Oh the burning irony

[Red Squirrel]

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2010/02/04/12743131-qmi.html

Fire destroys Nfld. town's fire hall
By QMI Agency





A fire at a small Newfoundland town's fire station Wednesday night resulted in large explosions and forced the evacuation of about 70 nearby homes.

A Baie Verte town worker noticed the fire at about 7:30 p.m. and told Mayor Gerald Acreman. The mayor tried to activate the emergency pager system, but it's based in the fire hall and had already been damaged in the blaze.

So he then started calling volunteers individually.

Acreman said the building was already fully engulfed and there was nothing they could do.

"It was absolutely raging, so you couldn't get close to do anything at all," Acreman said.

He had called neighbouring fire departments for help, but most are about 15-20 minutes away. Baie Verte is a community of 1,300 people located on the north coast of Newfoundland.

Two fire trucks and the rest of the department's equipment were destroyed in the blaze.

The burning trucks and oxygen cylinders caused large explosions, which prompted officials to evacuate many nearby homes and businesses.

Acreman said people in the community are very upset. He said whenever the department needs to buy new equipment, there are community fundraisers to collect the cash.

"They've seen now it's all gone up in smoke," he said. "Now we have to start from scratch."

News of fundraising efforts was posted on a Facebook group Thursday and Acreman said other communities on the island have offered help and equipment.

Wednesday's blaze was the second recent one to destroy a fire department facility. A wood building used for training burned down on Nov. 21.

Despite the costly loss and the rebuilding effort ahead, Acreman is just thankful nobody was injured.

"All the rest is metal and screws, which we can replace."

 

[olds]

define:irony
A statement that, when taken in context, may actually mean the opposite of what is written literally; the use of words expressing something other than their literal intention, notably as a form of humor; The quality or state of an event being both coincidental and contradictory in a humorous or ...
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/irony

 

[Lifted]

snip

aren't you a bundle of laughs tonight.