While we had in fact been quite successfully ignoring this noise, events on Monday changed my mind. In the early afternoon, I noticed a lot of activity outside, and then, suddenly, I noticed that there were no fewer than three large fire engines sitting right in front of my house. I was pretty sure that there was not a fire at 83 Durant, but it was clear that something bad was going on. The three kids from across the street were standing in front of our house with their two dogs, freaking out a bit (both dogs and kids). I had them come into the yard where the dogs would be contained, and I gave them some jackets, but they didn't want to come inside because they were scared. I understood (I'll tell you sometime about the fire at my house when I was a kid). One of the kids explained that their dryer had caught on fire, and, moreover, said dryer was a gas dryer, so their entire house was filled with fumes and could, at any moment, completely blow up (or so they thought/feared/believed). Thankfully, things were contained and the Lowell fire fighters prevented further harm. I don't know what kind of smoke damage they had inside, but it seems that they are back there and everyone is fine. Except the dryer, obviously.
Anyway, this left me reflecting on the dangers of the appliance known as the dryer (even though ours is an electric dryer), thus the purchase. The dryer was in fact on the "appliance death watch" list as it came with the house, and was in fact the subject of a previous post.
So this tale of fire in our neighborhood reminds me of another serious fire that recently changed the local landscape in our neighborhood. The Varnum Building, which stood at the corner of Bridge Street and Third Street was a landmark on the way home -- we passed it every day. On February 13th, it went up in flames, leaving 11 people without their home.
The building dated to 1882, and was on the National Register of Historic Places. Here's a picture of it (not a recent one, sadly):
Here's what Lowell's website said of it:
The Varnum Building is one of the oldest surviving commercial buildings in the Centralville neighborhood. Built in the Queen Anne style, the building’s prominent location and architectural detail combine to make it the landmark of commercial buildings in Centralville. The builders, brothers Leavitt and Daniel Varnum, were extensive real estate promoters and developers in the neighborhood who operated their real estate office in the building’s first floor.
(http://www.lowellma.gov/depts/historic-board/historic-places-architecture/varnum-building-401-bridge-street)
Most recently, there was a hair salon and a chiropracter's office in on the first floor, and many apartments above. The day after the fire, it was deemed a serious hazard (and it was, since it was several stories high and was right up against the sidewalk) so they tore the whole thing down. We went past it early in the day and it was being dismantled; later in the day, there was a great big hole in the ground, and by the next morning, the hole was filled in and it was an empty lot. It was unbelievable.
While looking for photos of the Varnum Building, I stumbled on someone else's blog, and they had a rather nice photo essay about Christian Hill, our neighborhood. I'll link to it here so you can see some shots of some of our environs. I keep meaning to get out and get some photos, but....well, things get busy. I hope to do that as things get warmer here.
Until then, beware of dryers.
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