FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!

So, last night around 10:30p, I was talking on the phone and heard police and fire sirens right on our street. My first thought was "I hope the old lady across the street is okay..." I went to go tell Boston that I think we should check on her when he ran in to the room and said, "There's a fire!! Get out!!" We then heard our neighbors pounding on all of the doors in our complex yelling, "Get out! There's a fire! Get out!!" Since Cigi was over at the time, with no children here, my only thought was Grab the 72-hour kits. That's actually the only thing I told Boston during the chaos: "Grab the 72-hour kits." I had just made ourselves 72-hour kits earlier last month, with some extra cash, clothes, Chapstick, soap, water, etc. We ran out our door, and saw huge orange flames scorching from the parking garage, where both of our cars were. The police were giving directions by that time to leave our apartments, and go down the stairs to the grass. I saw where the flames were, and then I saw the stairs--our only way out--with smoke all over them. I thought, "Can we escape?" The flames seemed like they were on the stairs, but I realized right then that it was just smoke. So Boston and I ran down into the smoke, around the corner, and down the other stairs. I didn't know where Cigi was, and I started to get really worried; almost panicked. I called his phone, and he answered and said he was safe and in front of the apartment complex. We met up and watched the flames grow with all of our neighbors. The fire fighters were there so fast! Eventually, the fire-fighters put out the fire, and checked all the apartments. It was definitely one of the most eye-opening experiences in my life. The thing that stuck out to me the most was that in a situation like a fire, when your life is potentially at stake, you don't have the mind or the time to think, "What do we do?" You just react. I had planned out previously what you do in a situation like that: You grab your 72-hour kits. This was also a wonderful experience to know that we were not fully prepared. We did not have an alternate escape route, I didn't think a whole lot about our neighbors, but more about getting out, and that makes me realize that I need to improve. I forgot to mention that I rang our next door neighbor's doorbell like 12 times in a row (and they ended up not being home anyways), but the whole experience helped me to know that I need to be more aware of my neighbors. So, wanna know what the fire exactly was? Our landlord keeps old furniture in the parking garage, and that's where a lot of people choose to park in the winter (as opposed to the upstairs outdoor one). Well, we're not sure what caused the fire (arsonist, electrical malfunction, debris, car battery issue), but we know now that our neighbor's car completely caught fire; that's right, the car right next to our Rav4. Miraculously, our Rav is almost unscathed. The other car is.....well..... see for yourself

... completely thrashed to say the least. I'm so grateful that everyone is okay. There's police tape blocking off our car and the neighbor's car, so we can't drive it for quite some time. Insurance is coming out soon to check the damages. Thank you for your prayers for us that you often offer; they are truly heard! We're grateful to follow the counsel of our prophet, who has asked us to prepare ourselves for emergency situations like these and the ones going on around the world. We may not have needed those 72-hour kits this time, but we were prepared in case we did. We will prepare ourselves better for the next experience and learn from this one, instead of being a victim of lack-of-preparation. We urge you all with sincerity of heart to prepare 72-hour kits, food storages, and savings. We have needed 2/3 of these so far in our 1 year together, and we've got plenty more years ahead!

Our car is on the left (green)



His car.

Aftermath.

"If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear."

D&C 38:30