Cypros
Well-Known Member
This was a huge compound. There were several buildings. You can see on some footage that the fire engulfed only portions.
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I wouldn't call it "huge", and the continued use of the term "compound" in the reports is rather misleading. It is a house, a typical good-sized suburban home, but nothing especially noteworthy. It is about the same size as most of the other houses in the general neighborhood (as seen on Google Earth). Multi-generational extended family households are the norm in the Middle East and so houses tend to be big. The use of a walled enclosure is also very typical in the Middle East and reflects a very long tradition of domestic architecture in the region using an enclosure wall to separate the home and private garden from the dust and noise of the streets. The homes tend to be built with cement block and tiles -- no wood frame or floors, no wall-to-wall carpeting -- and so are less prone to catastrophic burning. Obviously a large explosion will do serious damage but the helicopter was exploded away from the house.
I have not seen the animated reenactment yet. Does someone have a link?
Edited to add: I don't know how that thumbs down symbol got up there. I must have clicked on it by accident but cannot remove it now. It was not intended as a commentary