Thursday, May 26, 2016

Nosy neighbour

I was riding home from Yorkdale Mall today. I had to go to the Apple Store to have my iPhone 5s replaced for the second time in 48 hours. Both phones basically turned themselves into bricks, all by themselves, with no help from me, that I know of. There must be something in the air.

As I headed north closer to home I saw a column of smoke rising. It looked angry and certainly out of place. It seemed to be coming from an area just north and west of Finch and Yonge.

With a little time on my hands I decided to investigate. Vespas are great investigator vehicles. Non-threatening, tolerated pretty much everywhere.

As I got closer and closer to the column of smoke, I heard sirens approaching behind me, perhaps 800 meters back. I turned down a side street and pretty much rode past a house belching smoke.


There were two fire trucks already on the scene and the firemen were just getting organized. I pulled over a couple of houses down and observed the proceedings. More and more equipment arrived including police cars and an ambulance.

The firefighters were only in the early stages of fighting the fire and clearly it was still growing. Flames began to leap angrily from what seemed to be the crest of the roof. Soon a helicopter was hovering to get a good look. Must be the fire department, I don't think there are any news teams with the budget for choppers, even in Toronto.


 In no time I found myself inside the police cordon and uncomfortably close to the action. When I had to move to allow the ambulance to set up shop it became clear it was high time for me to move on, so I did.

By the time I was leaving the firefighters were in control. You can tell when that happens just looking at the smoke and flames, they get the look of a wild animal in retreat.

Vespas are so politically correct that I don't think I received a moment's notice from any of the 30 or so first responders on the scene.

I return you now to your regularly scheduled progamming.

10 comments:

SonjaM said...

Oh oh, that doesn't look good, even with firefighters doing their best I guess somebody's home and irreplaceable memorabilia has been destroyed. Hopefully no living things were harmed...

Unknown said...

Pretty sure CTV has a chopper, Global maybe? and there used to be a couple of radio choppers ...,

Conchscooter said...

It depends how you ride your Vespa. I pass cars on my "moped" and you better beleive they notice. I call it my emasculator.

Coop a.k.a. Coopdway said...

Always a sickening feeling to see flames like that coming from someone's home. I would hope that not everything inside was damaged though I'm quite sure that water would have damaged things the fire left untouched.

Canajun said...

Like Coop said, it's an awful feeling to watch someone's home on fire. That doesn't stop us from stopping and having a look though.

David Masse said...

It's only the second time in my life I have tracked down a fire. It's so tragic, yet so compelling. I had to see, but I didn't stay long. My sympathies are with the owners. Hopefully some good will come of it.

David Masse said...

In Montreal when I was a kid, the radio stations ran traffic copters. I can't remember the last time I heard or saw helicopter coverage. Google maps is just so good there's no point anymore. The CBC has no budget and they were exclusively relying on traffic cams and driver cell phone tips.

David Masse said...

Too funny Michael. I've been playing the same game on the 401 here.

David Masse said...

The fire seemed to be in the attic, so there's a decent chance that some of the contents were spared. Even so, if the home is not a total loss, it's a travedy any way you slice it.

David Masse said...

Dave I think it's human nature. Fires and car accidents. I think we are compelled to look because we need to understand the tragedy in the hope of avoiding a similar fate.

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