TheNHBushman.com

Photos by MJ Klein

People are normally on edge during a storm such as typhoon Wipha, because anything can happen at any time.  So naturally, when Hui-chen and I heard the sirens from multiple emergency vehicles approach and stop on the next block, we were concerned about what was going on.

Hukou firemen cut a hole in a rolldown security door using an abrasive wheel cutting tool.

I shot this photo using a 300mm lens from our apartment on the next street over, at night.  What I want you to notice is the sparks flying.  The firemen used an abrasive wheel to cut a hole in the rolldown door at one of the Thai places I frequent (not Shao-hui’s).

I few minutes later I walked over in the pouring rain and snapped a couple more photos of the action.  There were quite a number of both male and female fire/rescue personnel on site, as well as local police.  I didn’t dare interrupt them to ask what was going on.

This morning I saw the hole that was cut in the door.

The firemen cut a hole just big enough for one person to fit through so someone could go inside and raise the rollup door for the others.  Notice the bent piece at the top of the door.  The owners of the store couldn’t get the door up because this bent piece stuck out too far.

We talked with the boss lady this morning and asked what happened.  Since the storm was getting worse and her husband’s mother wasn’t feeling well, they closed up their store/restaurant early and went to see her.  Apparently the boss lady had left a pot on a gas burner and forgot to turn the gas off before she left.  The heat was very low so it took several hours to boil off whatever was in the pot and then it began to smolder.  Thanks to the quick actions of their neighbors, an open flame fire never developed and there was no smoke damage.  The only evidence of last night is the cut door and a slight burnt cooking odor.

Ah, but life goes quickly back to normal in Taiwan.  As Hui-chen and I were on the freeway this morning, we saw the Taiwan Air Force doing some practice formations.

Apparently they are getting ready for next month’s activities.

technorati tags:Taiwan, Hukou, Whipa, typhoon, fire, military

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