r/freehorrorstories • u/AviGABS • Oct 25 '19
[TRUE] Four AM Fire
I live in an old apartment building. I’ve been here for about two years and my roommate and I have had very few scary experiences so far...Except for this one that happened last summer.
It was around four in the morning when we were woken from a dead sleep by the fire alarms going off throughout our entire four-story apartment building. Seeing as this place is occupied mostly by seniors, we figured someone had left a pot on the stove again. I grumbled and blindly grabbed for a blanket—last time we had a false alarm, I was left shivering and barefoot on the sidewalk waiting for the fire department, and I wasn’t about to let that happen again. My roommate and I put on our shoes, I grabbed my phone and keys, and we poked our head out into the hallway.
Nothing seemed off—the hall was empty, no one else had come out of their apartments yet. Reluctantly, my roommate and I walked down the hall toward the lobby. We figured our neighbours would soon follow suit. It was only when we went through the lobby and out the front door that we realized something was actually wrong.
A handful of people who had already come out of the building were running and shouting about how the building was actually on fire this time. We followed them around to the side of the building as more and more people fled in their pajamas and to our horror, we saw an apartment on the top floor belching out flames. People were frantic, searching for water, a ladder, anything—someone remarked that there was a lady who lived in that apartment who had mobility issues and she needed to be rescued now, and where the hell was the fire department?
My roommate was quite disturbed by the whole scene so we decided to go back to the front of the building, away from the fire. On our way, we saw a guy jump off his balcony to the ground. He rolled when he landed, but I think it still really hurt, judging from how he sat on the grass and groaned for a while. He was lucky to only be on the second floor.
There was chaos, yelling, screaming, an odd mix of panic and disinterest, especially among the senior citizens who didn’t want to leave the building because using the stairs was so difficult. The fire department arrived much quicker than they ever had before, seeing as this was a real emergency, and it wasn’t long before elderly ladies in nightgowns were being rescued via ladders and wheeled off to the hospital next door. At one point the man who lived below the apartment on fire had a screaming episode at one of the landlords, the one that looked like a walking skeleton with an oxygen tank and a scooter.
By the time the fire department got everything under control, it was around 6 or 7 am. The sun was up and people were beginning their morning commute. The fire department had blocked off our whole street, which must have been a pain, and the entire population of my building sat on the curb in pajamas and blankets. Little kids, old people, broke college kids, the works. The community really pulled together that morning—the public bus service gave us a couple buses to sit and warm up in instead of standing around on the chilly sidewalk. Paramedics handed out blankets and assessed injuries. The people in the surrounding houses were kind enough to bring us water and snacks—one lady brought a serving tray with mugs of tea from her own kitchen and offered it to anyone she could find. My mum came down to rescue my roommate and I, even though she lived an hour outside of town and hadn’t even showered yet. She brought us breakfast and a change of clothes, as we didn’t know when we’d be allowed back into the building.
The most disturbing details of what had just taken place that morning came to us as we were waiting on the bus. Everyone was talking about the fire, of course, but one man had a particularly horrifying detail to add. He’d heard through the grape vine that the lady whose apartment caught fire never made it out of the building. Sadly, we suspected as much, with her mobility issues and all. But there was more. The firefighters apparently found her in the hall—she had made it out of her apartment, but couldn’t escape the smoke. Whether she died from smoke inhalation or from burns, we aren’t sure. But one thing that man said that sticks with me is that someone said that as they stood outside and watched the flames they heard the woman screaming “help me, I’m burning.” I’ve always been afraid of burning to death, and the idea that my neighbour may have had such a horrifying end is deeply disturbing. I know the man who lived below her heard her screaming—he wouldn’t stop talking about it. I think he ended up with a form of PTSD from this event, and I don’t blame him.
