Fire Alarm, Part 2

So last night I was online almost ready to go to bed.... I was killing time and doing an online IQ test. Suddenly the fire alarm was going off... And my thoughts immediately went back to the last time I heard the alarm. There was a fire in the recycling. For details check out my post on it or the newspaper article. It's not like my old building where it was common for the alarm to go off.

As soon as the alarm started going off Azrael ran away. He went to hide in my closet where he couldn't hear the alarm. As for me... the adrenaline really kicked in. I was hoping that it was just a false alarm but couldn't be sure. So I grabbed my keys, cell phone and wallet... Put on a thicker sweatshirt and headed out the door. No I didn't take Azrael with me. I thought about it but knew that it was likely a false alarm. I also knew that if it was a fire it was a gamble. He wouldn't take well to me trying to get him into the carrier... and the sound of the alarm had already spooked him. And if I didn't use the cat carrier he'd be gone. So I made the decision not to take him but was praying that it wasn't a real fire and that he would be fine.

The adrenaline is probably a good thing... It meant that I wasn't paying attention to the 5 flights of stairs as I ran down them. I always find the reaction to a fire alarm interesting when you live in an apartment building. My thought is always that there is about an 80% chance that it is a false alarm and 20% chance that it is real. Now last time around I didn't want to leave and, based on the conditioning that in my last apartment it went off all the time, I didn't immediately leave.... until I realized that it was a real fire. But typically I don't want to gamble with the possibility that it's real. Yes the odds are that it isn't and going outside is a waste of time... other then it means you don't have to listen to the alarm. But what if it's real?

All the way down the stairs I didn't see anyone. When I reached the door there was a lady standing there with her kid. After a 5 minute conversation I decided to make my way outside since I was not comfortable being inside the building with the alarm going off. Sure you are at an advantage being right at the door... but you are still in the building... Last time I checked you should be quite a ways away from the building so that if there is debris or fire that you are safe. I walked around the back of the building and didn't see anyone. Not a soul. So then I walked around the front of the building. At most there were about 20 people out there. There are something like 96 apartments in the building... and only 20 people bothered to leave.

As I watched there were people that took the elevator. Then there were people that stayed on the first floor which again defeats the purpose. And as I looked up there were people on the balcony of their second and third floor apartments so they didn't have to listen to the alarm going off. Again I don't understand why people don't weigh the risks and rather then take chances don't just leave the building, with the stairs.

We did get 2 fire trucks and the command truck out. Pretty good response time too. For those that are wondering I have no idea if the firemen were good looking. Once again it was 3:00 in the morning and I was a little tired. I was more interested in getting back inside and worrying about Azrael.

Fortunately it was a false alarm and after about a half hour we were allowed back in the building. The first thing I did was go find Azrael, who was hiding in my closet. He quickly became the happy cat again. Unfortunately my IQ test had timed out so I had to retake it. Now I am not sure how accurate the results are at 4:00 in the morning *LOL* But it said I had an IQ of 130. It took a long time for the adrenaline to wear off... and to finish the test... so I didn't end up going to bed until 6:00 a.m. Good thing I didn't have to be up early today.