home

dave's blog

2004 archive

Here's some pictures to give you an idea of what everything looks like. We didn't take any pictures of the actual fire. They probably wouldn't have come out, and plus, it seemed somewhat insensitive to those who had lost everything. It would look bad to have a bunch of people around the building crying and in anguish, and I'm busy snapping pictures of the tragedy. Some guy had two huge digital cameras (like the ones our professional wedding photographers used) and he was taking pictures. It just seemed classless. Lana asked one of the maintenance workers if they had any idea about what happened, but he said it might take a few weeks to come to any conclusions. Or maybe it takes that long to concoct a cover-up story? Coincidently (or not), there was another fire here last year that burned down two apartments, and it happened only one unit over! They're still building it, but it looks like they're going to have more work to do. The story for that one is apparently a crazy boyfriend set fire to his girlfriend's place or something like that. Hopefully the "bad fire luck" won't spread down to our unit.

These pictures were taken early this morning (click on the thumbnails to enlarge them). Yesterday afternoon, they bulldozed some of the wreck away and put up a fence. There was a security guard there the whole night, because you never know who might want to steal singed crap.

The first picture gives you an idea of the damage that was done. The top two corner apartments were burned and it spread to the adjacent two apartments. The fire also burned the units directly below, damaging eight units in total.

The second picture is a frontal view of the corner apartments. As you can see, the whole thing is just a big mess. I can see why our complex hired an overnight security guard to protect the valuable loot.

The last picture gives you an idea of where we were in relation to the fire. The burned apartments are off to the left and we are the apartment on the top right corner, right behind the tree bark. As you can see, the fire would have to spread across a stretch of grass and then burn two more apartments before it would have hit us. Still, you can imagine what we saw as we walked down the stairs and turned our heads to the right. Now that would've been a picture worth a thousand words.

What follows is a tale so incredible, it would be impossible to make it up...

I woke up early this morning to the sound of loud engines driving around in our parking lot and male voices talking to each other. At first I thought it was the garbage collectors, but I glanced at the clock and it was 4:19 am. No one in their right mind should be up at that time, and I cursed them in my head for waking me up. I knew something was wrong when I heard a guy running up the stairs and banging the door of the apartment across from us. Being the nosy chap that I am, I got up to look through the peephole to see what the commotion was about. I thought maybe it was a segment being taped for COPS or that there was an escape convict running rampant in Redlands. Just as I was about to look through the peephole, the guy starts banging on our door. I open the door and it's a paramedic:

"Put some clothes on and get your things together. The complex next to yours is on fire. It probably won't get to you but be ready to leave just in case."

Those are the last words anyone wants to hear at 4:19 in the morning.

For those of you who haven't visited us yet, let me first describe how our apartment complex is situated. Each complex consists of 16 apartment units: 4 units across, 2 units high, and 2 units deep. The sidewalk and parking spaces are in the front, the main street (Barton Road) is in the back, and there's a 50 foot gap between each apartment complex. All the units are attached, so if one unit catches fire, it's a pretty sure bet it'll spread to the other 15 units. We have an upper level unit and we face the parking lot. Basically, for the fire to get to our place, it would have to spread the grassy gap and then burn the 2 units next to us before our place would be in danger.

Lana and I put on some clothes, grabbed our keys and wallets, and promptly left our apartment. Now honestly, we had no idea what to expect. We thought it was just a small blaze that was already contained and we would be back in our cozy bed in no time. As we walked down the steps, we could see an eerie, glowing red light off to our right, and it was then that we knew it was a pretty big deal. As we got to the sidewalk, we could feel the immense heat and we saw a handful of people rushing to check out the fire. There were fire trucks, police cars, ambulances, and dozens of firefighters, police officers, and paramedics surrounding the apartment. There's only been a few occasions that I've been close to a fire and have felt the heat: campfires at Willits, the big bonfire during Homecoming at Cal, and Bunsen burners during organic chemistry in undergrad. Nothing could compare to this one!

The fire was large and the tips of the flame reached high into the dark night. The heat was intense, and we had to step back about 200 feet to find relief. We saw the hanging potted plants on the porch catch fire and fall to the ground. The wooden beams of the roof turned to charcoal and collapsed upon itself, and the fire spread to the units next to, below, and behind it. Although everyone was up close to view the action, we walked back another 200 feet or so, just in case the fire hit the gas lines or caught something flammable and explosive. The firefighters walked around the unit but didn't start hosing it down until a good 10 minutes after we had left our apartment. We thought maybe if they had started putting it out earlier, there would have been less overall damage, but we're not firefighters so we won't question their methods. If anyone has any experience, please share it with us. In San Francisco, where all the houses are attached to one another, we've seen cases where a house burned down and the adjacent houses looked like they suffered no damage. This wasn't the case here, where in the end, 4 units would be lost to the fire.

