I woke up at four this morning to the scent of smoke. I bolted out of bed and peered outside. The street was all foggy, though the stars and the moon were crystal-clear. Bad. I went to the side window and heard men shouting at each other and an odd whishing sound (from the hoses). Turns out it was another multi-dwelling house (just like mine) a street or two away. It's very good to know that the smell of smoke will wake me up; I've always imagined it wouldn't, and I'd have to wait for the smoke detector to go off.

The firemen never turned on their truck sirens, which is ultra-considerate to sleeping neighbors. They didn't have them on when the car in front of my house was on fire, either. Of course, that's probably because there wasn't any traffic to plow through... but still, I'll take it.

Here's a Flickr photo set of the aftermath, and a link to the story of the fire in the local paper (well, not the really local paper, which doesn't let you read articles online for free). Officials suspect foul play! At least nobody was hurt, and a pet bunny -- named, ironically, Smokey -- was saved.