Trickster and the Burning House

Trickster synchronicities are usually ironic in some way. But sometimes  they seem to be unnecessarily cruel, too, as in this next story, which came from MSNBC.
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Last month, at 10:45 on a Friday night, Mike Bowes, a Massachusetts 911 operator, took a call about a blazing house fire in Quincy.  It turned out to be his home that was burning.

“It’s surreal,” the 11-year-veteran told Amy Robach on TODAY Thursday. “First you don’t believe it. You hear it, but it’s not registering. Then you see it on the screen and you realize … ‘It’s MY house!’ ”

One of the other dispatchers took the call – and Mike’s first concern was for  for his parents’ safety, but he also was committed to doing his job.

“You can’t just run out,” he said. “You can’t leave everybody else and leave the city shorthanded and without help.”

Putting things into their proper perspective, Mike’s sergeant immediately stepped in and told him to go the scene and see to his family’s safety. The dispatcher who had spent his career helping people in distress suddenly needed help himself. “Within seconds, my sergeant said, ‘Go! We’ll take care of everything here.’ ”

The second layer of this synchronicity occurred as Bowes was rushed to the blaze in a police car, arriving in just 3 minutes.“You could actually see the orange glow coming from a distance,” he said.  “My main concern was my parents. As I came around the corner I saw my father standing out on the street and my mother was right behind him.”

In fact, everyone in the house had escaped unharmed. Relieved at finding his mother and father safe, Bowes was met with yet another incredible coincidence when he arrived at the scene. His cousin Tom Bowes is a Quincy firefighter.. “He was the first firefighter on the scene. He could see the fire as he left the station. As he came down the hill … he knew it was our house.”

Bowes and his family are left with the sobering realization that the house was totally destroyed by the fire; in fact, Bowes appeared on TODAY in the only clothes he has left.

Still, he says that his training and familiarity with similar disasters have helped him cope with the loss. “It’s embarrassing, because I didn’t have time to run and get anything to wear,” he said. “But everyone got out. We can rebuild. As long as I know everyone is safe … that’s my main concern.”

Early reports from the State Fire Marshall’s office said the fire may have been caused by an unattended outdoor fireplace that belonged to one of Bowes’ neighbors. “We don’t know what started the fire, but the arson investigation is going on,” Bowes said. “They’re investigating several different leads.”

** I’d like to know what else was going on in his life at the time.