Seriously, who in their right mind calls 911 in an emergency and then grabs the digital?
*sigh*....Me.
Let it be noted, I DID grab my children first! Duh!
(click image to enlarge)It's been a hectic day. Daddy's still sick after a rough night with a fever and Emily's even worse today with the snotty nose and congestion. I decided to take the girls outside today and let some fresh air circulate through them. They colored and played in their cars, dug in the sand box and dilly dallied around with the pets.
I also got around to some lawn work and cutting the grass today. I needed the exercise and the lawn needed cutting. I finished and began rounding up the girls and cleaning up.
I told Hubby, "I smell something burning." We both dismissed it because we could smell something, but didn't see anything. No smoke or flames anywhere. We assumed someone was burning wood/trash. You can do that in our small po-dunk town. lol!
We went inside and sat down to rest and watch some TV before I began making dinner. I kept telling Hubby, "It really smells like wood is burning. It's getting stronger."
Again, we dismissed it.
Then a knock came to the door. A neighbor boy asked me if I knew that the tree next to our house was on fire???? Excuse me?
I quickly ran outside and down the deck to the backside of the house. I turned the corner, saw a ton of smoke and some flames coming from an old dead tree next to our house. When I say "next to", I mean less than 8 feet.
(That tree was whole to the top before the fire began.)
I come back around the house and yell to
Hubby to call 911. I'm frantic because the wind was slightly blowing and everything was coming toward the house. I grab the girls, get them to the car on the other side and wait for help.
It seemed like forever for the fireman to get here. I was nervous and scared. I envisioned everything just turning to ash.
While we are waiting for the fireman, I quickly buckle the girls in their seat and run down to check on Hubby. Our dog Tron was outside his kennel so we had to move him and Greg was trying to put the fire out himself with a garden hose.
Greg got the fire under control and to a smolder when the first fire truck showed up.
Want to know what's absolutely crazy about this whole thing??
No One Knows How The Fire Started!Seriously, we have no idea how a dead tree spontaneously caught fire. There were no sources of origin at all. We are very grateful to our little neighbor friend. See all of those trees and brush in every direction around the house??
Yeah, imagine it all catching?
Actually, let's not. I know it was just a stupid dead tree that the previous owners failed to remove properly, but my photo doesn't do the situation justice. That tree is VERY close to my house.
Everyone is safe and sound and the fire is out thanks to my Hubby; the fireman in training. I can't imagine how bad it could have gotten. I want to
STOP imagining how bad it could have gotten.
I have repeatedly made my very sick husband go outside and spray it down with the hose again just to be sure. The fireman didn't think it would start again, but said to keep a watchful eye. The girls were glad to have seen a few fireman (who wouldn't be lol!) and some fire and rescue vehicles. I felt silly with the camera out when things died down. I didn't want to step on toes if I captured one of the men and I really didn't want them to think I was creepy. I settled for the above view, out of the way, from where the girls and I were.
Now, please pass me a glass of wine!
