Drama hit the tranquility of west London last night when Fire sparked overnight evacuation in South Ealing, just down the road from me. The immediate and real drama was for those in the vicinity, including a few friends of ours, who faced a sudden evacuation in the middle of the night. The BBC reporter seemed a little more vague about it, stating “Hundreds of people were told to stay indoors or leave their homes when a fire broke out overnight”. How exactly were they supposed to make that choice. Perhaps it was if they could see flames? Or if it was starting to feel a bit warm?
Of course to many the biggest ‘drama’, and to me the biggest source of amusement, was the traffic chaos that ensued. When the parents driving five hundred yards to drop their kids off at school met with all the others going back the same five hundred yards cos they had found out the schools were shut, all hell broke loose. Ho hum.