Feuerwehr in der Küche

On Wednesday night at about 10:30, while I was working on my translation homework, the fire alarm went off. This is not an uncommon occurrence. About once a month, someone burns their dinner and sets off the alarm. The key to not causing an uproar, is to actually call the fire department and tell them that there is no fire, rather some burned schnitzel. No one knows who burned, their dinner, but it was someone on my floor (but not my kitchen). My kitchen mate Daniella and I waited around for a while, knowing there was no fire, and talked to the firemen as they came up. After assessing that the fire would have to have been burning for a half hour and there was no sign of smoke, they determined that the best thing to do was open the window. Once again I point out that this was not my doing. I know how to cook. Anyway, it was fun to watch the firemen look very confused and shining flashlights at a smokeless beeping alarm. Daniella and I just laughed, then we went downstairs until they turned off the alarm. As we came down with the firemen, Danielle yelled to the people she know “Nicht uns!” (not us!). They laughed a little and life went back to normal as the alarm went off, but it was a fun little adventure.