I have a brother (Ricky), who is an alcoholic...and at the time...he was doing a little time spent in the U.N.M. (University of New Mexico) Mental Health Center, to try to get his life straighted up, etc. 

Mental Health Center:  One day, me and my mother went to visit Ricky, and as we were sitting in the lobby waiting to see Ricky, we heard some commotion outside in front of the lobby area!  There were about six people in the group, including about three policemen...there was pushing and shoving going on...as the police tried to bring an elderly couple into the mental health center!   The elderly couple were about 70 years old at the time of this incident. 

Screaming; shouting; crying out loud...and trying to resist the police...the pushing and shoving continued across the lobby, as the police took the elderly couple to the back of the mental health center someplace!  My mother and I just looked at each other in shock!  We wondered what happened to the elderly couple on this day!

When the nurse came to get us to go back and see Ricky, I asked her what happened to the elderly couple and all the commotion that had just taken place, etc. 

The nurse told us, one of the worst stories I have ever heard.  She told us, that the house of the elderly couple had burned to the ground...and worst yet...the two grandchildred had perished in the fire as well!  One can only imagine, that the elderly couple would immediately sink into depression and guilt...and they could possibly do harm to themselves or others...so that's why the police brought them in...to give them the care they needed at such a time! 

Serving in the Military; When I was serving in the military, I was assigned to be on a fire team on the base where I was stationed.  I had never fought a fire before...but there was always the first time, etc.

One night about midnight, we got a call from a resident in the base housing area, that a house was on fire, etc.  As we got to the house, we could see smoke coming from the roof and out the windows, etc. 

We learned later, that the fellow living there, had left the N.C.O Club about an hour earlier.  After he got home, he decided to put some fries on the stove...and while waiting for the fries to cook...he watched some television...and the worst thing possible...he fell asleep!  Talk about a disaster waiting to happen!

The fire started from the hot grease from the stove, and immediately burned out the wiring around the stove area...and the ceiling started smoking, etc.  As a result...all the electricity went out...and left those of us trying to fight the fire...in the dark!  It was an awful feeling, when a person doen't know where they are going, etc.  The smoke inside the house was heavy, and the fellow escaped with his life!

Because all the lights in the house were out, we went from room to room, with the high pressure of the water hose, and destroyed everything in sight...all the furniture and windows were knocked out as well.  All the carpet was water-logged!

House fires can be started by lightning; accident; negligence; or in this case...stupidity! 

It was a terrible experience for me, as I thought I was going to die that night from smoke inhilation!  I was crawling around on the floor trying to find some clean air to breath and my way out of the house, etc.  The smoke was so thick and the lights were out, and it was so dark...I thought for a moment, it was the end of me! 

Since that time, I have learned never to leave something on the stove cooking.  When I leave the kitchen, the stove is turned off and everything is taken off the stove, etc.  I learned my lesson after this bout with a fire! 

Apartment next door; Who could be knocking on the door at 11:30 at night on a week-day?  It was the police, and after answering the door, they asked me, if they could go through my apartment, to get to the apartment next door, because the woman was not answering the door!  I let the policeman in, and he quickly went out the back door, and onto the patio/balcony, and jumple over the railing dividing the apartments, etc. 

As I went to close the front door, I noticed that the woman next door, had been quickly arrested and she was sitting in the hallway, with one of the policemen looking over her, etc.  What could all this be about?  I never found out!

Later in the week, I noticed everything in the apartment next door, was being replaced...the carpet; the tile; the refergerator, etc.  What could have happened, in that apartment that everything was ruined? 

One of the workers installing the carpet, told me that dozens of cigarette burns were found in the carpet, where cigarettes had been put out, and all the carpet had to be replaced!  This was unimaginable...as the whole apartment building could have been set on fire with this kind of behavior! 

When the woman next door, was arrested by police, I don't think she was taken to jail...but to a mental institution to get an evaluation!  I never met her...all I knew about her was that she was young...probably less than 25 years old.  She lived there about two years...and she could have been a threat to all of us in the building, etc.  This goes to show...you may not  know who's living next door!

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I 2005, and at the age of 60, I was declared disabled by the VA (Dept. of Veterans Affairs) and by Social Security.  When the VA pension was terminated in 2007, that left me with Social Security to live on.  In 2009, I was accepted and moved into subsidized housing in a Senior Center.

I don't know the age of the people on my floor (5th), but I think everyone is over the age of 80, but that's only a guess!  Everyone knows, that older people can be forgetfull...and I worry that this entire 5 story building one day...could go up in smoke!

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