http://www.raisingbakersfield.com/home/Blog/Sheeky/29346 &nbsp; I had a scary Sunday.&nbsp; You may have seen this story on KGET.&nbsp; I had just come home from picking up some groceries when I heard a 'pop' sound.&nbsp;&nbsp; I ran over to see what was going on, and 2 units (top and bottom) were COMPLETELY engulfed in flames. I was the first one there and called 911. Soon after, I saw the lady who lives in the lower one(thankfully wasn't inside) running towards it. Apparently she had only been away 10 minutes or so.&nbsp; Since I was the first to see it, I later had to give a statement to the fire investigater and was interviewed by one of the news crews on scene (although they didn't use my interview-as they say I have a face for radio). Nobody was hurt, although some pets were in the fire. It was really scary considering how close it was. Heck, it was scary just seeing it up close. I had no idea if it would just shoot across the complex, and I was trying to decide if I should grab anything out of our home, and what to grab. It was a scary reminder of how quickly that can happen. I stood really close to the lady who lived in one of the, and she was obviously devestated. Everything she owns, including some pets, gone. Thankfully, the fire department showed up very quickly and put it out before it spread. No word yet on what caused it. Praise God it wasn't any closer. Even my clothes smell like smoke just from being out there.&nbsp; The fire was so hot, it actually melted the tail lights and licsense plate covers of the cars parked across from it. It messed with my head too.&nbsp; I've not wanted to turn anything in my place on in fear that a short will set my unit ablaze.&nbsp; Last night, I remember waking up a couple times in a sleepy haze and checking my phone, afraid that it was over heating and would start a fire. That on top of my wife and child being stranded in Pheonix and breaking my cell phone (only phone I have in which to contact said stranded family), it was an interesting weekend. &nbsp; I had a scary Sunday.&nbsp; You may have seen this story on KGET.&nbsp; I had just come home from picking up some groceries when I heard a 'pop' sound.&nbsp;&nbsp; I ran over to see what was going on, and 2 units (top and bottom) were COMPLETELY engulfed in flames. I was the first one there and called 911. Soon after, I saw the lady who lives in the lower one(thankfully wasn't inside) running towards it. Apparently she had only been away 10 minutes or so.&nbsp; Since I was the first to see it, I later had to give a statement to the fire investigater and was interviewed by one of the news crews on scene (although they didn't use my interview-as they say I have a face for radio). Nobody was hurt, although some pets were in the fire. It was really scary considering how close it was. Heck, it was scary just seeing it up close. I had no idea if it would just shoot across the complex, and I was trying to decide if I should grab anything out of our home, and what to grab. It was a scary reminder of how quickly that can happen. I stood really close to the lady who lived in one of the, and she was obviously devestated. Everything she owns, including some pets, gone. Thankfully, the fire department showed up very quickly and put it out before it spread. No word yet on what caused it. Praise God it wasn't any closer. Even my clothes smell like smoke just from being out there.&nbsp; The fire was so hot, it actually melted the tail lights and licsense plate covers of the cars parked across from it. It messed with my head too.&nbsp; I've not wanted to turn anything in my place on in fear that a short will set my unit ablaze.&nbsp; Last night, I remember waking up a couple times in a sleepy haze and checking my phone, afraid that it was over heating and would start a fire. That on top of my wife and child being stranded in Pheonix and breaking my cell phone (only phone I have in which to contact said stranded family), it was an interesting weekend. en-us <p>Wow! That is scary. Thankfully everyone is okay.</p> http://www.raisingbakersfield.com/home/Blog/Sheeky/29346/#c_266758 http://www.raisingbakersfield.com/home/Blog/Sheeky/29346/#c_266758 <p>Wow! That is scary. Thankfully everyone is okay.</p> <p>that's horrible.&nbsp; i'll pray for those people who have lost so much.&nbsp;</p> http://www.raisingbakersfield.com/home/Blog/Sheeky/29346/#c_266820 http://www.raisingbakersfield.com/home/Blog/Sheeky/29346/#c_266820 <p>that's horrible.&nbsp; i'll pray for those people who have lost so much.&nbsp;</p> <p>one thing that was neat to see was as the one lady started salvaging what she could out of her apt, they pulled out a big, cedar chest.  It was burned on the outside, but they opened it up and all of their photos inside were just fine.  In all that they were dealing with, it was an obvious relief to them to find something irreplaceable like that.</p> http://www.raisingbakersfield.com/home/Blog/Sheeky/29346/#c_266839 http://www.raisingbakersfield.com/home/Blog/Sheeky/29346/#c_266839 <p>one thing that was neat to see was as the one lady started salvaging what she could out of her apt, they pulled out a big, cedar chest.  