Monday, August 23, 2010

Oh no, moment

I was relaxing in my hotel room for a few minutes between sessions of the Killer Nashville Writers' Conference. The sound of a siren came through the window, not unusual, emergency vehicles had whizzed up and down Cool Springs Blvd. regularly since I'd arrived. The hotel being just off I-65 probably contributed to their frequency. I got up, walked to the window and saw a fire truck, lights ablaze, coming up the driveway of the hotel. Uh oh, not a sight you really want to see when you're looking down from the 11th floor. I'm pretty sure their ladders don't reach that high. I was somewhat reassured that I wasn't hearing any alarms going off inside the hotel. A few seconds later an ambulance with flashing lights came up the driveway behind the fire truck. I watched for several minutes but saw no others screaming up or down Cool Springs. Okay, I know when a large structure like a hotel, hospital or high rise office building is involved they usually send people and trucks from every station for miles around. And in many municipalities fire departments send out a truck and firemen/women trained as paramedics as first responders. So probably no fire. Someone in the hotel must have fallen or had a heart attack. Unfortunate and I hope they're okay, but I am relieved I don't have to grab purse and rush to the stairway.