About twelve years ago, I worked as a fry cook for a fast-food chain that’s famous for its chicken fingers. It was an hour from closing and there weren’t any customers in the lobby or drive-thru. Everyone was busy cleaning to clock out as soon as possible.
I was cleaning my station when I had the idea to sneak off to the bathroom for a quick text session with my girlfriend. As I started to walk away, my manager calls out to me from the office and asks me to reorganize the boxes of fries. I decided that my sappy romantic texts would wait and went into the freezer. It took me about five to seven minutes to finish.
As soon as I walked out of the freezer, it felt surreal. Normally the kitchen speakers would be playing music but were now silenced. I managed to see the blur of one of my coworkers as they dashed out the rear exit. I was about to follow until I saw the smoke.
From the angle I was standing, it looked as if the fryers were belching thick black smoke. I suddenly became worried that we were experiencing a grease fire. I then remembered that there was a fire extinguisher in the lobby closet by the registers and hurried to grab it.
It soon became clear as I walked past that the fryers were not the source of the smoke. Every one of these chicken finger places has an open window panel between the kitchen and the lobby registers, and my approach brought me front and center to a vision of pure hell. Through the window panel was an inky swirling vortex of acrid black smoke. Some of the smoke went into my face and caused me to start coughing. Only now did I turn around and run as fast as I could through the rear exit, coughing all the way.
Once outside, I saw the rest of my coworkers. They were all thankfully unhurt, but they were assuming the worst when they noticed I was not outside with them. I turned to look at my workplace and my jaw dropped. The lobby was a raging inferno, with massive flames rolling just behind the windows. I could feel the heat, even at a good distance away.
I was the only one to catch black smoke, so the paramedic that arrived advised me to take an ambulance to the hospital. Apparently breathing that stuff has a chance to make your lungs collapse. I felt fine and there were no further complications other than the occasional coughing fit.
I learned later what caused the fire. A man with a raised hoodie and thick sunglasses casually strolled into the lobby without saying a word. The cashier recalled that the man was carrying a milk jug and started pouring its contents onto the lobby booths as easily as a gardener watering his plants. When the cashier finally had the chance to ask him what he was doing, the man pulled out a lighter and flicked it. As flames erupted around the lobby, the man rushed out the door and into the night. This all happened the moment I walked into the freezer.
The scary thing that makes me lose sleep to this day is that the restrooms only lead into the lobby. If my manager hadn’t called out to me that night, I would have unknowingly walked into a death trap. I am eternally grateful to her for saving my life.