It was burned on the outside, but they opened it up and all of their photos inside were just fine.  In all that they were dealing with, it was an obvious relief to them to find something irreplaceable like that.</p> <p>We were down in Morro Bay for the day ( to get away from the smoke, ha ha ) and were called back by my mother in law, who saw the fire and realized it was our apartment complex. As she got closer, she realized that the fire was in the back of the complex, where our apartment is ... and as she got there she realized it was right where our apartment is - right next door to it, in fact!</p> <p>Fortunately, we had no damage. Praise California's building codes, which require firefast material between apartments and other necessities of the sort. But we did have a tense two-plus hours winding our way back to Bakersfield on the 58. No reception, so we couldn't get updates from her. We were worried about our cats - either smoke inhalation, or that they got out of the door the firemen broke down to make sure nobody was trapped in our apartment. We found them eventually, hiding.</p> <p>Incidentally, the car with the tail lights is our car, which was parked right across from the burned apartments. The tail lights didn't actually melt ( thank goodness! ) but the plastic did turn opaque from the heat, indicating that they were on the verge of melting.</p> <p>I didn't have the trauma of seeing the flames and fearing that our apartment would go up in flames next, and I'm thankful for it! But those hours driving back, trying to hurry without actually hurrying ( having an accident in the mountains would have really made it a bad day ) wasn't too much fun either.</p> <p>I'm also a little scared of turning on the appliances in my home now, and more aware of the ones that are running or on standby during the day.</p> http://www.raisingbakersfield.com/home/Blog/Sheeky/29346/#c_267175 http://www.raisingbakersfield.com/home/Blog/Sheeky/29346/#c_267175 <p>We were down in Morro Bay for the day ( to get away from the smoke, ha ha ) and were called back by my mother in law, who saw the fire and realized it was our apartment complex. As she got closer, she realized that the fire was in the back of the complex, where our apartment is ... and as she got there she realized it was right where our apartment is - right next door to it, in fact!</p> <p>Fortunately, we had no damage. Praise California's building codes, which require firefast material between apartments and other necessities of the sort. But we did have a tense two-plus hours winding our way back to Bakersfield on the 58. No reception, so we couldn't get updates from her. We were worried about our cats - either smoke inhalation, or that they got out of the door the firemen broke down to make sure nobody was trapped in our apartment. We found them eventually, hiding.</p> <p>Incidentally, the car with the tail lights is our car, which was parked right across from the burned apartments. The tail lights didn't actually melt ( thank goodness! ) but the plastic did turn opaque from the heat, indicating that they were on the verge of melting.</p> <p>I didn't have the trauma of seeing the flames and fearing that our apartment would go up in flames next, and I'm thankful for it! But those hours driving back, trying to hurry without actually hurrying ( having an accident in the mountains would have really made it a bad day ) wasn't too much fun either.</p> <p>I'm also a little scared of turning on the appliances in my home now, and more aware of the ones that are running or on standby during the day.</p> <p>To everyone who was at this fire last sunday and comforted us during this devistating time i would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Yes we were able to salvage alot of our pictures from that big oak chest. I especially would like to thank the man who was there early on who said a prayer with my wife. Your kind words will forever be remembered by her. We lost nearly all including our three beloved cats. But our little dog was saved and we are ok. For that i am eternally grateful.</p> <p>This is just an obstacle in our path. We will grow from this and be stronger because of it.</p> <p>Thankyou for all your kind words.</p> <p>Billy Bob</p> http://www.raisingbakersfield.com/home/Blog/Sheeky/29346/#c_268985 http://www.raisingbakersfield.com/home/Blog/Sheeky/29346/#c_268985 <p>To everyone who was at this fire last sunday and comforted us during this devistating time i would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Yes we were able to salvage alot of our pictures from that big oak chest. I especially would like to thank the man who was there early on who said a prayer with my wife. Your kind words will forever be remembered by her. We lost nearly all including our three beloved cats. But our little dog was saved and we are ok. For that i am eternally grateful.</p> <p>This is just an obstacle in our path. We will grow from this and be stronger because of it.</p> <p>Thankyou for all your kind words.</p> <p>Billy Bob</p>