I am guessing that the firefighters were not in a particular hurry to put this one out.
Indeed. I am reminded of that scene from the movie Mr. Roberts where the Dr. is summoned to the captain's quarters "on the double" after he goes apolectic on discovering that Mr. Roberts threw his precious palm tree overboard. The Dr. takes his sweet time getting up there. Very funny. The sailors are disappointed when the Dr. says the stretcher won't be needed.