Where There's Smoke

...there's a party, as I discovered when I went out to Bray to check out the big fire (two fires actually, as there was also a gorse fire on the Head). My wife alerted me to the news just as I was planning to head off on a quick blip-trip.

The fire I met first, and decided to spend time with, was at the end of the old Dublin Road, just past that junction where it becomes Castle Street. It was in a bicycle shop apparently, though it was difficult to tell as the area was cordoned off. The first thing I met was the crowd that had gathered on the traffic island (the kind of place that might have held public hangings in the good old days). Many had assumed the position, arms raised with their iPhones in the shooting stance. Many had their kids with them (and I confess that I invited our son to come along, though he wisely refused). The air was sooty and almost certainly toxic; I could taste it for a good 20 minutes afterwards. But it was interesting, the first big fire I've witnessed.

Plenty more here if anyone's interested.