every time i see fire escapes like this one, it always reminds me of the ending of the movie "pretty woman".
that's the pleasant side.
in high school, there was a big fire that started at the public market near the school and spread onto blocks upon blocks out into the crowded residential area. people were walking on the street staying away from burning buildings on either side. we watched in awe at the proximity of the flames, the rapid consumption of buildings, wood and metal collapsing in a heap of the ground where once stores and offices stood. then we heard the loud sirens, i looked behind and there was this big fire truck heading our way, its speed at which it was approaching was rather menacing and for a brief moment, my brain seemed to lose the ability to process that i should get the hell out of the middle of the street or i'd be dead meat. i dove to the nearest sidewalk, as did my two classmates, edna and marissa. i managed to not land in the blackened liquid that trickled from the hosed-down burning buildings, as i slapped my hand on the ground and gained footing immediately. edna and marissa weren't so lucky, their school uniforms got soaked in mud-like soot, edna cursing like a sailor while marissa jumped around trying to shake the dirt off of her.
when a light standard fell across the crowded street, luckily missing any of the onlookers, the menacing red ember seemed pulsing all over it, there was a loud scream and everyone turned to look. a woman dangled from the fire escape of a low rise apartment building two buildings deep from the sidewalk, the fire escape barely attached to the concrete wall. some of the boy scouts braved the embers of the neighbouring building and ran underneath the dangling woman. it was an ugly scenario. if the woman fell from the third floor of the apartment building, there was a distinct possibility she might die. if the boy scouts stay underneath her and break her fall, who was to say what may happen to her. but one thing was clear, the fire escape could get unhinged from the wall and fall on the boys, all twelve of them, urging the woman to fall and they will catch her. ungracefully, (now how can anyone stay graceful under the circumstances anyway?) she let go, hit the wall halfway down which made her impact on the scouts' bodies not so hard. none of the scouts suffered any injuries. thinking about this now, i wish i could go back with my camera and take a lot of pictures.
then, because i wasn't really affected by the fire, but for the public transport having been relocated some three kilometres away, i thought i had better start walking home.
tagging this for the black and white challenge of 'stairs'.
Great photo for the challenge. Such a vivid memory of such a horrible day. It's so good That the girl and the boy scouts were not harmed. Pretty Woman was a great movie.
