No, this is not wedding related... and this is not some TV show or movie either. What are you going to do in case of fire emergency? When there’s an alarm a few houses away from where you live?

I received a phone call from a friend yesterday informing me that there’s a fire on going at R***N St. at the moment. She advised me to check with my mom if it is anywhere near our house. ME GOD! That’s exactly our street and it’s relatively short. I immediately dialed my mom’s number to ask if she’s ok. No one’s answering! I tried to keep calm and searched through the contacts in my cellphone trying to look for someone who lives near our place. Grr.. I don’t befriend our neighbors that much so I don’t have their number! Glad I was able to find one (mom’s friend) who has a store in the next street. It was an abrupt call but who the heck cares! I asked the exact location of the fire. MY GOD! It’s within our townhouse! Imagine how I panicked after knowing that the fire was just 1-2 house behind ours! Thank God I was able to contact my mom a few minutes later. She wasn’t able to answer the phone coz she just come back from the bank where she stored some of the important stuff in the deposit box after knowing about the fire. She’s not quite sure if the fire was already contained/off as our house was entirely surrounded by smoke. I immediately left work and hurried home. Thank God the fire was already off when I reached home – mom and house both safe.

Here are some of my realizations after the incident:

• Store important stuff (especially legal papers) in one container so that in case of emergency, you just grab the bag and run for your life!
• Be friendly to your neighbors (even if you’re not much acquainted to them) and ask for their phone numbers so that you can ask for help in times of need.
• Keep the numbers of fire volunteers in your area. They’re usually the ones that are first to arrive in times of fire emergency.

One thing made me go “gaga” yesterday was the sidewalk vendors on the streets!!! Since Christmas last year, they have occupied the entire street and made it their own. They blocked the street from 7am-7pm and no cars are allowed to pass. They claimed that they rent their area from Manila Cityhall. I was told by my fire volunteer friend that the fire was caused by electrical spark. How could that be? You do the thinking. My mom told me the vendors refused to give way when the fire truck arrived. Why? You do the thinking again. A few hours after the fire went off and the fire truck left, guess what happened? They all came back and occupied the street as if nothing happened! Business as usual! Damn it! Sino ba talaga ang nagbabayad ng buwis? Mga “buwis”it!

Labels: blabs, matters of the heart