I suppose the 5AMish fire alarm is one of the many wonders I’ve avoided by not living in an apartment building before. I was fine, others didn’t look so chipper. In this case it was a real one, not clear yet on the cause, but something in the pump room was smoking. Either rubbish dropped down the chute (which ends up in the same room, and not a mystical black hole as some of my co-residents seem to think) or one of the pumps itself. There was a distinct acrid smell in the hall (but not in my apartment) when I was heading back inside – one which certainly wasn’t there when I left.