Fire In The Y!

Saturday, January 30, 2010, Huntington, New York: It was supposed to be just another Saturday Morning Workout at the Huntington YMCA... but it wasn't, even though it started out as normal as apple pie. Though, come to think of it, I do remember glancing down at the thermometer in my car while driving to the Y and seeing a very low outside temperature -- eleven degrees! Probably the lowest of the year. "Boy", I thought, "I'm glad I'm going to be swimming in a nice, warm indoor pool -- I wouldn't want to be outside in my bathing suit in this weather." How wrong I was!

I managed to get in 700 yards and noticed Sal jump into the pool ready to start his warm-up. The second his feet hit the bottom of the pool, the Fire Alarm went off -- lights were flashing, buzzers were buzzing and lifeguards were yelling "get out of the pool, get out of the pool!" -- grumbling, we all complied. We'd been through numerous false alarms in the past and our first though was, "here we go again!" But this fire was for real... smoke, flames, police, firemen, hoses, water... you name it, we had it. We also had Paul, our own personal NYC fireman to help lead us out of harms way. Now, if only the fire had happened in August instead of January!

But, January it was, and the coldest day of the year to boot. Our thanks to all the YMCA staffers they did a GREAT Job throughout the crisis and they quickly opened the HEATED Annex so we could make a short dash in bare feet and wet bodies to warmth. Since the fire started in the Ladies Locker Room, we all had to leave the building just as we came out of the pool -- dripping wet. I hate to think what it would have been like if we had been forced to stand outside in eleven degree weather, dripping wet. Though I suppose "dripping" would have been a short term problem as the water began to freeze!

I'll have to remember to carry a camera with me when swimming because the only pictures that I have are well after all the action was over. After the fire department got the fire out they allowed a few Y staffers back into the main Y building to collect our clothing from the Locker Rooms. With my clothing back on, I was able to snap a few pictures, (below) with my cell phone.

Staffers and other officials are allowed back into the still darkened YMCA.

Police emergency response was timely.

Rich stays warm in a borrowed red sweatshirt as he awaits the delivery of his "real" clothing. But take my word for it, he looks very well-dressed at this point compared to where he was a half hour or so ago!

Paul looks like he's got TWO pair of jeans -- could he have Riche's? No, just kidding, Christine, (white sleeve and half-a-face in the photo -- damn cell phone cameras!), was kind enough to drive down to the Y and bring Paul a second outfit! (At one point, we all thought that we'd be going home in our bathing suits -- better than "Birthday Suits".)

Joy... a crisis does bring people closer together doesn't it? Thanks again to all the Huntington YMCA Staffers who did such an outstanding job in turning something that could have been much worse into just another "were you there when..." story.

Arthur... the last man in the parking lot may just be the first to bring up "were you there when..."