Flo is no longer going to be ... roll on Phoenix - A second generation EBB5 bass, you'll understand shortly.
This is S'manth, at present I am unable to access my 'real' account for reasons that will soon become clear, as will sadly why Flo is never going to be built.
https://www.moreradio.online/news/sussex-news/hove-fire-one-rescued-from-fourth-floor-flat/
I awoke late evening (Not long before Midnight on Tuesday) to a strange smell, like burning toast .... but I hadn't made any toast (or cooked anything earlier). I ignored it for half a minute but it seemed to be getting stronger ... so I got up out of bed ... perhaps Kitty Kitty had been up to some mischievous.
Immediately my head was immersed in the most opaque, hot, acrid smoke I have ever experienced! Something not quite right here!
I managed to make my my way out of my bedroom, towards the front door (Internal door of my 4th floor flat) where the heat and smoke was worse. My lights would not switch on, I was gasping and coughing and terrified. After what seemed hours (but was probably just half a minute) I managed to open the door and stagger out into the communal upstairs hallway ... another minute and I would not be typing this (Or doing anything indeed!)
4 flats on each of the 5 levels, I started pounding on doors and screaming fire, I suspect that more people were traumatised by the sight of this nearly naked frantic woman with blackened face and crazy hair then by what I said ... but over the next couple of minutes, as more people awoke some sort of order set in and the block was cleared; then the two adjacent. The emergency services responded fairly quickly and performed their heroic activities.
Myself and one of my 4th floor neighbours were blue lighted to the local hospital for assessment of smoke inhalation, thankfully we're both physically OK. Emotionally (for myself ... totally different matter)
Some of the images ...
The next day after my dearest friend came to collect my from Hospital, we stopped by the block to see what we could find out (She has the spare keys to my flat) most of the flats looked OK, people were back in ... even my immediate neighbour seemed to have returned home.
A police officer stopped us on our way up the stairs saying that my flat was still being investigated and entry was not allowed, but was gracious enough to snap a couple of pix on my friends phone.
When I saw them the small hope I had melted away, pictured is my front entrance/hall/living room. All of my music making stuff was in the Living room including the lovely wood I had just got to build Flo ... but a picture is worth a thousand words so ...
The local council have been amazing and managed to get me into emergency housing for the weekend and we shall see what happens next week.
The main takeaways ...
I am alive.
None of the neighbours were seriously injured.
And I have hope that Kitty Kiyyt was able to escape and is currently sipping some lovely milk with a kind person.
Normal service will resume ... at some point!
In the meantime PLEASE make sure you have smoke detectors installed that work and have at least two ways of exiting your home (Oh ... and keep your important documents in a fire resistant box lol)
S'manth x
