fire!

two wkends ago, while helping my friend nick move, i received a frantic phone call from my aunt..."hannah! is gramma with you? do you know where she is?" alarmed, i replied no, and came to find out that my gramma's apt was on fire! she wasn't answering her home phone or cell phone, but after a few tries, she eventually picked up her cell. thankfully, she was on her way home from church, so she had no idea what was going on. i instructed her to wait for me to come get her. i found her at the church across the street from her apt, sitting on the steps with a friend, staring up at her building. i must say, it was quite a scene. firefighters everywhere, and two fire trucks! i asked one firefighter if i could go up and take inventory of my gramma's apt [at her request] so he accompanied me upstairs to the 3rd floor [which is where the fire originated and where my gramma lives]. it was like a scene out of a movie...no lights, except for the flashlights the firefighters used, black soot covering the walls everywhere, and a weird subtle odor. honestly, it was kinda scary. i overheard one of the firemen ask the one who escorted me upstairs, "is she the granddaughter of the old man?" in a discreet tone. immediately, i though, "oh no...one of the grandpas here has died." and sure enuff, my gramma's next door neighbor, who was 94 years old, died that nite. he was bedridden and couldn't get up to escape. it made me sad to think of it...but my gramma said that he probably died from the smoke, and not from burning to death. she said her other neighbors told her that the firemen came right away, and it turns out that there was minimal damage to other apts [including my grammas]. but still, since the smoke and soot was all over the entire 3rd floor, none of the residents will be able to move back until the apt management has renovated that whole area. in the meantime, my gramma is being shuffled between our place, my cousins' place, and my uncle's place. poor gramma. she kept saying she's too old for drama. i kept reminding her that she's korean. she tried to smack me but missed. =P