Frat House on Fire

Unoccupied. 


I'll explain.

I did not have to decide which route to take for this morning's walk.  

Numerous sirens coming from different directions directed me. 

Of course, the first concern:  the neighbors.  Are they all right?

When no emergency vehicles turned on to South Center Valley Road, my worries subsided.

But I still wondered what was going on---especially since the sirens ceased their blaring fairly close to where we live off Selle Road.

As I walked from the driveway, I heard the shrill of yet another siren.  A Northside fire truck soon raced down  Selle Road.

When I reached the intersection, I could see lots of flashing lights about a quarter mile to the west. 

Hmmm.  Wonder if it's the frat house.

Somebody in the neighborhood coined it the frat house a few years ago because a group of young men were living in the place. 

As I walked closer, I could see an emergency vehicle in the driveway of that very house, which has been unoccupied for the past month or two.

Many in the neighborhood wondered who those folks were who inhabited the place during the winter because they sure did move out suddenly.

Nobody seems to know.

Anyway, it's been empty.   A new real estate sign has gone up, and, again, from neighborly reports, there's been steady activity of people walking the property and peeking through the windows.  

There's also been a consensus about the house.  Raze it and build a new one.

Well, as I walked closer this morning I could hear a sound resembling an axe pounding away at something.

I learned that the fire fighters had just opened it up, and that's when white smoke came billowing toward the sky from several sections of the older home. 

Fully engulfed with smoke, they said. 

I walked up to a cop who was standing at the end of the driveway.  He asked if there had been activity at the house, to which I told him "yes," but the last person definitely was peeking through windows, so the house must have been locked.

He told me there was a realty lock on the door. 

Who knows what started the fire.  We do know, however, that if the house left a lot to be desired before, it certainly isn't livable now. 

One neighbor came by while I was walking back home, and, again, the condition of the house came into discussion.

I wondered out loud if they would just let it burn down.  

"Maybe they'll call the bank and ask them if it should be burned," I said to the neighbor.

To which she said, "Oh, wait 'til 9 o'clock?"

We all had a good laugh over that one.

Good news.  Nobody was hurt or injured.  Having had a house burn down (which was not occupied but which did include most of our personal possessions), I know the relief that goes with the only good news involved with a house fire.

Who knows what's gonna happen next with the frat house, but I do know one thing this morning.  

The neighbors keep an eye on such things, and when they gather for catastrophic events, their eyes usually have seen a lot of the same things and their minds have come to similar conclusions. 

Anyway, the frat house on fire made for an interesting start to this Wednesday----a day when I'm gonna have an insurance adjuster come to our home and determine if he's gonna help us out with our damaged deck.

Oh, by the way, deck party has been cancelled.  So put away your skates. 

Happy Wednesday.