I feel like I should share this – relates to a fire at Tarantula Hill in Baltimore, came as part of a mass-email list serv thing.

"HELLO ALL
As some of you may know tarantula hill caught on fire this past st.
patrick’ s day. Fortunately caleb was there and able to keep things under control as best he could. The fire started on the first floor in the front room: a bag of packing peanuts caught on fire (mostly likely from a faulty flourescent light and curious cat) and it quickly spread to the ceiling and walls. After trying to fight the fire Caleb was forced to leave and the firefighters arrived thereafter. They knocked a hole in the front formstone, smashed out the windows above and were able to get the fire out before it spread to the second floor or back of the house. They extiguished the fire without cutting a hole in the roof which we thank them for. Doing their jobs they went through the house and ripped all of the electrical lines out of the walls and removed dangerous appliances like space heaters and tv’s. After the firemen left peter was able to turn off the water main and stopped the burst pipes from flooding any further. All kitties succumbed to the smoke which filled the entire house. And even though it was a tragic event for us we are truly blessed that we were not in the house sleeping and that caleb was there to do something right away and able to escape relatively unscathed.
During the time of the fire we were in New York City for the No Fun fest. The fire happened on friday but we were assured by max that the best thing to do was stay with our friends and wait a couple of days to come home. We passed the time in the best way we could- with our friends and loved ones surrounding us and offering their support (thank you to everyone who was there). Twig was able to perform music to express himself and carly cooked and rabbleroused as is her nature. Each had mind expanding events unfold throughout the entire time. All of this was done with tumultuous emotions ranging from thankfulness for all that we have and unknowing questions about the future near and far.
During these days Caleb, Max, and Peter organized an extensive clean up crew of fellow baltimore friends (thank you everyone who came and
helped) and did an amazing amount of work putting the house in order the best they could. They knew as well as us that we would not stay if we saw the house in the condition the fire and water left it in. All of this happened without coverage by an insurance company who would not possibly have covered the damages anyway (we have a woodstove and mostly uninsurable items) but with the insurance of our friends and family who have already demonstrated that they will be there for us when we need them.

We arrived home yesterday and are still assessing the damages. They are high. All ‘ebay’ items in the front room are gone as well as the office, electronics workshop and carly’s studio. Water poured on top of the equipment storage room and leaked into the basement. The second and third floors are mainly windowless and covered in black soot as well as knocked out walls and strewn items. At the end of this email you will find a more detailed list of what’s gone and what we need. Needless to say it is a bleak landscape filled with ruined tools and cherished items. The building is in an as bad or worse condition than when we moved in and the material elements of five and more years work is undone.

It is a difficult decision that we are facing in every way. We know what we have inside of us and that we can take that anywhere but also that there is no place where we would rather go than to the inspiring space that we have shared with our friends and over the years called tarantula hill. We know that we stand for something to many people but also that we don’t want other people’s perceptions of us to direct our lives. We know that we cannot do the rebuilding alone under any circumstances but also that we have experienced an outpouring of love and willingness to help from every direction. With these thoughts in mind we leave the space open to you. Our hopes is to have a building with an open space on the first floor ready to receive all of the people and ideas who will come to it as well as a home above in which to store our hearts. With the ripping out of the walls and the ceiling we imagine a clean space in which to store tools to be more easily be used by all including the locals who have also expressed their love and concern. The main thing that we need to do this is manpower and vision. It will be a long process which was begun which a short burst of flame but must flow with the longevity of a small winding creek to sustain itself.

So then, what now? All agree that carly should go on her two month tour starting this weekend as planned. She not only needs the time and space in which to make her own personal decisions, but also is not physically up to the immediate task with her recent back problems. Twig will also be leaving for a long needed break in the month of june as previously planned. Together they will organize the best they can without a phone, electricity or nearby computer access. We feel your support inside our hearts and thank you. And we apologize in advance that we will not be able to respond to most of your calls or emails other than those regarding immediate planning. If you want to come down to help let us know when because too many people and not enough tools equals very little work done.

Below you will find a list of items needed and items lost; if you have extras to donate or those we can borrow send them along. If you would like to lend financial support our paypal adress is [email protected] and we will be recieving mail to 2118 w. pratt, baltimore md 21223. We may get a cell phone but do not currently have a number we can be reached at though you can try caleb’s at 410-947-2805. We welcome and encourage ideas on how to build off the grid.

TARANTULA HILL IS DEAD
LONG LIVE CIDITION HOUSE
WE ARE NOT FIGHTING ANYTHING OTHER THAN OUR FEAR

carly and twig

R.I.P. We Loved You
___________________
chuncho
sherman
owl
plants
all DAT tapes
video masters & films
artwork
computers and hard drives
‘theguardian’ master reel
collections

Items Needed to Rebuild
(sooner)
dumpster(s)
laptop with wifi
cell phone
certified electrician
electrical items (conduit, 12 g wire, boxes, etc) hand tools (hammers, handsaws, crobars, screws, scrapers, etc) respirators root canal plastic sealable tubs drinking water dispenser & jugs tall ladders scaffolding washtubs, scrubbers & soaps window covering record sleeves & printing for dogjaw (thank you united for warping the
records)
flashlights
brooms
fire extinguishers

(soon)
powertools
drywall
plywood & boards
tile
tablesaw
windows
glass blocks
plants
welder (person)
dsl modem & router

Things we lost & could use again someday suzy’s fancy camera (8 x 10?) fancy desktop w/ big video harddrive & dvd burner laser & color printer scully 16 track digital video cameras (2, sorry max) nikon 8400 digital camera sx-70’s, pxl, super8’s and other camera’s copy machine alesis hr-16 (rip) brother pattern knitting machine & yarn dat machines studio electronics (please dry & work) instruments (too numerous to name) carly’s printed & matted collages various furniture minidisc recorder tv vcr dvd recorder art supplies space heaters metal printing blocks ebay stuff (we know you are gone and apologize to future and previous owners and attachments) art supplies and collections

Things We Still Have and are Thankful For (but are dirty and smoky) record cutter personal photos & papers dvd/cd copier phonebook digital photo back-up discs (you better work) most merchandise (cover the earth lps & various cd’s) propane powered kitchen stove woodstove record collection books cdr and zine collection savings bonds sauna screenprintng equipment poster collection (hope your box worked please dry out okay)

p.s. sorry if you are receiving more than one copy of this we are sending it to all of our email adress books, lists, etc. also sorry if we missed you. feel free to pass this on. and if you don’t know why your getting this sorry you are in our adress book for some reason."