Some friends of mine are in trouble.

This is probably one of the hardest blog posts I've ever tried to write. It's hard to write something like this so that it's not all drama, not all pathos, not all "holiday tragedy human interest story" (which is its own unique flavour of article, to be sure), and yet not come across like I'm trying to manipulate people by tugging at their heart strings. So, to that end, I've opted to write only the facts as I understand them, with a minimum of linguistic ornamentation. Mylia, Chey, Mika, and Cindy are old friends of the family, and rented a house together in College Park, Maryland about a year back. A couple of days ago they had a close call indeed. They awoke in the middle of the night to discover that their house was on fire. Mylia and Chey were in Arizona attending a funeral when the fire broke out. Mika and Cindy, who were at home at the time thankfully got out safely. The College Park VFD extinguished the fire before it could spread to any other buildings. However, the house is pretty much a writeoff. They lost almost everything between the four of them. There isn't a whole lot left of their personal possessions, and a lot of what's left still smells of smoke. I don't ordinarily do this. Ask for money, I mean. There are two fundraisers active on Give Forward, one for Mika and Cindy and one for Mylia and Chey. Christmas isn't too far off, and it would really help them get back on their feet if everyone sent a few dollars their way so they could start rebuilding what they've lost. Their resources are pretty scant right now because most of them were in the house at the time it burned down. If you can, if you have a few dollars to spare, please donate to one (ideally, both) of the fundraisers. I've already done do. They're friends, and they need our help. Thank you, Internet. Update: 20121104 @ 1020EST5EDT Here are some photographs of the fire and the damage done inside. Update: 20121104 @ 1227EST5EDT Hasufin has written up his side of what happened because he was on site while the fire was being put out. I've put his words under the cut to save space.

So, on the 12th of November, Mika called me at 4:30 am. She knows better than to call me at 4:30 am on a weekday. If there's any time I'll be asleep, it's then. Which meant it was important. And it was. I could tell she was crying. She told me to bring the cat carriers right now. That was all she told me. Some things you don't question. I told her I was getting dressed and was on my way; I was putting pants on before she hung up. I took a few moments, but not long. I wasn't sure if she said she needed a cat carrier, or multiple carriers; I reasoned that she lives in a multi-cat household, and surely they have a carrier or two, but that means this is a major issue, so I'd better bring both carriers... better to have and not need, etc. I also snagged a jar of colloidal silver, which is a safe antibiotic cream for pets, figuring that maybe there were injured felines. Thus prepared, I was out the door in ten minutes. I used the time driving to speculate on what happened. My first guess was that it might be nothing, a false alarm. I'd be mad, but it would be the best outcome. My second guess was that there had been a serious interfeline brawl, and several of the cats were in severe need of medical attention. Not ideal, but possible. My third guess was, the cats themselves weren't the issue, but rather the house was uninhabitable. Removing your pets is a logistical nightmare. But what could make the house uninhabitable? Hm. Fire? I didn't know, of course, but it seemed possible. It's half an hour, maybe 45 minutes. from my house to Mika's house. That early in the morning, it was only a half-hour drive. Except for a little snag - about two blocks from the house, there were fire engines blocking the street. A lot of them. I didn't bother counting the fire engines. I saw at least four ambulances, and several police cars. It seemed too much, and too far from the house, to possibly be related. Isn't this kind of fleet what they send when an apartment building catches on fire? Surely this is overkill for a house fire. Still, no way I was getting through. I parked, and called Mika. I had to repeat myself twice, but she confirmed that the emergency vehicles related to her calling me; she told me to walk the rest of the way. Remarkably, I was able to proceed without challenge all the way to the house. Mostly I saw the crews packing it in - paramedics strapping gear onto gurneys, police heading off, fire crews buttoning up their trucks. Which is, overall, a good sign. They don't leave until they're sure they're done. And unused medical supplies are the best thing to see on a gurney. When I got to the house, I