Flood and Fire

IhouseFlood
Originally uploaded by g_mahfia.

Wow, this was a strange night. Around 9:30pm the fire alarm went off. Most of us acted like usual, grabbed our coats, grabbed our shoes, and grabbed our cameras and started heading out. However, this time it wasn't a fire drill, or somebody smoking in their rooms, or somebody forgeting about their cooking in the kitchen. This time, it was somebody accidently hitting the sprinkler head in their washroom, which punctured the glass casing and therefore, releasing a WHOLE lot of water. The picture you see is the hallway in front of that persons door. This picture was taken about 15 minutes after the water was released, and I don't think the water was turned off until at least half-an-hour to an hour afterwards. Luckily for me, this happened on the 5th floor of the building and I live on the 6th floor. However, water leaked all the way down to the 2nd floor and possibly even to the first floor of the building. Tons of water damage to the building, and I can't imagine the damage done to peoples rooms, especially the one in which the sprinklers went off in. The extent of this was so bad, that you could see the water damage from outside the building. You could see the water stains between every floor around that side of the building. It was pretty bad.
Stupid thing was... We all went outside, and then one of the RA's told us that everything was under control and sent us all back inside. (which is when I got the picture and video) But immediately after we all head back in, Campus security comes in and tells us all to head back outside. An hour later, we all get to go back in, but the fire alarm goes off again, and this time there's a fire in one of the 2nd floor kitchens. (Somebody was stupid enough to leave their pot on the stove without turning it off before leaving). So out we all go again... and now it stinks of smoke and most of the building is under heavy water damage. And to think that the International House isn't even a year old yet. And to think this happened 3 days before the Year End Party.

Sigh, though I must say, I kinda missed seeing the fire department cause this is the first time I've seen the fire department come to I-house this entire year. (I hear it's the 2nd time, but I wasn't in town for the first one). But compared to living in Schaffer last year where we averaged at least 2-4 fire alarms per month, or Lister the first year where we averaged 1-2 fire alarms per month. You kinda miss seeing 6-8 fire trucks pull up to your building. Though, if there wasn't so much damage to the building and ppl's properties, this would have been a better occasion.

Anyways, now I need to finish my assignment and go to sleep.