By the time I had finished my circuit
around the mezzanine and was heading back down to the lower level, there was a
sudden commotion behind me. I turned to
see flames from the barbeque grills had attacked the ceiling beams and these
were already on fire. It was stunning
how quickly the flames took hold and traveled along the ceiling.
Immediately there was panic. People screaming, trying to get down the
steps and out the front door were being impeded by the people on the ground
floor trying to do the same.
I had made it to the private side room
and as calmly as possible I tried to encourage the customers there to take
their things and exit the building. I
was not being brave. I truly thought
that this was a little fire the fire department would put out quickly and we’d
all end up in the boss’s office laughing and joking about the drama of it all.
It was only seconds later that I
suddenly felt burning in my eyes and thick black smoke enveloping me. I couldn’t breathe. There was no air. I grabbed a handful of the velvet curtain and
pressed it against my nose and mouth.
The smoke was so terribly thick I couldn’t see even a foot in front of
my face. I think it was then that I
realized that this was not going to end with jokes in the boss’s office, and that
my life was in actual danger.
Dumping the cigarette tray onto a
table I dropped to the floor and started to crawl towards where I thought the
front door might be. Suddenly there was
a shattering of glass and I heard a voice yelling, ‘Fire department…is anyone
still in here?’
Thank the good Lord, you bet there is!
The voice directed me to get on the
floor and crawl towards him. Well, I was
already on the floor and, although it was a little easier to breathe down
there, I still couldn’t see anything but vague outlines of the legs of chairs
and tables.
I kept crawling until suddenly there
was a big arm grabbing me and pulling me outside. Coughing and spluttering I joined the rest of
the patrons on the footpath.
The
Embers burned to the ground that
night. Walking past the charred and
boarded up building the next day, I paused to read what some wit had scrawled
across the front door. The Ashes, it said. Too true.
