If they had only walked next door for a chat. Large fire last year in the UK had a powerful visual message.

From Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service. Click the image for more pictures.

This is the description with the YouTube video posted yesterday of this April, 2008 fire in Manchester, England:

This fire required 10 pumps, 3 Hydraulic Platforms plus other specials. It is quite a short extract as I was only experimenting with my then new digital camera. The incident was about 3 hours old by the time I arrived. The smoke was visible from my home area some 10 miles away. NOTE: The footage on the fireground was taken by invitation and under strict fire service supervision.

As you can see in the picture to the left, the fire at John Bradshaw and Sons large storage warehouse was quite the spectacle. But it is the image below, grabbed from the video, of the Bradshaw’s next door neighbor, that caught my eye.

Also on STATter911 …

• Where’s the outrage? Oh, that’s right this is the price of freedom. Stupid Dave gets riled over early video of another conflagration & forgets it’s the American way. – April 25, 2012
• Must see video: Banning sprinklers & allowing fireworks. Some not so random thoughts about freedom for Independence Day. Plus, some 1990s FDNY July 4th videos. – July 4, 2011
• Firefighters say rules wouldn’t allow them to go beyond ankle deep to reach drowning man in lake three feet deep. Inquest in UK brings out similarities to Alameda, CA case. – February 22, 2012
• Must see video: UK firefighters caught in explosion. West Yorkshire FRS video from Castleford blast. – July 15, 2011