Brandfall

There was a fire in my apartment building on the evening of the 13th.
For a long time, we didn't even know there was something going on. There was no fire alarm, though there was the smell of a blown-out electric fuse. Then, all of a sudden, there was someone shining a bright light through our blinds -- it was a fire crew at the top of a very tall fire ladder (we're on the 5th floor). At that point I opened up the blinds and saw all the fire trucks at ground level.

Then I walked over to our apartment door and opened it, only to see several firefighters in the hallway, and one of them motioned for us to stay inside. Shortly after that, a helicopter landed in the plaza, and then took off moments later.

It was only in checking the news today that I realized what actually happened. Our 84 year-old next door neighbor was severely injured ("Eine 84-jährige Frau erlitt dabei lebensgefährliche Verletzungen"), and her apartment is now uninhabitable. She lost one of her cats in the fire, and her injuries are severe enough that -- even if she survives -- it's not likely that we'll see her again.