonecalls I've recieved since news time...