Fire

This picture was taken about 5 pm on Tuesday from my office.

Smoke from a fire at the airport

The fire was apparently a fuel fire at the airport, according to the local news:

Crews quickly contained a two-alarm fire that was burning at a Logan Airport fuel farm Tuesday afternoon. Black smoke could be seen for miles from the fire on Prescott St. near the economy parking lot.

[. . .]

The fire was in one of 12 underground fuel pumps and started at 5:00pm.

The news article says that the fire was "quickly contained", and the picture I took just a few minutes after the first one, at 5:04pm, confirms it:

The fire is gone and the smoke is beginning to dissipate.

Fortunately, no one was hurt, and as far as anyone can tell, it was an accident. It was a little alarming seeing that out my window, though.

Explosions in Boston today

I went down to North Carolina last week to attend my grandfather's funeral, where he received military honors, including a three-volley salute.  I was going to blog on that, and probably still will later this week.  However, something that affected more people than just my family occurred upon my return, namely the bombing attack on the Boston Marathon.

Around 3 pm today, two bombs went off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.  At this point, it's not known who was responsible for the attack.  There are three dead so far, and over a hundred wounded, some critically, so that number may rise.  The Boston Herald has this to say at the moment:

Two huge explosions rocked the Boston Marathon finish line at Copley Square just before 3 p.m. today, killing three and injuring 134 at last count, including several traumatic amputations on streets crowded with runners, spectators and post-race partiers.

Many of those injured are children — including an 8-year-old killed in the blast, the Herald has learned. Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis said tonight there is "no suspect" and the death toll is now at three.

It's being called terrorism, since it is by definition a terror attack, but it's not known whether  it's domestic or foreign, an individual or a group.  We'll find out more in the coming days.

This hits pretty close to home for me. While my wife was in Arlington all day, I was at work in downtown Boston when the attack occurred.  I didn't hear the explosion myself, but it was within a mile and a half of where I work.  Still, I missed most of the chaos, and things had settled down by the time I headed home.

What I don't know is whether anyone I know was hit by the blast.  I know people who were watching the marathon, and even a few people running in it.  So far, I haven't learned whether anyone I knew was injured, but it may be a while before I hear from everyone.

A Prediction for the Massachusetts election

So let me make a prediction. If Scott Brown wins the Massachusetts special election (which, while possible, still isn't very likely), health care reform will not pass. I say this not because Senator Brown would vote against cloture on it--he's promised to, but if the Democrats have anything to say about it, the bill will be voted on by the Senate before he gets there. But, if Brown wins in very liberal Massachusetts, I predict that Democratic Senators and Representatives will panic. If the bill is so unpopular that Massachusetts elects a Republican to the Kennedy Senate seat just to stop it, Democrats will desert the bill in droves. It won't have the votes to get cloture in the Senate. It won't even get a majority in the House. The same could happen even if Brown loses, depending on how close it is.

This vote is largely seen as a referendum on the health care bill, and a Brown win will be seen as a popular, and perhaps more importantly, election-deciding, rejection of it.