Jet-lagged and sick, I went to bed at 8:10PM last night. I heard fireworks outside (along with the typical dog barking), which isn't super unusual for Laos.
Then at 8:20PM, I got a phone call from one of our coworkers/ friends/ neighbors asking me to come outside. Where there was a major fire going on, about 2 miles away.
My pictures are blurry, which is weird. But needless to say the fire was ENORMOUS. And loud. There were firetrucks that arrived late, and then intermittently, to the scene of the fire. Fire hydrants aren't really a thing in Laos.
(From our neighbor/ coworker/ friend: "If the fire hits that tall building, we get in a car and we drive to Thailand.")
What's really weird is that every once in a while, fireworks would go off. Initially I thought the whole thing was a fireworks show gone wrong.
And around 8:35PM, our power went out. So I did what I've learned is the most effective way of getting news in Laos: I posted on the Vientiane Facebook group.
(This is a compilation of screen shots from my phone on the discussion that was had about the fire. The suggested cause of the fire is really sad, but not super surprising.)
New articles about the fire:
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