Fire! Fire!
My brother in law, sister, and assorted friends were enjoying a glass of wine on the roof of my apartment yesterday. We were beseiged with mist, basically, since it was a really warm winter day but the precipitation was coming hard. Bro-In-Law goes, “I haven’t really been listening to you guys for the past 10 minutes becase I’ve been watching that fire in the apartment.” We all try to figure out what he’s looking at, and one by one we all can train our eyes on it. About a quarter of a mile away, on a tall residential tower on Nob Hill, we can see an open flame in an apartment. It’s a place on the corner, and the flame is leaping around, reflecting against the ceiling, and many times visible. We notice that the surrounding apartments are all dark. My sis convinces me to call 911. I’m on the phone for about 20 minutes with the 911 person, and we can’t figure out a specific location. I try to figure it out- between Jones and Taylor, maybe, a few blocks south of Broadway, but the operator doesn’t know the city at all. In fact, she thought perhaps it was the Mission Street fire call they got a few minutes ago (“Mission? Uh, no.”)
She is relaying my comments to the fire engines. Soon we hear engines come from the Stockton St. station on Telegraph Hill, the Sansome station in the Financial District, and one on the other side of Russian HIll, probably in the Marina. It’s neat to hear the engines get slowly closer. As I’m still on the phone unable to specifically identify the intersection, the operator asks for my intersection. I give it to her and we all kind of get excited and anxious as one of the engines makes a noisy way down Chestnut to my block. I run downstairs and talk to one of the firemen hanging off the engine. So I’m standing on the corner in the North Beach valley, pointing up to one of the condo towers on the ridge, and you can still see the apartment. It takes a few seconds but the guy, and now the older chief guy standing next to me, also see it. He radios in immediately locating the building as the one on Green Street. I’m glad that he found it right away, though it really doesn’t look as serious from the ground. They drive away, sirens blazing. The chief guy says something that I can’t hear, and my friend thinks it’s about calling the station and finding out what happened.
I go back to the roof and we have a little deprogramming session, the result of which is that yes, it’s good that they are taking it seriously, and the fact that we can hear their sirens going up Jones, a really steep street, as we’re talking, reinforces that they are taking it seriously, and wow, that was exhilarating. Brother in law and friend hid the wine bottle just in case they came up to the roof for inspection. Ha!
We took a cell phone picture but the night skyline was too dark and it didn’t come out.
Fort Point, Warming Hut
The Golden Gate Bridge is getting retrofit and it’s very intense how much work they’re doing. There’s an explanation on a plaque in front of the work. The little span going out from the tip of Fort Point is getting all kinds of reinforcements. I got to see behind the Fort and out to the open Pacific. I just love that, and it was a pinky purply streaked sky as well.
The Warming Hut is so great! Their scones are wonderful. The staff is delightful and nice. They have a great menu. I’m so eternally pleased that somethign this cool is in that location. Go golden gate nat’l rec area! Good call!