Ashes, Ashes...Camden's burning down?
So, something happened about two weeks ago, and I guess I neglected to tell anyone about it. But, now that I have a few spare minutes, I suppose its worth writing about. Perhaps some people will find it amusing.
See, I have this knack for driving around and getting caught up in bizarre incidents. Like, there was this time in Fall River, Mass where I was caught in the middle of a police chase. Suspects and police were speeding past me. Then cars were directed off the road, police ran, suspects started fleeing, guns were drawn. I was told to keep my head down and stay in the car. It was craziness. Then there was this other time where I watched a plane crash and then catch fire on the side of the road while I was driving down to Atlantic City. I'm constantly happening upon MAJOR accidents mere moments after they occur. I've been stuck in traffic in the ghetto of Philadelphia and watched as the police pulled body bags out of the river and the woods.
So, yeah, stuff like that happens all the time. But, I think maybe the one two weeks ago may take the cake. See, my roommate and I were driving home to the Philly suburbs after a long day in South Jersey. We had been there since the morning because we had to stop by my mother's house, then we went to a party, and then we hung out with my sister and Chunk for awhile. So anyway, we were thoroughly exhausted after our long day and were heading home. Our ride home sort of takes us through the scary, scary, scary ghetto that is Camden, NJ (frequently voted the most dangerous city in America). We don't actually drive through Camden, at least not downtown, because we stay on the highway. Unfortunately, though, this drive is a necessary evil of getting to Philly.
Well, as we started approaching the Camden city limits, we noticed a flashing sign that said Road Work Ahead, seek another route. Well, it didn't say specifically the road we wanted was closed for road work, but rather one of the ramps to get on the road was closed. So we just drove to the next on-ramp and took that one. Well, as we were driving, we noticed a big plume of what appeared to be smoke in the distance. We didn't think anything of it, since as I said, we don't drive through the city, but kind of around it. Well, as we were driving on the highway, we noticed that besides the cars currently on the highway with us, there were no other cars. I mean, no one else was entering. We finally noticed that no cars were entering, because the on-ramps were all blocked by police cars, construction vehicles, and flashing lights.
This of course did not cause us to get off the road though. Not when the alternative to this road was center city Camden. So we kept driving. And then traffic just literally stopped moving. We were stopped on the highway, not going anywhere. With nothing else to do, we stared straight ahead at the now growing plume of smoke- by this point, we really weren't that far from it. It appeared to be a building and was maybe a few hundred yards ahead. And then the coolest thing ever happened- the building kind of exploded....the plume of smoke tripled in size...and lots and lots and lots of really bright orange flames started shooting up.
At this point, I think the police realized that were not safe on the highway, at least not with the building exploding. So, they did the safest thing for us- directed us into center city Camden. Now, it's really bad when the safest thing for you is to drive into center city Camden. But, there we were. We were inching along with all the other misplaced cars, attempting to get around the burning building. The first thing we noticed was the smell- the entire city smelled like a giant barbecue. Then the smoke started getting in through the vents of the car- it was kind of hard to breath. And then burning ash started falling onto the car.
We were stuck in Camden, with no way out, and it seemed like the city was literally burning down around us. Of course, I'm totally exaggerating. But we were joking that we were going to be burned alive in Camden. Not exactly the way I wanted to go out. But, it is what it is.
After what seemed like forever, and some not so great directions from my sister, we were able to break from the pack of misplaced cars, and find our way out of a burning Camden. We made it to the bridge, paid the toll, and got the hell out of there.
Turns out the building that was on fire was an abandoned warehouse the size of one city block. It was intentionally set on fire, and the fire department thought they had it under control. That is until it exploded- apparently someone was storing propane tanks and other hazardous chemicals inside. Thats when it turned into a four alarm fire.
Craziness, eh?
See, I have this knack for driving around and getting caught up in bizarre incidents. Like, there was this time in Fall River, Mass where I was caught in the middle of a police chase. Suspects and police were speeding past me. Then cars were directed off the road, police ran, suspects started fleeing, guns were drawn. I was told to keep my head down and stay in the car. It was craziness. Then there was this other time where I watched a plane crash and then catch fire on the side of the road while I was driving down to Atlantic City. I'm constantly happening upon MAJOR accidents mere moments after they occur. I've been stuck in traffic in the ghetto of Philadelphia and watched as the police pulled body bags out of the river and the woods.
So, yeah, stuff like that happens all the time. But, I think maybe the one two weeks ago may take the cake. See, my roommate and I were driving home to the Philly suburbs after a long day in South Jersey. We had been there since the morning because we had to stop by my mother's house, then we went to a party, and then we hung out with my sister and Chunk for awhile. So anyway, we were thoroughly exhausted after our long day and were heading home. Our ride home sort of takes us through the scary, scary, scary ghetto that is Camden, NJ (frequently voted the most dangerous city in America). We don't actually drive through Camden, at least not downtown, because we stay on the highway. Unfortunately, though, this drive is a necessary evil of getting to Philly.
Well, as we started approaching the Camden city limits, we noticed a flashing sign that said Road Work Ahead, seek another route. Well, it didn't say specifically the road we wanted was closed for road work, but rather one of the ramps to get on the road was closed. So we just drove to the next on-ramp and took that one. Well, as we were driving, we noticed a big plume of what appeared to be smoke in the distance. We didn't think anything of it, since as I said, we don't drive through the city, but kind of around it. Well, as we were driving on the highway, we noticed that besides the cars currently on the highway with us, there were no other cars. I mean, no one else was entering. We finally noticed that no cars were entering, because the on-ramps were all blocked by police cars, construction vehicles, and flashing lights.
This of course did not cause us to get off the road though. Not when the alternative to this road was center city Camden. So we kept driving. And then traffic just literally stopped moving. We were stopped on the highway, not going anywhere. With nothing else to do, we stared straight ahead at the now growing plume of smoke- by this point, we really weren't that far from it. It appeared to be a building and was maybe a few hundred yards ahead. And then the coolest thing ever happened- the building kind of exploded....the plume of smoke tripled in size...and lots and lots and lots of really bright orange flames started shooting up.
At this point, I think the police realized that were not safe on the highway, at least not with the building exploding. So, they did the safest thing for us- directed us into center city Camden. Now, it's really bad when the safest thing for you is to drive into center city Camden. But, there we were. We were inching along with all the other misplaced cars, attempting to get around the burning building. The first thing we noticed was the smell- the entire city smelled like a giant barbecue. Then the smoke started getting in through the vents of the car- it was kind of hard to breath. And then burning ash started falling onto the car.
We were stuck in Camden, with no way out, and it seemed like the city was literally burning down around us. Of course, I'm totally exaggerating. But we were joking that we were going to be burned alive in Camden. Not exactly the way I wanted to go out. But, it is what it is.
After what seemed like forever, and some not so great directions from my sister, we were able to break from the pack of misplaced cars, and find our way out of a burning Camden. We made it to the bridge, paid the toll, and got the hell out of there.
Turns out the building that was on fire was an abandoned warehouse the size of one city block. It was intentionally set on fire, and the fire department thought they had it under control. That is until it exploded- apparently someone was storing propane tanks and other hazardous chemicals inside. Thats when it turned into a four alarm fire.
Craziness, eh?