Monday, November 28, 2005

My house almost burnt last night

Yesterday, about five o'clock, there was a frantic honking in my driveway. A man and wife in two different vehicles were warning everyone around here about a grassfire that was right down the road. And it was headed in our direction. I freaked out for about three minutes and then started directing traffic.
Told the kids to shove their clothes and favorite toys into bags and to start loading. I had my best friend take my computer apart and grab it. I grabbed all my backup discs and purse. The kids were frantic, and we had to keep calming them down. I called one of our other close friends (THANK YOU, BETSY!!!) and told her what was going on. She said supper was on the stove.
We had to run to the gas station for something and by the time we topped the hill by our house, we could see flames above the trees.
It's dry here. We're ten inches below normal rainfall, and when I say I live in the middle of a hayfield, I'm NOT lying.
We load up four cats (2 in a carrier together and 2 free) and 1 dog (THANK YOU, MATT!) and boogie over to Betsy's house.
There is a four way stop that is a 1/3 of a mile N of my house. Then it all slopes downhill until you get to a small highway. It's 2 1/4 miles from my house S to the highway. A mile and a half down my road is a propane place. I don't know if refinery is a right word, but it's got all the equipment and whatnot. The firefighters around here were working frantically to not let the fire get that far because if it did...BOOM! That would pretty much be all she wrote.
I live in a tiny town with a volunteer fire department. There were neighbors, firefighters from all around, and residents who pitched in to help. It was truly a group effort.
When they got that under control...or so they thought...a person up the highway had 70 haybales catch on fire.
There were probably around four or five fires just in my small little town. One was caused by a downed power line because of the wind. It reached up to 66 mph here.

I am very thankful that my children, my furry children, and my work survived this ordeal. You just never know when something like this may occur. Right now, I'm still wound up on nerves. But soon enough I'll tumble into bed and hope like hell it rains.
Crystal*

9 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow, that must have been scary! I can't imagine. But I'm glad you're safe.

Anonymous said...

Oh, my! Hugs on a big scare! Like Tess, I'm glad you're safe!

Crystal* said...

Kel: Thanks! It sprinkled twice for approximately two seconds this morning. We actually have snow forecast in the panhandle tonight.
Tess: Oh yes. I was scared. But all is well now. Thanks!!!
Olga: Big hugs! Yep. The kids aren't too traumatized, but I can already hear the stories a week from now..."Remember when...?"
Grins*

Anonymous said...

Yikes! So glad all is well!

Rene said...

That is scary. I've been in the same situation before and it is definitely frightening.

Anonymous said...

OMG, so scary! I'm glad you guys were able to get out and get the fire under control.

Anonymous said...

I am so thankful you are all okay! Hugs!

Anonymous said...

Yikes! Nothing like a litle excitement to get the blood pumping! I'm glad everything turned out okay.

B said...

Good grief, what a scare! Thank goodness everything turned out alright. Whew!