A pyro, by any other name, would still be as dangerous...

Taking this fire theme and running with it, I will now share with you what I witnessed of the famous Toast Fire.

I was minding my own business, doing my work like a good little intern, when I heard Julia down the hall. She was - quite calmly - saying "Fire... um, fire..." I thought she was just being funny, so I didn't pay much attention. When I heard Kim yell and run down the hall towards Julia, I thought there might actually be something wrong, so I leaped from my chair and poked my head around the file cabinets to scope out the situation.

What I saw was Julia and Kim, huddled around the microwave at the other end of the hall, both illuminated by a bright orange light. My memory is a little fuzzy, but I can recall much chaos and many people laughing in the hall. I watched as a ball of flame jumped from Julia's hand to our nice hardwood floor, and then as Kim, in a frenzy, leapt to stomp it out. Hearing the commotion, but too busy to leave her desk, Janet asked me what was going on.

"There's a fire," I replied. Janet promptly put her head in her hands and let out a stifled yet tortured cry. When I began to tell her how there was a flame raging away on the floor, Heather (Smith) stopped me, saying that the new bit of information would surely give Janet an aneurysm.

Luckily, our brave editors managed to extinguish the fire without any damage to our new office. Julia later explained to me that Kim had started to make toast in our toaster oven, but had gotten distracted by her office down the hall and had inadvertantly left her toasting bread unattended. Julia then, on her way by the kitchen area, noticed two flaming, charred lumps in the toaster oven, and that is what prompted her to announce "fire."

Soon, the stench from the burned toast wafted down to the rest of the office, overwhelming the workers. "Stenching!! Thanks for the stenching!!" Janet cried sarcastically as she slammed her office doors shut and locked them. Kelsey had left for lunch, so I was left alone to brave the stenching on my own in our little unoffice. Luckily, Chhavi and Nik took pity on me and let me take refuge in their office until the odor faded. I will be forever grateful to the web team.

Kim ended the ordeal by walking to each office and humbly apologizing for almost burning the office down. Sadly, it wasn't the first time our office has almost been set alight. Equally sadly, I don't think it will be the last.