11 August 2017. I stood outside my home and watched it burn. I was about to be displaced for an entire year, as my urban condo was gutted and then reconstructed. The fire wasn’t my fault. I live in an urban condo, and my upstairs neighbor, a high-level hoarder with floor-to-ceiling stacks of books and papers with extension cords beneath them, was responsible.
I didn’t have a fire safe, so I can’t answer your question directly. Here’s what I can say. People often speculate about what they’d take with them while fleeing a burning building; perhaps the photo albums, jewelry, or other valuable or sentimental items. Here’s what they do take: nothing. They run for their lives, and they’re happy to be alive.
The upstairs windows were spewing smoke and flames. I grabbed Sadie (dog) and fled. Thank goodness, Martin (cat) hid beneath our bed, below the melee, and survived.
(Social question. I’m free to meander.)