Even though each day is a new experience with its own surprises I was not expecting to walk pass a burning building on my way to work yesterday morning. A building on the corner of the street, not far from church, had billows of black smoke rising out of it as fire-fighters sprayed and crowds were growing wishing to witness what was going on.
A had a quick glance to my left as I was attempting to navigate my way through the crowds. I saw a fire truck, in pretty good condition, with a fire-fighter standing on top of it wearing a fire-fighter jacket, normal pants and, to my own personal amusement, no shoes. The other two fire-fighters nearby where shoed in gumboots and wore fire jackets and just casual pants. Not the kind of protection we expect to see on our fire-fighters back home. Next to the building some employees were quickly loading cases of drinks and other supplies out of the building to save them from any further danger.
Once I got further way from the commotion and crowds I was able to turn back and take a few quick snap shots of what was going on. Maybe looking at the powerlines you might wonder why events like this are more common, but this isn’t something that happens everyday (thankfully) so locals all want to try to catch a glimpse.
This morning the crowds had minimised as the clean-up continued. There were a couple ladies with recycling carts ready to collect anything they could sell. Men were putting ash into bags or boxes to get it out of the blackened building. Some supplies were stored outside.
I am still not sure what caused this fire but it was interesting to witness fire-fighting in a developing country. It certainly makes you think and see the contrast.
