False Alarm

[Written by Elizabeth Leonardis for our old blog, So Civilized]

Four of our finest: John, Jon, Kevin and Louise

Last night around 10pm our fire alarm went off. As I’ve mentioned before, we are our own firefighters, trauma team, search and rescue, etc. Therefore, the moment the alarm went off, everyone immediately went into action. Each of the 2 major buildings that we all live in, have a panel that tells you where the alarm went off and whether it was pulled or triggered by the alarm itself. It is announced overhead where the fire is indicated and the first responders, Amber and Ben,  immediately head that way. As long as it is safe to enter the area (no obivous smoke, flames, or a hot door blocking their way) they investigate and can put out any small fires. They report their findings via radio communication and call for back up if needed. The fire marshall (George) is the leader, while there are others (John and Phil) getting water pumps set up and hoses laid out in the case that we need high pressure water, and 6 people (Jon, Louise, Kevin, DeVal, Alden, & John) are gearing up with respirators and the whole deal in case they need to enter the building. The rest of us muster in the boat house and a roll call is done to account for everyone.

Luckily, this turned out to be a false alarm. However, I was so impressed with everyone rapid response that I just had to blog about it.