Part one of this story can be found here.
Fire!
9.28.6
It's official. Affordable Insurance can no longer call me a customer.
My insurance needs are now being met by my new Allstate agent, Robert McGaw (Who I'd highly recommend to anyone in the Denver area: 303.232.6060). Not only am I saving a good amount of money, but he has also been more helpful and patient than any business I've ever dealt with.
One thing I've learned through this whole ordeal is this: Renter's insurance is fucking cheap.
I'm unsure now how I ever lived without it. All this time, had anything ever happened to my belongings (be it act of God or act of thief), I would have been fucking screwed.
I really should have known better. It's not as if I have the best luck in the world...
Four days ago, I was reminded exactly how fast everything can be taken away from a person.
I didn't even want to go anywhere. My arms were killing me from my workout on Saturday. I probably would have been content to spend the rest of the day just sitting around the house.
Autumn, however, had other plans. Honestly, I've forgotten exactly what it was she wanted to go do. What I do remember is that after enough pestering, I finally broke down, filled a Ziploc bag with ice, and headed out the door with her.
I pressed the ice against my aching muscles as we walked out to the car. I had been parking in a new place recently, due to the constant vandalism that had been occurring in the old spot. Were it not for that fact, we probably would have never seen it.
As we approached the parking lot, we happened to notice a fireman perched high above the surrounding apartments. Having once seen firemen being "ladder trained" in the past, I assumed that this was just such an exercise. I didn't see the cloud of smoke surrounding him until Autumn pointed it out.
Whatever it was that we had been going to do was unimportant now. We ran inside to grab the cameras, and then headed back out to join the crowd that had formed.
The apartments two buildings down from mine were on fire!
The view from the front of the building wasn't exactly exciting. All we could see was the giant plume of smoke, and an occasional spurt of water rising from behind the building. If we were going to see anything, we needed to get closer.
We ducked into one of the building's alleyways, and navigated the corridors to reach the side of the burning building. The ground here was soaked, and the sound of water was very loud now. A large hose snaked its way through the building's stairways, leaking water in several places. A few firemen stood around talking, but the fire itself was nowhere to be seen.
Ducking back into the alleyway, we eventually worked our way around to the backside of the building. Finally we saw the flames. I'd be lying if I called it a raging inferno.
By the time we saw it, the fire was nearly out. The roof over a couple of apartments had caved in. The chimneys looked as if they could topple over at any minute as well. One whole section of the outer wall had been completely blackened. Upon closer inspection, we determined the cause of this discoloration to be a nearby pile of ashes that used to be a 30 foot tree.
We stood around watching and listening for perhaps an hour. Eventually, we overheard how the fire began.
On July 4th of this year, I discovered that one of the dumpsters near my apartment was on fire. I thought of this as an excellent opportunity to learn how to use a fire extinguisher. After reading the instructions, I pulled the pin, aimed at the target, and squeezed the trigger.
If you happen to believe that your average under-the-counter home-use-only fire extinguisher will extinguish anything larger than a housecat, then you'd better put those delusions aside. I battled the blaze for several seconds before the extinguisher sputtered out its last dying breaths. The fire then hid for a few moments before returning larger than ever.
Having failed as a firefighter, I called in the professionals, who came and finished the job.
I never found out exactly what had caused this dumpster fire, but I'm guessing it had something to do with my neighbors and their careless firework handling.
Case in point: A year before that dumpster fire, I had watched as a second floor resident lit bottle rockets, then casually flung them to the ground. They had laughed heartily as each one shot off in a random direction. This was not some stupid kid, mind you, but a middle aged woman with stupid kids of her own.
This kind of behavior was just to be expected in Hickory Ridge.
So it wasn't too surprising that one of these apartments would eventually fall victim to idiots with fireworks. What was surprising, however, was that it would happen in mid-September.
I listened in as the police questioned a group of young boys. Apparently, some of the neighborhood kids had been having some harmless fun playing with some firecrackers, when something went wrong.
But that's how life goes sometimes, isn't it? One minute, the neighborhood kids are lighting firecrackers...the next, you're wishing you had renter's insurance.
Hickory Ridge is technically only my second apartment. I've "stayed" in a few others, but I've only actually signed a lease at one other place. My first apartment was at a complex called Spanish Gate in Glendale, Colorado. Right here:
I know what you're thinking. "Isn't that just a large patch of grass?" How astute of you. Yes, that is indeed just a large patch of grass. That large patch of grass, however, used to contain my first apartment.
It was sometime after I had moved out that Spanish Gate burned down. A man named Blake Fieber was "allegedly" drunk and smoking in bed, when he started a fire that would burn down the entire 5-story building. 40 apartments were destroyed, and 1 person killed. Of the 40 units, only one was covered by renter's insurance.
But that's how life goes sometimes, isn't it? One minute, you're asleep in your bed...the next, you're wishing you had renter's insurance.
Or you're dead.
Like I said...I'm not exactly lucky. My first apartment was burned down, and my current one damn sure could have been just as easily. Perhaps my luck has somehow been rubbing off on the places I've lived?
Oh well...
Eventually, Autumn and I tired of watching the firemen battle the blaze, and left to do whatever it was we were going to do.
I think we might have wanted something to eat...
Click here to see the footage...
