shortly after my previous post, i heard a "BOM".
FYI, i am staying at the 3rd storey.
That explains the clarity of the noise.

i dismissed it, thinking that it was just something that perhaps a conflicting couple threw down the block.

seconds after, i heard it again. this time round, it was much louder.
the first thing that came to my mind was, someone jumped down the building.
i knew it was not, when i smelled something burning.

i went over to wake up my dad, who was sleeping very soundly.
once we opened the door, we were blinded by balls of intensively choking smoke.
we went out of the unit, by then, my neighbours were also out.
we bent over and saw roaring flames originating directly below us.

Onlookers opposite at the interchange were shouting "Huay Sio! Huay Sio!"(fire in Hokkien) and signalled us to go down via another staircase.
i took my phone and shut the windows of the house before making our way down.
i wanted to remove the ghz from the butsudan but my dad said dun need cos it was not a big fire.
it was totally pitch dark as the power supply of the entire block was cut off.

almost everyone staying around us evacuated to the ground floor. (my block is in the shape of a long curve so the residents at the other side of the block were not affected)

the recycling bin and the power box above it were on roaring flames.
my dad speculated that someone must have set the recyling bin on fire, which caused the power box to catch fire and explode.
A SCDF fire engine and a Red Rhino arrived shortly and the fire fighters tried to put out the fire using extinguishers, but to no avail. the fire got more intensive and spread to the second storey via the staircase.
my house is on the third storey, and i was really worried. my ghz is still inside the house! :'(
my room (red circle)

to our relieve, the Red Rhino decussated the grass patch and drove right into the block so that the water hose was long enough to extinguish the flames.

the police condoned the area and forbided us to return to our unit as the charred smell encircled the site.
we waited for almost an hour.

when we returned at 3, my whole house had the charred smell. it was unbearable.
we do not have power supply so we can't turn on the fan.
we went out of the house again to take a breather, the CID has arrived by then.

though the smell still lingered in my room, i was too tired and went back shortly to rest.

was stirred awake by my dad opening the gate at around 6. i went over to his room to sleep cos my room was too humid without aircon and fan. truthfully, i was really scared after my dad left for work. cos the whole house was pitch dark. =(
at this moment, my phone beeped. Haha.. Jianli's farewell sms before he leaves for field camp. That did it, i fell asleep at ease. =D

we had no power supply until late morning.
my phone connection wasn't reinstalled until evening.
and till we do not have gas supply yet.

I took this when i went downstairs to dabao.

Whoever set up the fire, intentionally or unintentionally, deserves to be nabbed.

In any case, i am deeply grateful to ghz. i am convinced this is the reason why i refused to sleep early despite being a sleepyhead. if i were to sleep early in my aircon room, i may not have hear the noise and unthinkable consequences could happen if i breathe in too much injurious air in my sleep.

i am going to share this actual proof of mine this coming Sat =D

*posted on Tuesday, 18 November 2008, 1.31am*