Comprehension:
Read the given passage and answer the questions that follows.

I had never seen a house on fire before. So, one evening when I heard fire engines with loud alarm bells rushing past my house, I quickly ran out and, a few streets away, joined a large crowd of people; but we could see the fire only from a distance because the police would not allow anyone near the building on fire.
What a terrible scene I saw that day! Huge flames of fire were coming out of each floor, and black and thick smoke spread all around. Every now and then tongues of fire would shoot up almost sky-high, sending huge sparks of fire round – about.
Three fire engines were busily engaged and the firemen in their dark uniforms were playing the hose on various parts of the building. The rushing water from several hoses soaked the building but it did not seem to have any effect on the flames. Then the tall red ladders of the fire engine were stretching upwards and I could see some firemen climbing up with hoses in their hands. On reaching almost the top of the ladder, they began to pour floods of water on the topmost part of the building. This continuous flooding brought the fire under control but the building was completely destroyed.
While the fire is a blessing in many ways, it can also be a great danger to human life and property.
SubQuestion No : 77
Why were the people near the building unable to see the fire from its close vicinity?