everything's on fire

[krasnaya_vdova]

who: Everyone!
what: The residential building is on fire
when: ~2am, August 23rd
where: The Residential building
warnings: Fire, destruction of property, injury, general warnings for crisis situations



It's a reasonably quiet night, pleasantly dry with a slight breeze. Almost nice, for those that enjoy the hours after midnight long before dawn starts to creep on the horizon. Right until it isn't, when the air changes, and there's the scent of heat that promises smoke. In most places it starts with a flash of blue light that arcs from floor to floor as energy pulses through the building, and there's a crack of sound that follows. The power dies for a moment, and if you're one of the unlucky ones, the light that follows is a literal spark in the dark, burning to life in bright orange-red, yielding heat and smoke and trouble. The energy surge doesn't just hit the lights, but sparked flames that burst to life, and they catch quickly, spreading.

The worst of it starts on the ninth floor, where the smoke and the beginning of heat starts moments before the surge. The fire spreads faster there, people starting to startle awake and realize what's happening as the flames crackle. Eventually there's an announcement on the Network, both alerting people to what's happening and trying to organize both those that are willing to help and those that need it.

Some areas are untouched, while others are ravaged badly, reduced to ashes and crumbling ceilings, so watch your step. There's chaos, but through it there's people doing what they can to help each other, and the official fire services show up to help control the blaze. After that, it's just a matter of repairing the damage that's been done, rebuilding and putting things back together, seeing what's been lost and what was saved.

Even later, people start putting the pieces together, and there's the official investigation into what might have caused a fire like that in the first place.


[ooc: As promised, the residential building is on fire! OOC plotting post is here if anyone wants to work out some last minute plans before diving in. Plotting post also includes the relevant details. Elsewise, just top level and mingle. Try not to get burned too badly. :) Good luck!]

Comments

[evasives]

There's a lot happening, between people evacuating and people helping. The weirdest part is the decentralization of the fire, but Cassian will come back to that later. He's up high, eleventh floor, which means it's a long way down the stairs because he knows better than to chance the elevator.

He reaches another floor, only to find part of the stairwell blocked by a wooden plank. It's not blocking the way entirely, but if traffic picks up it could very easily slow people down enough to risk lives. Cassian starts to tug at it, finding it harder than anticipated, heavy and warm to the touch.

In his peripheral vision, he sees another man rushing through, and while normally he wouldn't like to draw attention to himself, this is clearly different. "Hey! You! Help me with this!"

[nikolaievich]

Illya is quick to glance at Cassian. He doesn’t recognize the man but that doesn’t really matter right now where they are all being run ragged by the fire and they need as much help as they can get. For the first time since he woke up in this place he’s actually really glad that most people seem to have some sort of power to themselves- it means that there will be less people that may need help, and more people to help.

Once he gets there it’s pretty clear what the other man needs him to do, so he starts helping with the plank.

“This would be easier if we had something to use as a lever or a crowbar.”

[evasives]

Once the man gets close enough, Cassian confirms he doesn't know him, but similarly that isn't the most pressing issue.

"I don't think we have time to go looking for one." They might have to, if it doesn't work between the two of them, but he hopes not. Any metal is probably hotter to the touch too. "At the same time, lift it." He doesn't wait for the taller man to reply, just starts counting. "One, two, three."

Then he jerks the plank up, blindly assuming cooperation.

[nikolaievich]

Luckily for everyone involved Illya’s actually pretty good at following orders. As long as he likes those orders, anyway. And as long as those orders don’t come from people he dislikes, which is usually most people. ...Anyway.

Point is, he jerks the planks up when Cassian reaches three, and with their combined strengths and Illya’s ability to basically lift cars if he has to, they manage to lift it up and free the way.

“Where do these stairs lead, anyway?”

[evasives]

Cassian is glad he doesn't have to argue with the man over it, and he doesn't bother asking if he'll keep listening. He'll cross that bridge if necessary, but in the mean time he'll just give more directions.

"Walk it this way," he says, jerking his head backwards towards the hallway. He doesn't wait for a response either, just starts moving. "I don't know where they go. Down, presumably. Letting them stay blocked when people are fleeing the building seems like a bad idea to me."

[nikolaievich]

So far the man seems to have a good idea of what he’s doing so Illya doesn’t mind following him. He’s going down anyway which is probably the smartest thing to do during a fire. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of smoke yet but Illya’s still ready to crouch down and crawl any time it seems necessary.

“That makes sense.” He just hoping they lead outside and not a dead end or they will probably have to stand guard and not let anybody go through them. “Do you have any towels cloth or anything like that on you? We should wet as many as we can.”

[evasives]

The urgency of the fire probably makes cooperation easier all around. He leads them both into the hallway, where the smoke is a little hazier and tickles his throat, but it's hardly the worst he's had to breathe through.

"Just the clothes on my back. I didn't get the chance to wet them when I left my rooms." Cassian directs the other man closer to a wall, towards an out of the way corner of the hallway. He doesn't drop the wood until he's sure they're on the same page. "If we leave it here, it shouldn't trip up anyone."