headnoize: (hed)P.E. - "Insomnia"

So this little tale really all starts at the movie theater... for those of you who know, I was at the Short Pump theater, for those who have no idea what the fuck I'm talking about I'll try to explain as best I can... So we went to see the majority of the Bourne Ultimatum. I say the majority because this MASSIVE thunderstorm rolled in during the middle of the movie, and it was so loud you could hear the thunder OVER the gunshots and fight scenes in the movie. You could also hear the rain on the roof of the theater, it was pretty nuts. The power also went out at least 3 times while we were in the movie and another 2-3 after the movie while we were hanging around waiting for it to clear up enough to leave. So anyway, the movie ends and we go to leave and it's just POURING outside, like torrential. We start to leave, debating on making a break for the car, and who should make a break for the car (between my dad and myself)... when a HUGE bolt of lightning forks down across the street and hits a Citgo/7-11 and the telephone pole/power lines next to it. The *BANG* from the thunder was almost instantanious, and you could actually feel it, and it definitely made you take a step back. The bolt of lightning proceeded to arch between the upper and lower set of powerlines on the pole, and then very slowly rolled from one pole to the next before dying out... it probably took a good 5-6 seconds for it to make the journey,far longer than the thunder stuck around, and the light was SO bright it lit up the entire shopping center the theater is in from across the street some 2000 feet away. Needless to say, neither my dad nor myself was going much of anywhere until the storm had calmed down a little. So we waited a good 30 minutes or so until my dad decided to make a break from under the theater's giant awning for the car and we went to try and figure out where the lightning actually hit (because at the time we debated on whether it was the gas station or the bank next to it), and couldn't see any actual damage from the strike, so it probably hit the top of the gas stations metal overhang thing that all the pumps are under.

So we finally leave the theater and start heading out to my dad's. For those of you who don't know, my dad is a rather prominent surgeon here in Richmond/Virginia. He's probably got himself a good chunk of money, definitely has himself a rather nice, rather expensive "crib"... multiple Lexus, a huge ass in-ground pool in his back yard, multiple country-club memberships, the works. I however, live with my mom when I am home, and she is pretty much the opposite. Has a job that pays her bills/food and barely more than that, lives in the house they got together when they came to Richmond from Philadelphia, which he apparently let her keep to raise their three kids in. So anywho, my dad ends up re-marrying and they have a kid, and my mom's just pretty much doing her thing. Right, so drive out to his place which is out next to one of the country-clubs he belongs to, where pretty much there isn't a home with less than 3 stories, and with a value anywhere below like $600-800k easy.

We're driving down this country road (Manakin Road) on the way back and there's another SUV in front of us... and we come up along this fire engine just chilling in the middle of the road with it's lights on. So the SUV in front of us stops... and we stop another good 200 feet or so behind the other SUV... when we notice that the firetruck is backing up (apparently they over-shot the street they were looking for and were trying to figure out where in the fuck they needed to go). So the SUV in front of us starts honking its horn (the siren is *NOT* on, btw), and the truck keeps backing up... so the girl lays on the horn again... and the truck keeps backing up. She puts her SUV in reverse and starts backing up slowly, still honking her horn... and the firetruck keeps backing up. And all the sudden *BANG* firetruck HITS the girl's SUV. The firetruck pulls forward a little and then two firemen jump out and run to the SUV, yell something to the girl and then jump back into the firetruck and finally tear off down the road they were backing up to, sirens now blaring...

So we continue off down the road thinking, "Man, that was weird," when we start to notice a rather bright orange glow over top of the trees in the general direction of my father's neighborhood... so naturally my half-brother and step-mom start freaking out a little, which is understandable. So we start driving down their road (which curves a bit through the woods) and the orange glow is directly ahead of us and growing brighter, and we start rounding that last curve in the road before their house and my step-mom starts screaming something along the lines of "OH GOD! IT'S OUR HOUSE! OH GOD! OH GOD!" Which, of course, makes my half-brother yell much about the same... so we finish rounding the curve and it's NOT their house... but it is a house at the end of the cul de sac which belongs to this 80-year-old couple... and half the roof is engulfed in flames...

We can see the fire truck hauling add down their street so we get in their driveway quick and then go to check out the fire and make sure people are alright. The couple was apparently in the house when it got struck by lightning. They were getting ready for bed, and the husband went to go see what happened, so he took his flashlight and went to look around because he thought the strike hit somewhere near the house. So at some point his venture took him upstairs and he saw the light from the fire and proceeded to go outside... and he actually turned on his hose to try and help put the fire out... before finally realizing this was a bad idea and getting his wife out of the house and calling 911. So both of them got out safely, and eventually about 7 fire engines showed up to try and fight it mostly in vain. They all live out in BFE in the country, so there isn't exactly county plumbing running all over the place... all the homes in the neighborhood operate on well water sources. So, the closest fire hydrant is a good 2000-3000 feet BEHIND this person's home, next to a lake in the middle of the country-club's golf course. Apparently this thing was so out of use that it was blocked with sludge and had to be cleared before it could be used by the fire department, and even then only had enough water to supply 2 of the 7 trucks on site. The rest were being supplied by a fleet of 4-5 tanker trucks... which each held 21000 gallons of water which they had to drive 3-4 miles round trip to fill.

Their neighborhood is rather small (maybe a dozen homes, total), and everyone turned up to watch and offer their support to the family and see if there was anything they could do. By the time I left (about two hours after we got there), the fire had consumed ALL of the attic, eaten away and burned out the entire third and second floor of the home, and according to one fireman, had begun working its way to the first. The fire was externally contained, and many of the firemen were waiting for the structure to be inspected before they went inside to internally contain what was left of the fire. I do have to admit though, even with as tragic as this event was, it was one of the most impressive things I've ever seen. You could literally feel the heat from the fire from several hundred feet away. And then there was the almost literal army of firemen, probably a quarter of which were women, and more than half of which were actually younger than me. It was crazy to watch them at work, and I know at least one was carried off by his coworkers from having passed out. Mad props to them tonight, they kicked all kinds of ass. Crazy though how it just happens to stop raining right as we start getting onto Manakin Road to head back to my dad's place. Been crazy, I just wish I had had my camera with me, or my cellphone hadn't gotten totally fucked up today so I could have taken some pictures to show you all. Craziness.

- Posted 17:21 by Mabelrode