Shortly after writing the other entry about my Linux server packing it in, I powered it down and took the covers off. The burning leaves smell didn’t go away which made me think that perhaps it wasn’t the server after all. The suspicious wisps of smoke coming from the balcony below mine pretty much confirmed this hypothesis.

Yes, I said smoke.

I peered over the railing, but couldn’t see anything obviously on fire. Rather than pulling the fire alarm, I called the on-call building manager and told him what I was seeing. Meeting up with him at the apartment below mine, I watched as they tried all the keys to no avail. He and I headed back up to my apartment and he peered over the railing and then asked me to call 9-1-1. So, call I did.

A couple of minutes later, the fire trucks started arriving. I headed down to the main floor just as the firemen were arriving with their axes and what not and went out to watch the show from the corner of Spencer and Holland.

Three firemen appeared on the balcony and were poking at something. One of them returned with a pot of water and poured it out and then did this again. Satisfied, they disappeared back into the apartment.

I had a call later in the morning from the police. Apparently, a flower pot was smoldering/on fire on the balcony. Fortunately, there wasn’t any damage to the apartment below mine, but mine still smelled like burning leaves when I went home at lunch to check on things. Hopefully, the fan I’ve had running all day will have sorted this out, otherwise I’ll have to file an insurance claim to get things cleaned.

I put Pinetree back together at lunch and powered it up. It probably was swamped with a backlog of news and mail, but that should have sorted itself out quickly enough.

At least I’ll have a functioning door when I get home. I suspect the people in the apartment below me won’t.