I came out of the office earlier than usual at 6:05PM. There was hardly any car on the road since it was Iftar – the time after sundown when Muslims break their fast and have their first meal of the day. I was on my way to Church to attend the 6:30 Mass (okay, it was my b-day and the wife who was in Manila texted me to go and thank The One Up There for all the blessings that had been given to me in the course of the year….).
Imagine my surprise when two blocks away, when I turned one corner, I saw this building on fire. It seemed that it had been raging for some time because the flames were already quite high. I remembered that it was one of the newer highrises being built around the city that was in the final stage of topping up. Apparently, all the wood scaffolding and shuttering plus whatever else that was flammable in the empty building was on fire and crackling like firewood. Seldom has something like this happened in the heart of downtown specially on such a high elevation – above 20 stories up. Fact is, this is the only time I’ve witnessed something like this.
I stopped the car, got my camera and started shooting. They were blurry so I opened the trunk to get the tripod which I always kept in reserve but it wasn’t there. I forgot to put it back after using it earlier in the morning to shoot some project site. I wanted to kick myself! What to do now but brace my elbows on whatever level surface I could find – the car hood, roof, window and even some railings on the sidewalk just to get a few steady shots. I also held my breath!
I drove around a couple of blocks to find some other vantage point. By this time, fire trucks had arrived and the police had cordoned off the major streets. So I parked somewhere and climbed a nearby carpark just opposite the burning building. The fire was really starting to burn more brightly and fiercely – perfect, I thought, for some great zoom-in shots.
Well, whaddya know, when I positioned myself on a ledge and laid the Nikon on the camera case which was a great help to steady the shots, the shutter wouldn’t fire. What the…..?? I thought. Then I saw the battery symbol blinking – it had ran out of juice! Of all the times why did it have to be now? Then it slowly dawned on me that I had missed something – it was almost 6:30 and in my preoccupied mind, I forgot that I was supposed to be going somewhere. The One Up There sure knew how to remind you. Yes, Sir, I said, am coming, and right away headed for Church……
Well, the pix above are just some of what I was able to shoot. Not the very best, but enough. Besides, I had an appointment I definitely couldn’t put off……
