Words fail me tonight. . .

My smartphone connects me to any corner of the world at any time.  Usually this is a wonderful thing.  Right now, however, I’m not so sure.

This afternoon while I was at my firehouse, we received notification of a 3-alarm fire in Boston.  We logged in to the computer and listened live. We heard the 5^th alarm, and the 7^th, and the 9^th.

We heard the MAYDAY call.

We heard Fire Alarm hailing Engine 33 with no answer.

Ice grew in my stomach.

We heard the evacuation order.

We heard lots of silence.

 

 

We heard the Rapid Intervention Team shouting for EMS.

Our hearts sank.

We monitored Twitter and the TV; we saw pictures and video. We saw CPR in progress.

The news coverage continues. Reporters interview bystanders, and anchors babble on relentlessly about things they only partially understand. Twitter scrolls across my screen evenly divided between messages of news and concern, and things I don’t care about right now.

The world continues on as I sit here waiting for the answer to only one question. I suspect; I dread; and I wait.

Thoughts and prayers with 33/15 and the entire BFD tonight.