There was a fire in our office building this evening, in the floor right above us. We had to evacuate the building. I asked if the firefighters were called in the parking lot, "apparently" they were, but I hung outside the building for at least 30min and never saw anyone! Thierry said, "Karen this is Africa, no firefighters are going to show up! If this were a real big fire, the whole building would collapse before we saw any "firefighters". Reassuring:o) 

(Did I turn the stove off at home?, has a whole new importance)

Instead, the security guards started tearing down the door of the room that was smoking up. It was an electrical fire of several cables that heated up together. I doubt the security guards were trained in any fire tactics! Thoughts of the movie Backdraft came to mind.

The rescue really arrived when the owners of the building drove in speedily with purpose, which is when I saw the wife of the owner jump out of the car (in pretty Malian garb, headdress and all) and haul out the heavy extinguisher from the truck, while talking on the phone at the same time. This was the rescue! But hey it worked, the fire got put out right? ;o)