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We made eye contact & wordlessly came up with a plan. I ended up with a fire extinguisher in my hand
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t was one of those this-only-happens-inthe-movies kind of moments. During a photoshoot for C&C Mag, a few food-obsessed photographers let food styling get the best of them, forgetting all about the olive oil drizzled croutons “toasting” in the oven. All of a sudden, amidst prop assembling, the smoke was smelled. Running to the kitchen of a C&C on-campus apartment, we found our once-croutons engulfed in flames. Yes, this was a C&C photoshoot. Yes, we get the irony. Mouth gaping, I watched as my friend grabbed his green checkered oven mitt & cracked open the oven. Flames roared at us I’m not exaggerating here, the scene would’ve made even Jackie Chan proud. There was a moment of silence. We made eye contact, & wordlessly came up with a plan. I ended up with a fire extinguisher in my hand - & had no clue how to use it. As my friend pried open his little oven once again, I tried to spray out the fire. Nothing happened. Skimming the extinguisher’s directions, I frantically pulled something, & tah-dah, greenish foam spewed & spewed from the bright red canister. As the flames died down, the entire
building sounded in that familiar, irksome eek of an alarm. I should note, it was finals week...our fellow residents were less than thrilled. Flames safely out, we grabbed our coats & made a run for it. After two fire trucks, an ax, & an army of firemen entered the building, we were turning red, standing amongst disgruntled dorm residents on a 40 degree day. Embarrassing, eh? When it was all over, we sheepishly walked back to the room, weary of what was waiting for us. Soot covered everything. Even the bedspreads! Even the doorknobs! The University sent over a kind woman who helped us deal with the damage, & for the next hour we scrubbed, wiped & mopped that soot away. Don’t fret, C&C readers, we didn’t forget the task at hand - we had a photoshoot to finish! Assembling napoleons, the star of the day’s shoot, we decided to gift the sugary sweets to the firemen who’d come to our rescue (conveniently we have a firehouse in the middle of our campus).
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