By 6 am, the fire was contained and we started heading back to our apartment. There were times where the fire looked like it was dying down, only to find new life and start burning up again. We got especially nervous when the side facing our unit started burning up pretty good, and we were worried that somehow the fire would spread, but it never did. It was sad to see people in shock and crying. I can't imagine what it must feel like to watch your personal belongings and the place you call home be lost right before your eyes. As we walked back to our apartment and prepared for another day, we wondered what the cause of the fire was and how it would affect our living situation. If it was accidental, this was a wake-up call to be more careful and to invest in a good fire extinguisher. If it was faulty wiring, maybe it's time to look into an alternative source of housing. Or maybe it was God's way of reminding us that personal belongings are temporary and we shouldn't get caught up with material possessions. Whatever the case, we'll be smelling burnt wood and sleeping lightly for the next few days.

I hate drive-thru's. If you've ever worked at a place that has a drive-thru, you would agree with me in saying that the guy who invented it should be dragged out into the street by his thumbs and beaten with a rusty shovel. All the Walgreens in SoCal are drive-thru. I've been working at the Yucaipa location (I'll give you a shiny nickel if you can pronounce it correctly) and it happens to be a 24-hour store with a drive-thru. For some reason, this drive-thru has 2 lanes, even though there's only 1 register to ring people up. To make matters worse, customers can ring a bell to "grab our attention". It's only been a few weeks, but the incessant ringing is "driving" me crazy. Sometimes, when the cashier is helping a customer in the first lane, the customer in the second lane will get impatient and continuously ring the bell. It makes me want to pull the driver out of the car and return the favor by continuously beating him on the head. "Do you want fries with that?"

So now begins the rest of our lives together...

I can't believe it's already been over a month since our wedding. The day itself went by in the blink of an eye, and the past month has been pretty hectic, with the honeymoon, Lana moving down, and me finally moving down a few days ago. The apartment needs cleaning and furniture, not to mention about 500 more square feet to store all of our stuff.

Here's a few notes on the city of Redlands:
- The temperature gets into the 100s during the summer, officially making it twice the typical San Francisco temperature (yikes).
- Don't go to the local McDonalds: Lana has been there 3 times, and guess how many times they've messed up her order? 3. Nuff' said.
- Never in my life have I seen so many monster trucks and gas-guzzling SUVs condensed in such a small area. Needless to say, the entire city is over-compensating.

Tonight was poker night and we welcomed our newest player to the table! He's got an intimidating poker-face and sports the cutest mittens in San Francisco. He's seen here taking a quick snooze with his Uncle J-Lo, shortly after watching his mom clean out her helpless competitors. Welcome to the table, Evan, the future "chip leader"!

Other notable notes for the night:
- there were some crazy hands, including a straight flush and four-of-a-kinds
- it was the longest game ever, lasting over four hours
- it was my first win! score one for charlie brown. now we can afford flowers for the wedding

This afternoon, we watched a Golden State Warriors basketball game. It was the first game ever for Lana, and my first since the days of Latrell Sprewell, Manute Bol, and David Wood (remember those guys?). The Seattle Supersonics were in town, and the game was fun to watch, especially with Baron Davis and Jason Richardson on the floor. Plus, we won the game and got free Big Mac coupons (since the home team scored over 100 points)!
Afterwards, there was a celebrity basketball game to help raise money for the local children's hospital. Famous peeps like Frankie Muniz, Brian McKnight, Bow Wow, Matthew Lillard, Orlando Jones, and others were there to prove to the general public that they could play basketball. Let's just say with the exception of the incredibly tall Brian McKnight, the celebs should stick to their day jobs...

In San Francisco, our public transportation system is called MUNI. It's an economical way of getting around the city, especially if you don't have a car or want to avoid high gas prices and parking fees. The downside is the long wait, it's crowded, and you meet some of the "interesting" people in the city. Another problem is maintenance; sometimes the doors don't work and the seats are broken. On my way home from work today, one of the automatic sliding doors was broken. To exit the bus, you must press down on the hand bar and the doors slide open. This door was not in service and was (I thought) clearly marked as such. There were four, red signs that read "Not In Service" and a red-lighted display above the door that was on with the same message. During my 40-minute ride home, I saw four instances of a person stand in front of the door before their stop and then proceed to try and open the door when their stop arrived. When it wouldn't work, they would rush over to an open door to get off the bus. Other MUNI patrons were getting so fed up with the ignorant San Franciscans that by the fourth person, they yelled out in unison "It's broken!" Ah, the City...

Today was my favorite bi-monthly day: payday. I have direct deposit, but I still get my paycheck stub from my home store for my records. What a surprise when I went to the office and there was no paycheck stub to pick up. What a surprise when I checked my bank account online and there was no direct deposit. Apparently, the good people at corporate had changed my home store in the middle of the pay period, causing me (and others in my situation) to be in "paycheck limbo". In fact, having problems with my paycheck is a common occurrence. Since I've started working full-time, I've had approximately 14 paychecks. Of those 14, I've only had 1 accurate paycheck. Now, I'm no mathematician, but if I was a baseball player with an average like that, I'd be sent back to the minors. What's a guy gotta do to make an honest living around here?

I thought this was pretty funny. Let me know how long it takes you to figure it out...