This is the first of a series of posts recounting some of the fasinating drama that is the YMCA of the Rockies. For instance, today one of our cabins went up in flames.
There are over 200 cabins on Y grounds. We have all sizes from tiny "little Indians" to huge two story vacation homes. And since the grounds are so expansive, all departments use two way radios to communicate with each other.
So this morning while we were cleaning, one of our other crew leaders, JoAnn, make a frantic radio call that Hyadee, one of our two story cabins, was on fire. We leapt into the Housekeeping van and drove to see it.
When we arrived the flames were licking at the eaves on the east side of the cabin, and within minutes the fire had consumed the entire building and moved to the surrounding grass. No one was hurt--the guests had already checked out--and the fire was contained before it spread very far.
From what eyewitnesses said, the fire started from the Rubbermaid garbage cans against the side of the cabin. Our best guess right now is that the guests may have put the smoldering fireplace embers in the trash. This is something housekeepers have been known to do in the past, but the worst we've done was melted the cans.
This is the closest I'd been to an inferno. Fire is a powerful element, and it's awesome to see how quickly it can get out of hand.
