Not again!
Yes, again. Another fire alarm. At 2:30 this morning. Once again, no damage and no one was hurt.
We were both startled awake by the building-wide fire alarm.
thedeepquiet immediately got out of bed and put on a t-shirt while I struggled to get my bearings.
"What is it?" I asked.
"It's the fire alarm. Remember, we have a plan."
After the previous horrible incident with the fire alarm, we talked a lot about what we would do if it happened again. We agreed that we would grab Benny first, since he is harder to catch, and that if we couldn't catch LC right away I would take Benny downstairs and alert the firefighters that
thedeepquiet needed help.
I got the carriers and followed the scared cat sounds into the guest room, where thedeepquiet was trying to coax Benny out from under the futon. He ran out, through the dining and living rooms and into
thedeepquiet's bathroom. Luckily there's really nowhere to hide in there. I found him crouched on the floor, crying loudly. When I picked him up he didn't struggle at all. We zipped him into the carrier easily. I threw on a housedress, shoved my feet into sandals, and grabbed my keys. LC was under his favorite chair and refusing to come out, so I took Benny in his carrier and ran down the front steps, because I knew that's where the firefighters would come in.
When I joined my sleepy, disheveled neighbors on the sidewalk, the fire engines were pulling up. The firefighters seemed to be taking their time getting into the building, and they weren't wearing any protective gear -- just pants and t-shirts. I told one of them where my apartment was and that
thedeepquietcould not get downstairs without help. He promised they would get her.
I watched my neighbors for a while, wishing I'd thought to grab my cell phone. A couple came down the steps with two cats, each in a hard plastic carrier. I wish we could get outside that easily. Afterwards
thedeepquietsaid, "You should have asked them if we can trade pet sitting," but I wasn't awake enough to think of that. The whole time, Benny was very still and quiet in his carrier.
After a few minutes, the firefighters came back outside, told us everything was fine and we could go upstairs. I carried Benny up and found
thedeepquiet in the living room, trying to coax LC with treats. She had spoken briefly with one of hte firefighters, who asked her if she had left a pot on the stove and then told her it was a false alarm (how he could know this when he was still asking about pots, I have no idea).
The cats were pretty freaked out about it all. When I put the carrier on the floor and unzipped it, Benny refused to come out. I put some treats on the floor and he did come out to eat them, but then went right back in. LC wouldn't come close enough to take the treats. He still seemed kind of wigged this morning, but Benny was fine, bouncing off the walls as usual.
It took us a while to get back to sleep and this morning, the elevator had not been turned back on, but it's back on now and everything was fine.
I don't know why I was so much calmer this time.
thedeepquiet said it was because we had a plan. I think I didn't really believe we were in danger, since we had the other alarm so recently -- I think I kind of assumed the fire alarm was crying wolf. That's not a good assumption to have if it makes me slower and less careful, but not getting hysterical was good.
We are so moving to a ground-level place, as soon as we can find one. I called about a deal that sounded too good to be true a couple weeks ago, but the place was not accessible. We need to get serious about it and start working with a Realtor.
We were both startled awake by the building-wide fire alarm.
thedeepquiet immediately got out of bed and put on a t-shirt while I struggled to get my bearings.
"What is it?" I asked.
"It's the fire alarm. Remember, we have a plan."
After the previous horrible incident with the fire alarm, we talked a lot about what we would do if it happened again. We agreed that we would grab Benny first, since he is harder to catch, and that if we couldn't catch LC right away I would take Benny downstairs and alert the firefighters that
thedeepquiet needed help.
I got the carriers and followed the scared cat sounds into the guest room, where thedeepquiet was trying to coax Benny out from under the futon. He ran out, through the dining and living rooms and into
thedeepquiet's bathroom. Luckily there's really nowhere to hide in there. I found him crouched on the floor, crying loudly. When I picked him up he didn't struggle at all. We zipped him into the carrier easily. I threw on a housedress, shoved my feet into sandals, and grabbed my keys. LC was under his favorite chair and refusing to come out, so I took Benny in his carrier and ran down the front steps, because I knew that's where the firefighters would come in.
When I joined my sleepy, disheveled neighbors on the sidewalk, the fire engines were pulling up. The firefighters seemed to be taking their time getting into the building, and they weren't wearing any protective gear -- just pants and t-shirts. I told one of them where my apartment was and that
thedeepquietcould not get downstairs without help. He promised they would get her.
I watched my neighbors for a while, wishing I'd thought to grab my cell phone. A couple came down the steps with two cats, each in a hard plastic carrier. I wish we could get outside that easily. Afterwards
thedeepquietsaid, "You should have asked them if we can trade pet sitting," but I wasn't awake enough to think of that. The whole time, Benny was very still and quiet in his carrier.
After a few minutes, the firefighters came back outside, told us everything was fine and we could go upstairs. I carried Benny up and found
thedeepquiet in the living room, trying to coax LC with treats. She had spoken briefly with one of hte firefighters, who asked her if she had left a pot on the stove and then told her it was a false alarm (how he could know this when he was still asking about pots, I have no idea).
The cats were pretty freaked out about it all. When I put the carrier on the floor and unzipped it, Benny refused to come out. I put some treats on the floor and he did come out to eat them, but then went right back in. LC wouldn't come close enough to take the treats. He still seemed kind of wigged this morning, but Benny was fine, bouncing off the walls as usual.
It took us a while to get back to sleep and this morning, the elevator had not been turned back on, but it's back on now and everything was fine.
I don't know why I was so much calmer this time.
thedeepquiet said it was because we had a plan. I think I didn't really believe we were in danger, since we had the other alarm so recently -- I think I kind of assumed the fire alarm was crying wolf. That's not a good assumption to have if it makes me slower and less careful, but not getting hysterical was good.
We are so moving to a ground-level place, as soon as we can find one. I called about a deal that sounded too good to be true a couple weeks ago, but the place was not accessible. We need to get serious about it and start working with a Realtor.