Come on, Baby, Fight That Fire

I've been meaning to blog for a while now, but a special event awoke me from my blogging slumber. Yesterday afternoon I was in the photo studio when someone asked me, "Have you seen the fire?" So I was directed to the building's fire escape (not to evacuate but just to look), and saw a building ablaze a few blocks away with several news choppers hovering above.

I wrapped up my photoshoot and walked back to the University Center, only to have to make a huge detour, since the burning building was on the block across the street and lots of places were completely blocked off. I went up to Doran's room, on my floor, where my roommate Hayley was, to watch the fire with our amazing 18th-floor view. Here's a pic I took:



There was a big news report, which if you are THAT bored this morning you can check out at ABC News Chicago.

So some Columbia buildings are closed today and their respective classes cancelled, though I don't have classes anyway on Wednesdays. Some very happy students will have an extra week to study for their midterms. The fire burned through the night and stopped sometime this morning. There were 325 firefighters there last night, and there are still a few there spraying away to keep cooling the hotspots down. According to the most recent news report, the building roof and all floors collapsed all the way in, so all that's left of the building is freestanding walls - time for some demolition, kids!

My floor smells kinda like a charcoal barbecue.