The Roof, The Roof, The Roof is on Fire...

I melted all over the taxi's backseat on Monday afternoon. Bits of me dribbled onto the floor mats, dripped over the plush valour seats, and formed a little puddle that could have previously been my exhausted, sweat-shimmering arms draped limply over bags and bags of our luggage. I was in the process of moving everything to my new apartment, which is in a tiny corredor closer to Plaza de Armas and Mercado Central, but still rests on the edge of Parque Forestal.

In a liquidy haze I overheard the driver animatedly telling me about the "storm" Santiago had a week ago (by storm, I mean it maybe rained lightly for two hours). "Last one of the year, I believe, though you never can tell," he told my limp, lifeless body.

Santiago could give SoCal a run for its money in terms of sunny days. The shift from freezing wet winter to hot arid summer was so immediate I barely had a chance to blink my eyes. Here it was: a golden land of stagnant summer smog and parks full of pirouetting pollen. Definitivamente me estoy derretiendo.

Coming from temperate Connecticut, I've never had to worry much about fire danger. Smokey the Bear was often confusesd with Yogi Bear. Every summer I've vaguely watched massive forest fires rage across the West Coast on tiny t.v. screens, disinterested by the massive power of nature unfolding 3,000 miles away.

But yesterday night my ignorance literally exploded in my face. I lie tossing and turning, a pool of slowly desolidifying flesh in my hot hot bedroom, when the sound of literally dozens upon dozens of fire engines rose up from below. Peeking out of my window with my half-deliquesced eye, I saw this:



The heat from the flames was so strong I could literally feel it on my face through the glass. Buildings popped and fizzed like popcorn on a stove, sending up epic flares of fresh flame and cinders. Men scrambled on rooftops, shielding their faces from the smoke and the light, desperately looking for a way to get down. The whole of Santiago Centro lit up with the blue, red, and green of ambulances, fire engines and cop cars. The initial fire was actually MUCH bigger than what I caught on film - at least three times this size. I stayed awake, awkwardly got dressed, and remained with a blanket and water bottle by my side in case an evacuation was called.

But, perplexingly, there has been NO NEWS on this fire. I've Googled in both English and Spanish, scoped out electronic versions of El Mercurio and The Santiago Times, and I've seen no reports on last night's scary and awesome events. Brittaney, who lives a few blocks down from me, said that none of the people in her building had heard of anything last night. She slept soundly, although I text-messaged both her and Tosh to warn them, as all of us live very very close to where the fire occurred.

So, this prompts me to very eloquently ask: WTF, Santiago?!?!?!?

I've been trying to Google fire precautions and safety measures that Santiago takes in the case of a firestorm like last night, but haven't come up with anything. I'm going to interview my Duoc colleagues tonight and re-edit this post based on the information I get.

For right now, it seems odd that santiaguinos aren't fuming over more effective fire-safety measures. I don't know what caused the flames, but I sure hope to find out that there's something in place to deal with occasions like these, and to inform the public when they occur.

CIEE people: has anyone seen or heard anything about this? I'd be interested to have more information.