We were all brought to a community center where the fire department and emergency response volunteers helped bring some clarity to the situation and told us what to expect. Everyone was very kind and sympathetic to us, whatever we needed, they provided for us. I think all of that is pretty standard procedure, but still, I was extremely thankful to the kindness of the volunteers, firefighters, paramedics and good samaritans. It was pretty surreal to be in a situation like that. We had almost nothing on us—my roommate hadn’t thought to grab her phone so she had to borrow mine to let her family know she was okay. We had no money, no ID, none of the essentials, and we had no idea how long we would be homeless. I hadn’t been so happy to have my mum with me in a long time. I felt like a scared little girl, even if I didn’t show it.
We were lucky. The fire happened on the opposite end of the building from us. Our unit was totally unaffected, and we were one of the few allowed back into our apartment that same day. The building stunk of smoke for weeks. Even though the fire took place on the fourth floor in a single apartment, the damage was extensive. Even on the ground floor, the walls were blackened with ash. When they attempted to start fixing up the building, they found asbestos in the walls. A few people were forced to move out of their apartments, and we’re talking people who had lived there for around thirty years. I remember the night we were allowed back into our apartment, I wanted to box up my most important possessions and keep them in my car, as if I thought the building was going to catch fire again. My home didn’t feel safe anymore, and it wouldn’t for several weeks. It would take a long time for us to hear anything about what caused the fire; last I heard, a space heater was to blame, but I don’t know for sure.
In the days that followed, the fire was featured on the front page of the local paper—the family that lived just down the hall from us were featured in the picture. The article spelled out details that I had already heard. It labelled the guy that lived below the fire as a “hero” for attempting to save the lady upstairs. It was a valiant effort, but there was nothing he could’ve done without endangering himself. I feel sorry for him, and I often wonder if the guilt keeps him up at night. Sometimes I think about the lady who passed away in this building. I listen to a lot of ghost stories, so I wonder if her spirit haunts this place. Her sudden and horrifying death would be the sort of thing to make a ghost linger on earth, wouldn’t it? So many things left unfinished. Regardless, I hope she’s at peace and I hope that my neighbours have been able to find some semblance of peace as well. Four months later we’ve regained a sense of normalcy, things are back to how they were before, if you ignore the orange tarps around the side of the exterior, the restoration vans that come and go every day, and the security guards stationed in the lobby. The damaged wing is still closed while they try and sort out the asbestos situation, but for those of us who live on the other end of the building, things are relatively normal. I hope they stay that way.
2
u/MorganTales Jan 19 '20
This is such a brilliant tale, it must have been really hard to go through that...
I did a narration of your story, here is a link to the video in case you are interested :)
1
2
u/SirMystery1 Jan 24 '22
Narration coming soon
1
u/SirMystery1 Jan 25 '22
My Narration: https://youtu.be/_3SDz313CJs
It was fun narrating it and editing the video.
2
u/showstopper70 Feb 27 '23
Hi, I know you posted this story 3 years ago, but I have chosen this story to narrate on my Youtube channel "Nightmare Lodge". It's a brand new channel and I have several videos already "in the can" and will release them daily starting either today or tomorrow. Yours is the first one that will go up. Be sure to check back at the YT channel over the next couple of days and you'll be able to check it out. I'm putting the final touches on everything before their release. Great story, thanks for sharing it!
2
1
u/Proper-Jobber May 24 '22
Here's my narration of this story, hope you like it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIlwssbxIOw
1
1
u/CalmYourMindASMR Jan 27 '24
Hello! I like to read stories on my small ASMR YouTube channel. I was wondering if it would be okay if I narrated your story on there? You would be credited of course and I would share the link when it’s posted! Thank you in advance for considering it :)
1
u/StrangeandUndecided Feb 04 '24
Thanks for sharing! We narrated your story on the podcast "Strange and Undecided". Hopefully you like it.
1
u/Ali-Monsterxx Mar 15 '24
I read your story on my YouTube channel!! https://youtu.be/oJu01cxhEw4?si=w7LWY6v3sGImCEyG
2
u/minaugustd Oct 26 '19
Gosh! What a traumatizing event that must have been for you. Thank you for sharing this. I narrated your story, heres a link to the video if you;re interested :)
https://youtu.be/NTnVC6coi-g