On January 7th we were riding over Red Mountain to meet some friends at Urban Standard when I noticed smoke hanging like a fog on the side of the mountain and thought it was strange.  Only moments later, as that city view I write so much about spread out the Birmingham city grid in front of us, I saw flames on the eastern end of the Business district of downtown.  My heart stopped as I tried to discern if it was coming from the housing projects or elsewhere.  Frantically we maneuvered the car off the expressway and approached the building that was pouring smoke and red with flames.  It was the Powell School, surrounded by fire trucks and police cars and people helplessly looking on.  One of the first schools of Birmingham and the oldest left in the city, it was truly tragic watching the roof collapse and then the third floor.  The evening was bitterly cold despite the heat, but we stayed long enough to mourn, and in my case, document.  I went by this past Sunday to follow up with some daytime photos: