Fire

Fire destroys Chelsea shopping center
http://chelseastandard.com/
http://video.ap.org/v/Legacy.aspx?g=385f9c7d-f45e-4e55-8bf6-5d14eb56d797&f=mipon&mk=en-ap&fg=copy

Watching the video, I took this opportunity to discuss with Hannah what she should NOT do.

1. If building is on fire, do not drive toward it.
2. If building is on fire, do not stand so close to watch.

Who are these people milling around? What are they thinking?

I saw 2 barns burn down. It's very scary and sad.

The neighbor's barn...I remember running down the side of the road. I stepped in slushy puddles and my feet were soaking wet, but I didn't really care. I wanted to be there. I'm sure that I could do nothing, but I wanted to know that no one was hurt.

My Uncle Harold's barn...darn sow kicked over a heat lamp. We joked, or maybe we were serious, that the air smelled of bacon cooking. My brother lost his pretty blue speed boat. My Uncle lost at least one antique Allis-Chalmers tractor. I'm sure other farm machinery too. I just don't remember the details. One of the Broderick girls drove in our driveway and honked to tell us that something was wrong. I'm pretty sure that I had to run all the way over there too. Everyone else drove and left too fast for me. I just remember that my Uncle Bob said he had tried to get in and save something, maybe the sow and piglets. And I just thought why did he try that? Doesn't he know how much more important he is? (The thing is...I'm not sure that he knew that, but that's another story.) I never saw him so upset. His face told a story of hopelessness that night. At least, it was the new barn that burned, and another soon replaced it and still stands on the same farm that is now my brother's.