Saturday started out as a relaxing day. After I got my shower, I went downstairs and watched a couple of squirrels eating sunflower seeds out in my yard. Megan grabbed her breakfast of choice, Ashley's birthday cake, and I grabbed my traditional yogurt and Kashi.
While we ate, I grabbed my camera and snapped a few candids.
Then, before I had eaten half of my breakfast, I heard sirens loud and close. Too close.
I ran outside and saw several fire engines racing to my neighbor's house. Smoke was pouring out of the front, and flames were shooting out the back. Soon more and more fire engines came. Support trucks came. Ambulances came. Police cars came. I think the final count was around 10 fire engines, three or four support trucks (including one parked in our driveway), two ambulances and a few police cars. In a small tender mercy, an extremely large construction truck that had been parked blocking the fence to the home's backyard was tagged for towing and had been moved during the night. It made the firefighters job a little bit easier.
The homeowner was sobbing hysterically, and somehow communicated through her wailing and Vietnamese language barrier that the woman who rented from her was left in the house. Fire crews suited up to go into the house to find her. After a few minutes, they brought her out, but it was too late. It was a sobering moment.
After they had taken care of her, the fire was out and things were settling down, engines started to leave.
Both of our girls watched the events unfold, and I was unsure of how they would handle it. We spoke with one firefighter who told us that big fires like this one don't usually happen, and fatalities are even rarer. Between his words and having a chance to see how firefighters work, Megan felt much better about her fear of fires. Ashley was a bit more upset. Although I was quick to turn Megan away from the rescue, I let Ashley decide if she wanted to watch--which she did, at least for a little bit. She was shaken up quite a bit for a couple of days, which was true for the rest of us, too.
Later in the afternoon, Megan and I walked around the neighborhood to snap some shots of the disaster.
Fire investigators spent time upstairs where the fire started, determining that a space heater too close to a bed and bedding caused it.
The vinyl siding looked like pieces of bacon peeled off the back of the house.
The investigators put up caution tape and a damage restoration company came to board up the broken window and tarp over the holes cut in the roof.
The foam they use to saturate the burning areas looked like snow in the street for a while.
It was a Saturday I wish had gone much differently, especially for the families affected by the fire. It increased the gratitude I had been feeling for my life and my little family. I know all of my family will feel an extra measure of gratitude this Thanksgiving.
