gloomy sunday

it's ironic that my last post should be a tongue-in-cheek (well, kind of...I really was so sad about it!) story about the really most tragic thing...



yesterday a truly sad thing happened: the Longfellow Park chapel burned down (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).

3 wards (ie congregations) of young single people meet in that building and yesterday there was a stake conference, so all the wards were there at once. Erin and I got a ride with a friend that morning and as we were entering the building, our friend commented that it smelled kind of smoky. We agreed but thought maybe someone was having a fire (in their fireplace) or a bbq or something. Elizabeth told us later she thought the same thing. Many other people didn't even notice the smoky smell. Around 10:30ish, about 30 minutes or so after the conference started, the fire alarm went off. Actually it was a buzzy honking and I thought, "Is that a fire alarm? What is that?" Erin and I were in the main chapel, Elizabeth on the balcony, and there were 3 rooms in the church with people in them watching a broadcast from Salt Lake City. Everyone was confused for a minute, because so often fire alarms mean nothing- burnt toast in the kitchen or something. The person conducting the meeting told us to exit quietly. We were near a door up on the front of the chapel, so we went out it, and as I exited, I looked up and saw embers on the underside of the eaves. Jane Johnson called 911 and people were told more seriously to get out and away from the building. We went across the horseshoe (across Longfellow Park) and stood in front of the Society of Friends' (Quakers') meetinghouse. Elizabeth found us and we saw smoke coming out of every crevice on every side of the roof. Soon the firetrucks came and soon after that 3 firemen went up on the roof on the left side a little past being above the chapel. They cut the roof with a chainsaw and smoke and flame came out. They left the roof and started hauling hoses inside. It seemed like ages before they did anything, but from reading the news report, it seems that the attic is rather difficult to reach and they also had to make sure everyone was out. They went up to the 2nd floor and broke out the windows- the crashing glass shattered a heartstring. It was awful. This is a place that is dear to all of us who were there, and to many others who moved on in life and were not there. This is a building that is a part of me, and it hurt a lot to watch it get ravaged. At first we were hopeful that the firefighters would move in fast and rescue it, but more and more smoke billowed out and the flame above the chapel turned into a giant orange fireball. It was also pretty horrible to see the tall windows of the chapel filled with orange fire. Many people left their things inside, thinking we'd be going back in. Erin and I took our stuff with us. Elizabeth lost her favorite umbrella but not her purse. Finally the firefighters got the hoses shooting water on the fire, and it was nice to see some kind of action. The person who lives next to the church started taking their paintings and things a couple houses down, and some ward members helped them. The Quakers offered water, orange juice, sympathy and bathrooms. The horseshoe started getting flooded with water and burnt wood, and people worked on unclogging the drains. It was awful to watch this place I love burning, window frames sagging and just a shell left on the left side. The firefighters kept a steady stream on the steeple, and kept it up. It's quite tall- it would have been disastrous if it fell. They sprayed the side of the neighboring house, and it was ok. We stayed until a little after noon. The smoke was small and mostly white by then, flames were mostly gone except a few little ones now and then. Apparently after they got it way down, and after we were gone, people started salvaging some paintings and books from the right side of the building which didn't get as damaged and the Quakers offered some storage place for them. It could have been a lot worse; we were blessed that everyone got out before the fire started and nobody got hurt, because of the conference people were concentrated in fewer rooms than on a regular sunday.
I've never experienced a big fire like that, and it was rather jarring and unexpectedly emotional (I mean, this isn't my home and nothing personal of mine was in there, and I know it will be rebuilt, so I was surprised at the way it affected me emotionally). I wonder where they will have us meet while they are rebuilding the church, and I hope it gets rebuilt beautifully as before. At any rate, it will get rebuilt and life always goes on. What a Sunday!

Here's a link to photos someone took for extreme detailed blow by blow action

an album with lots of people and aftermath photos

and here's a link to a news report with vid (the news teams didn't arrive til most of the action was over)

another news link with vid and pics

and if you want to see a vid of what the news teams missed

UPDATE:

arial photos of the aftermath

more arial photos of the damage