4:30 a.m. on a Saturday Morning

Amazingly, Nels woke up to the sound of shattering glass and I woke up to Nels peeking through the blinds. I wondered why Nels was checking the weather at this time in the morning. But then Nels said, "there's fire!" I jumped to the window and saw the apartment clubhouse was on fire. The fire was just a bit smaller than in the picture above when we first saw it. Nels hurried and called 911...his first time doing so. Then he ran outside (still wearing his pj's!) to get a better look.

A police car arrived first within a minute. (The police show up first to make sure that there really is a fire.) When the fire was as big as in the picture above, Nels was outside talking to the police woman. He tried to let her into the clubhouse using his electronic key, but the security system had shut down all electronic access. A few seconds later, the maintenance guy showed up and let her into the clubhouse. They found a fire extinguisher, but it was no use.

Then, 3 fire trucks came shortly after with about 20 firemen. I stayed in the aparment and watched from the window. I took a couple of pictures which turned out helpful for the apartment managers and fire investigators. Nels was asked to give his written statement about what he saw, so he was involved in the whole thing until about 7 am. It was quite an event. The apartment managers were grateful that Nels called so quickly... the damage could've been much worse!