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Fire | Jul 07 2002

People don’t usually burn to death; instead they die of smoke inhalation. Later, as corpses, they burn.

It seems counter-intuitive, but third degree burns are the most severe. These burns may appear white or charred and extend through all seven layers of skin. Victims of third degree burns often experience severe pain, unless the nerve endings are destroyed, in which case they feel nothing, or nearly nothing.

Were my apartment on fire, the first thing I’d grab would be my bag. After that it’s unclear; pretty much everything is in my bag.

Well, my pants: I’d put on my pants, given time. Otherwise I’d grab my pants on the way out and put them on later. This is less a matter of modesty than prudence. I keep my money, driver’s license, credit card, ATM card and subway pass in the two front pockets of my pants.

Only, would I really do this? If the fire forced me to scramble onto the roof to escape, would I scramble carrying my pants? No: I’d either stop to put them on or I’d leave them behind, one or the other, but I wouldn’t carry them. The amount of time I would be slowed down by carrying my pants, particularly up the ladder to the roof, exceeds the time it would take to put them on.

Also I’d probably yell something for Michelle, or for whomever was my bathroommate at the time, assuming that person hadn’t already yelled something for me.

Unfortunately I can never quite remember the name of the woman directly below me. Is it Idoya? I believe it’s something like Idoya. On the rare occasion we speak, invariably in the hall, I skip over the part where you say the other person’s name, for fear of getting it wrong.

So instead of yelling something specific to Idoya, I’d use a more generic approach and address the entire building, including the women under Idoya who I doubt even live here anymore. Something like: “Hey, people, get the fuck out! The building is on fire!”

Only I probably wouldn’t yell fuck because aside from Michelle, with whom I share a bathroom, I don’t really know my neighbors so well—Idoya, or whatever her name is, being a case in point.