EMERGENGY ON COOPER STREET

Well what an experience I had last week Turned out there was a fire in the generator room and the generator caught on fire and we were left with no hydro at all. It started around the noon hour and we were finally evacuated around 4 p.m. or so. It was amazing to see all the emergency people do their thing. First we had firefighters that knocked on the doors of the people that didn't get out before we lost emergency power and couldn't get down the stairs telling us to pack up for a few days. Then we had the firemen and ambulance crew come up to get us and assorted animals. After getting downstairs we were loaded up on an OC Transpo bus, animals and all and taken to the Jack Purcell building where we received a brown bag lunch for those that hadn't eaten. After that we were assigned emergency shelter if we had no place to go. Some of us were extremely lucky with where we ended up but I am sure all of us were happy to be safe and sound. The only real problem I had was the lack of communication where we were left for days wondering what was happening. Then we would be told it would probably the next day we could come home and then it turned in to the next day and the next day. I am so amazed at how stressful this was when we didn't lose our home or our belongings that I couldn't imagine how that would be.My thanks to everyone who did their job so well, we were so well taken care of. From the firemen to the ambulance crew, the red cross, OC Transpo, the Jack Purcell centre and the city of Ottawa who helped us to be placed in our lodgings. My thanks to everyone, May May and I are very grateful.

Another view of emergency vehicles, they were even parked past Kent street. I was so fortunate to have Shannon around, she came over and took me grocery shopping and out to breakfast then she went up to the apartment to make sure Maggie had enough food and water out. By Tuesday those that could manage the stairs were allowed in with a security escort for five or ten minutes only to pick up stuff. Also very thankful for my friends who took me out for supper during the week, glad it didn't last longer than it did.

Three more firefighters having a conference. It was hard to know what was going on from my balcony. Didn't think it was a fire because there were no flames or smoke that I could see and they didn't move faster to get us out of the building. But after the fire in the generator being put out it meant there was no power to the building whatsoever.

When these guys showed up with this table and all the documents on it I knew we were in trouble! After seeing them I had a feeling we would be evacuated from the building and I wasn't wrong. Shortly after they arrived some firemen knocked at my door and told me to pack up for about 3 days, after getting downstairs and talking to other tenants I learned it might be for as long as 5 days! Turned out to be 8!

Took a close up of these firemen that were on the back of a truck to see what they were doing. Guess they were on the phone waiting for instructions.

Here is the channel 6 news person taking some shots of the action on our street. I was on one of the news casts, they took a picture of me while I was on the balcony and another lady who stayed in the building was on another channel. They probably thought why didn't those dummies get out of their apartment, but we couldn't go down once the emergency power was out as the elevator didn't work. I know I was treated very well, the firemen took down my wheelchair which is extremely heavy and another fireman picked May May up quickly before she had time to protest and the ambulance crew took me down on a emergency seat on wheels. When you get to the steps they lean the chair way back and you go down the steps on rails. Really neat, no bouncing for me and no sore backs for the people helping out. Thank you so much all you people who helped me down. I was really worried about how it would be done.

Some more of the emergency vehicles outside our apartment.

Here I am waiting to get on the bus, the bus had to back up and get a bit closer in order for me to get on the ramp. The bus driver was just excellent, he even went back and got my camera from my friend who took this picture. That is the CBC news guy in the fore front. The police and the Red Cross are also there to assist us.

Here are the dogs going on OC Transpo to the Jack Purcell Centre. Why does anyone question the ability of dogs being on a bus? Look how well behaved they are, you couldn't ask for anything better.

This was part of our welcoming comittee! I think the little girl on the left is in charge of the hotel, I know she lives there and she was carrying around some very important looking papers. Its too bad we didn't see them again but she was busy with school and homework.

This was one of the hotel clerks that just adored May May. Everyone was so kind to us and May May just loved all the new attention.

The living area of the suite, the only bad thing is it did not come with a computer, it did have wireless access but I did not have a laptop. Guess its time to invest in one.

This was the kitchen and dining area of the suite I was in.

A picture of the bed that we slept on while we were away. May May just wandered from corner to corner, she can't do that on the single bed at home. My back had a hard time adjusting to a new bed but we are not complaining. I obviously took this picture before maid service came in!

Here is May May greeting some of the RCMP officers and giving them her condolences for their fallen officer. It was a very sad day today.

Some of the RCMP officers on the hill waiting to march down to Sussex Drive for the funeral.

Wayne is May May's knight in shining armour, look at the admiration in her eyes. On Sunday morning I left May May outside of McDonald's while I went in to get a coffee, their weekend crew are so slow that May May was starting to panic when low and behold Wayne showed up. What a relief for her to recognize someone. I was worried for a bit there that I had lost her to him. Thanks Wayne for being so good to her.

This was May May a week or so ago, she had her heard buried in this planter trying to get at something. She wasn't having much luck and turned around to me as if to ask for me to dig around in it for her. Fraid not May May.

This picture was taken 24 hours ago in the park where it was nice and warm and sunny. What a difference a day makes! Today it is damp and rainy and just BLAH! Hate this type of weather, we got spoiled by all the weather in the last month and don't want to head into fall let alone winter. Hope it clears up a bit for the weekend.

Came across this pom outside of Hartman's all by himself. I was worried about him so I held him until his owner came out. I expressed my concerns about him being stolen but she seemed quite confident that he was safe out there so I hope she is right. He is so cute. His name was Mr. Tee or Mr. Dee or something like that.

These girls competed to go on this trip to Ottawa. They come from all over Canada. Good thing they took their own picture because it took me forever to finally get around to doing this. Sorry girls! Hope you had a great trip.

We met these kids on the weekend, they were visiting from down south. I promised them I would do this right away and here it is Thursday already, where the heck does the time go? Hope you guys didn't give up and kept checking back.