A Hot Story

So I was out Thursday night doing appointments with James and Marci. We were done and on the way to my house to drop me off. I told him to turn down 15th street (even though we live on 16th street) as I guided him in the unfamiliar neighborhood. As we were driving past the houses I noticed flames under the front porch of one of the duplexes. It took a few seconds for it to register in my mind, I think because it was such a strange sight. I finally said out loud "Was that house on fire?" and then I answered my own question. "It was! Go back, go back!" So James stepped on the brake and flipped the car into reverse. Sure enough there was a fire underneath the wooden front porch, and the wind was HOWLING.

James jumped out of the car and ran to the door to notify the people inside, and I asked Marci if I should call 911 - she said it would probably get help here the fastest. So I called from my cell phone that I had in my hands (only because the girls were at home with Grandma Penny, so I took my phone in case she needed to call me). Once we got closer, we could see that there was a bunch of blown-in garbage that was on fire under the porch - the flames stretched about 4 or 5 feet wide. (This is how my adrenaline-induced memory recalls it!) I was on the phone with the 911 operator while James got under the porch and started beating on the flames trying to extinguish them (BRAVE!!). With the wind blowing, embers and hot debris flew out everywhere. The young mother from inside the house grabbed buckets full of water and dumped them through the slats in the porch. It took only about a minute and the flames were gone.

The woman was so grateful - her 2 babies were asleep in the basement. She said she had smelled something, but couldn't figure out what it was. From the cigarette butts littering the ground around the porch, we all assumed it had been a butt that started the fire. The 911 operator said she was still going to have a fire-truck come check it out, and with the wind blowing as it was, that was probably a good idea. Or so I thought, until George told me that they would probably be charged $400 for having the fire-truck dispatched to the scene. I'm not sure if they will get charged or not, but I feel really bad thinking that they might be. They are not a family that is very well off... But I guess "Safe" is better than "Sorry". It was really cold with the wind, so we didn't wait around for the truck to get there. I hope it all ended ok.

A very odd coincidence that this would happen this week. I have been quite paranoid about a fire damaging our home and was just talking to Mom about that on Wednesday. Jo & Trevor's house suffered a fire at Christmas time, the Kilmorey Lodge burnt down, and now this face-to-face encounter with a potential home fire. It sure leaves me thankful for our blessings and everything that we have. But especially each other. And I'm thankful that I was prompted to have James turn down 15th street that night.