the power of fire & smoke

Today's one of those days when you just scratch your chin.
We woke up 3 hours early, at 4:15pm, and at 4:30 started smelling smoke.
Thought something got blown under and was burning in the radiators; nope.
At the last radiator, I look at the window and black smoke is billowing from the neighbour to the South's window.
Go over the front door, open it the hallway is 1/4 filled with smoke.
Get dressed, and get ready for the cold.
4-5 minutes later open the doorway the hallway is now black.
We duck and run to the stairwell and down the stairs.
We look up, and see the smoke just plowing out of the neighbours windows.
We stand in the cold and watch.
The alarm never went off.
The fire department was more concerned about getting our buildings fire alarm to work.
then running upstairs to put out the fire I tell them is raging.
OK, unfair statement, I'm sure 2-3 guys were marching up the stairs to check it out like they always do.

Last night at 3am, like random routine every couple months the fire alarm went off for 20minutes and boy in this building it is loud;

(Once it did that 3 nights in a row; bot was the fire department happy)

Each unit has a HUGE squawk box;

and like routine the fire department is out here hanging out at our building,

There's never a fire, just the loud warnings.

Back outside the building there is now 7 firetrucks, 6 cop cars, 3 ambulances and 5 related agency SUVs
which equals about 20-30 emergency personal.
The firemen pulled the hose up 8 stories; and fought it for 10 minutes.
Out it went.
Back it came.
Out it went.
The buses are now hear, so we go and sit our ass down in a nice warm cozy bus.
Moral of this story:
1) Thank god for Concrete.
2) That they taught us in school to get as close as possible to the floor in case of a fire and get the fu*k out of bad situations.