Surprise Block Party

Last winter, the sensitive stairway smoke detector in our building set off the fire alarm a handful of times--once just after I'd washed my hair (imagine the lovely frozen-hair look I sported after that one) and once three times throughout the night (midnight, two, and three-thirty). I think there was another time, but it was likely in the middle of the night and probably felt more like a nightmare.

With the weather getting colder, Dave and I have discussed the possibility of the early morning wake-up more often. Last night, as a matter of fact, we couldn't stop talking about it. We discussed possibilities for insulating the window in that stairway to keep the area warmer. We dreamed about what it would be like to own a home without the fire alarm worries someday. Dave had even talked about the problem with a coworker earlier in the day.

Last night, I got ready for bed just after nine and settled under the covers with a good book. I had just finished reading a couple of pages when the all-too-familiar sound began: AAAARRRRR!!!! AAARRRRR!!!!! AAARRRR!!!! (That's the best I can do to write what it sounded like.) Dave and I grabbed our coats and shoes and headed downstairs to see which smoke detector set it off. It turned out to be from the building next door, actually from the same apartment that burned toast last Labor Day and woke everyone up from sleeping in that morning.

One of our neighbors called the fire department, and they came quickly. I think the whole fire brigade was there last night. They walked into the building next door with their axes and other firefighting gear. They started to hook up the fire hose. Then one of them walked into our building (where the system is based) to reset the alarm and tell us we could go back to our apartments because the problem was from the building next door.

Uh, are you sure you want us to go back? Our buildings are separated by a thin wall, so if there really was a problem, it wouldn't be a good idea to send all these people back inside. When I asked what had happened next door, they wouldn't tell me, only reminding us we could go back to our homes. We obeyed, and since our apartment is on the other side of the building from where all the action was, I couldn't watch to see if they continued to bring out their gear or if they left soon after.

The good thing about all of it is that we had more people from our building go outside once the alarm went off. The first time the fire alarm went off last winter, we were the only ones standing outside when the fire department came. This time, we met our neighbors from across the hall and caught up with our neighbor from the second floor, who we don't see much once the complex's pool is shut down for the winter. I think I will always be haunted by that awful sound, even years after we move.

If you've lived in an apartment building, have you had to deal with fire alarms? It seems our building is always inviting the fire department over, especially on those cold winter nights. I'd like to know we aren't the only ones suffering. ;-)