(Posted Wednesday, August 26, 2009 at 1:03am)
Last night I was given the unfortunate opportunity to watch a house get burned to the ground.
I happened to hang out at a friend's house at Greenwood's until we got a frantic (and honestly exaggerated) call from his maid that there's fire in the neighborhood. True enough, when we looked from the balcony of his house, we saw smoke rise from a beautiful two-story house 3 blocks away. From afar I can hear the sound of glasses bursting from the heat and the shrieks of wood being consumed by a fire that just got bigger by the minute. It only took a short time before the flames overtook the entire house. By the time the firefighters arrive, the house was lost for good.
In true Pinoy fashion, all of us went outside to see the action unfold. Its funny in the middle of such a tragedy how people converge not really to help but to be updated of the latest happenings. The maid, na itago na lang natin sa pangalan "Nene", in a span of 15 minutes was able to give 3 versions of what transpired in the fire- a feat putting even the NBI to shame.
We were all looking for the owners of the house and were curious of their response at such a great loss. I've heard from a "reliable source" (haha.. that's what you learn working in showbiz) that the owners just sat down in shock staring as the fire engulfed millions of pesos worth of property- not to mention priceless personal memorabilia. It was a loss equating to almost a lifetime of labor and toil all of which were gone in a matter of minutes.
We watched as the firefighters gallantly battle to stop the flames but it seemed for a time the fire had a life of its own. It just won't stop. It just kept on devouring everything in its path. Only until the combined effort of the firefighters from Pasig, Pateros, Malabon, etc did it finally waved the white flag but by that time, the destruction of the house was already complete.
Come to think of it, the fire didn't started big, it started small. Just a minute spark- which could have been quelled by a bucket of water- was allowed to linger. It only took a few seconds of negligence for this flaming monster to grow in power until it became unstoppable. In the end, the cause was overwhelmingly unmatched by the consequence.
Come to think of it, it only took a small spark to bring the house down.
I had a difficult time accepting that idea. The principle bothered me to a great degree... because it speaks on a personal note and simply because its true.
I happened to hang out at a friend's house at Greenwood's until we got a frantic (and honestly exaggerated) call from his maid that there's fire in the neighborhood. True enough, when we looked from the balcony of his house, we saw smoke rise from a beautiful two-story house 3 blocks away. From afar I can hear the sound of glasses bursting from the heat and the shrieks of wood being consumed by a fire that just got bigger by the minute. It only took a short time before the flames overtook the entire house. By the time the firefighters arrive, the house was lost for good.
In true Pinoy fashion, all of us went outside to see the action unfold. Its funny in the middle of such a tragedy how people converge not really to help but to be updated of the latest happenings. The maid, na itago na lang natin sa pangalan "Nene", in a span of 15 minutes was able to give 3 versions of what transpired in the fire- a feat putting even the NBI to shame.
We were all looking for the owners of the house and were curious of their response at such a great loss. I've heard from a "reliable source" (haha.. that's what you learn working in showbiz) that the owners just sat down in shock staring as the fire engulfed millions of pesos worth of property- not to mention priceless personal memorabilia. It was a loss equating to almost a lifetime of labor and toil all of which were gone in a matter of minutes.
We watched as the firefighters gallantly battle to stop the flames but it seemed for a time the fire had a life of its own. It just won't stop. It just kept on devouring everything in its path. Only until the combined effort of the firefighters from Pasig, Pateros, Malabon, etc did it finally waved the white flag but by that time, the destruction of the house was already complete.
Come to think of it, the fire didn't started big, it started small. Just a minute spark- which could have been quelled by a bucket of water- was allowed to linger. It only took a few seconds of negligence for this flaming monster to grow in power until it became unstoppable. In the end, the cause was overwhelmingly unmatched by the consequence.
Come to think of it, it only took a small spark to bring the house down.
I had a difficult time accepting that idea. The principle bothered me to a great degree... because it speaks on a personal note and simply because its true.
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