I'm living in bizarro world right in my own neighborhood.
Some may recall that I commented on one of my neighbors having spent a year having their home restored from a fire, only to jeopordize it by not quickly repairing damage caused by Hurricane Sandy.
I came home last evening to a horrible scene. The house next door to that one, directly across the street from me, appears to be a total loss due to fire.
Tony and Brenda moved into that home only two months ago. Ed, Tim and myself became "instant" friends with them, because their movers never showed up, so we moved them in. Brenda was so impressed/relieved that she cried that day.
My wife informs me that the police, firemen, Tony & Brenda, their bird & dog spent the latter part of the afternoon in my bedroom discussing what happened. My house smells like smoke from their clothing. Tony got burned on the face & neck, but not badly enough to go to the hospital. They lost everything... even the dog had to be recussitated, as he didn't get it out on his own. The firemen rescued it. Brenda has my cellphone, the dog and bird are over at Ed's house, Tony and Brenda are at Tim's house. Brenda didn't even have pants or shoes.
It's 22 degrees out. Cars, wallets, phones, EVERYTHING. (Except the big bird cage, my wife says that was in our lanai while the fire raged, Brenda apparently ran (barefoot) across the street with the bird & cage.
The insurance co. apparently sent out the same co. I laughed about when referencing the OTHER house in my neighborhood that burned up to do the "board up" on Tony's house.
That was what I drove up to last night- My wife says, "Wait until daylight, you aren't going to believe how ugly it got."
Tony says they think it was an electrical fire. Same thing that got their next door neighbors house.
We were all just getting to know them. If this construction co. moves as slowly as they did last time, it'll be a year before they are our neighbors again, and that's probably best-case scenario, as from what I saw (garage-[portable lights]-completely burned up, including both vehicles) this house will probably have to levelled.
My wife says she almost laughed at one point. The firemen handed Tony the literally smoking remains of his wallet. Think of the movie, "Trains, Planes and Automobiles".
It leaves you with an eerie, unsettled feeling, especially with the smoke smell in the house. I bet the next time I remind my wife to clean the lint screen on the dryer, for example- I bet she really does it.