O P I N I O N
LIZARD THINK
By Izzy DelOrfano
I went back and forth with myself about writing anything regarding the fire that happened on New Years Eve in my neighborhood. It’s a tragic event, one person lost their life, several more were injured, and many lost their home. I don’t really feel good about giving “my side of the story” regarding something that didn’t happen to me. There’s no way for me to know what those people are going through or how they feel. But after talking to some friends about it, I’ve been convinced. My partner told me, “well, you were there, shouldn’t you share your perspective?”
I wasn’t “there,” as in, I wasn’t anywhere near the fire. But I was down the street, to be honest, a few beers in. I had gotten home from a party about an hour earlier, and I noticed a lot of commotion outside, so I went to check it out.
I was immediately recruited into traffic directing, which, save for three orange traffic cones, appeared to be entirely controlled by other neighbors. There was a fire hose that had to be run through a short section of Bridge Street, that everyone driving either couldn’t see through the snow, or didn’t care. Both ends of the section were manned by people I’d never met before, neighbors of mine I assume, trying to direct people to go around.
There were, in the two hours I was there, at least three definite attempts of vehicular injury or murder. I cannot stress enough that I watched cars speed up and intentionally aim at myself and the other people standing in the road. Of course, trying to get their plates or shout at them to stop didn’t work. I told the people I was standing with that I was a columnist, and asked if they had anything they’d want to say, and they declined. Maybe that’s because real journalists aren’t usually in their pajamas when they do field reporting. I don’t know, I’m new to this.
It feels wrong, again, to say anything positive from my own perspective about the entire situation. There’s nothing good about it. But in the moment I felt proud of my community – my grumpy, soggy, angry community who stood outside in a snowstorm and shouted at people over sirens to not drive over a fire hose. I didn’t know anyone I was with, but people at both ends of the street were running back and forth communicating, talking to some of the firemen, and everyone stayed until one of the utility trucks finally parked to block the street off. (Although later, when it moved, people started driving over the fire hose. Again.)
I was proud of the person who I was standing with who said, “This is my one good deed of the year.” The day after the fire, I read reports of the nearby churches and people who had helped residents jump out of the building, and the emergency workers who came from neighboring towns in the middle of the night to assist the Manchester police and fire departments, and I was proud of them too. I saw nearby business owners online offering help.
Anyone who lives in an older apartment in Manchester knows, it’s not impossible for it to happen to you, too. If you ask any electrician, gas man, or pest control expert in the area, they’ll tell you old Manchester buildings are a nightmare. I hope nothing like this ever happens again in my neighborhood. But if it does, I am somewhat comforted by how aggressively protective my community is. I mean, have you ever seen a woman plant her feet in front of an accelerating car to potentially help people she’s never met?
Now I have.
Izzy DelOrfano is a Manchester-based graphic novelist and writer. She is an NEC graduate and SNHU student, as well as a founding member of New England Artists for Action. When she’s not selling wares at art markets or drawing comics, she spends time cooking, putzing around downtown, and hanging out with her cat. She can be reached at lizzardthing@gmail.com