Alarums and excursions

[mdlbear]

While I was on the bus to work I got an unexpected call from the YD, saying that the fire alarm in our apartment building had gone off.

Colleen parked her scooter in the third-floor elevator lobby and walked down the three flights of stairs to the exit, between the first and second floors. Whereupon she plunked herself down in a half-barrel planter (next to the door and conveniently empty) to await developments.

It turned out that someone had burnt their toast, then opened the door to the hallway. I got the news before the bus reached its first stop in Seattle, which saved me the trouble of figuring out whether to turn back.

The neighbor who had gone downstairs with Colleen, encouraging her all the way, went back and retrieved her scooter. The YD, too, kept her head and made sure to take her keys and Colleen's cane along.

More adventure than we needed, but it's good to know that Colleen can get downstairs under her own power in an emergency.

Comments

[joecoustic.livejournal.com]

Yes, a frustrating but not uncommon happening in both apartment and condo communities. We have them where I live every so often and sometimes it's scary to me how few folks believe it's really happening so don't leave. Having once lived in a dorm where a real fire happened at a regularly scheduled alarm test time - which led to the front desk wrongly telling tenants that it was only a drill and *not* a real fire - probably left me with the leaning to take most alarms seriously.

So glad she was able to make it downstairs on her own! :)

[tollermom]

Definitely a good thing to know, and not a scenario that most people w/ mobility issues will willingly test, so in this case I'll say "Yay for burnt toast!" In a non-life-threatening way, you've learned that Colleen can make it down the stairs on her own and that YD will keep her head and grab the important things. :-)

I'm glad it was nothing more eventful than that!

(Also, if you have on-site building management people, make sure they know Colleen has mobility concerns. They should be able to let the FD know, in a real emergency, that they may need to assist.)

Debbie G.

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

Whew!

[judifilksign.livejournal.com]

I'm glad all y'all are safe, and that Colleen has enough mobility to get out. Bummer that she had to needlessly, though. I hope she isn't sore or strained because she had to do so.

[amaebi.livejournal.com]

That sounds like good bad news.