Double Rainbow In Aftermath Of Austin Fire Raises Otherworldly Questions

EAST AUSTIN, TX — Firefighting can be something of a thankless job, with crews often taken for granted until their feats of heroism putting out fires are witnessed. But after a recent fire in East Austin, a sign in the heavens seemed to provide an endorsement of divine providence origins.

But first, some background. As fire officials describe on their website, firefighters were called out to the University Estates apartment complex at 1300 Crossing place at around 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. A fire had been sparked in the attic of a three-story building there, ultimately causing some $150,000 worth of property damage.

Thankfully, fire officials said, no injuries resulted from the blaze (save for a minor injury sustained by one firefighter), and crews were able to to limit the fire's progression by setting lines to the critical areas and accessing the attic. In the end, it as determined the fire had been caused by improperly disposed smoking materials on a third-floor balcony, fire officials said.

The successful extinguishing of the fire (with no injuries to residents to boot) would've normally been enough of a reward. But then a double rainbow appeared in the aftermath, creating a scene of serenity and calm after the conflagration. Austin Fire Department Battallion Chief Josh Portie captured the scene on his cell phone camera, yielding a dramatic photo of the celestial backdrop.

There's a perfectly reasonable explanation for this sort of thing, having to do with reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets in yielding such a stunning spectrum of light. People know this by now, but still insist (particularly while in the throes of awe) on ascribing supernatural meaning to the appearance of rainbows.

Songs have been written in praise of rainbows and their seemingly magical attributes:

"We have not the reverent feeling for the rainbow that the savage has, because we know how it is made," Mark Twain once lamented. "We have lost as much as we gained by prying into that matter.”

But we at Patch prefer to believe there was something more at play in the recent local firefighting scene, something defying explanation that magically materialized as endorsement for firefighters' selfless actions as positive omen.

Does it make us savages to believe this? If so, we shall wear the title like a badge of honor.

>>> Image via Shutterstock

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