fire

A few weeks ago we had one of our big lightning storms.  For some reason I stayed up while Chris and the kids went to bed.  I am usually one of the first to fall asleep, but I decided to have some time for myself and stayed up watching tv on the couch.  I never do that!  About midnight I decided to go to bed and I heard some loud booms, but didn't think much of it, we have some crazy neighbors that set off illegal fireworks year round, any time of the day - or night.  Funny story - when we first moved into our home, we heard the same sound, and we thought for sure that someone was shooting rounds from a gun, and I thought, Oh no what did we move into.  We got the kids and told them to stay in the hallway, which is in the center of the house to keep them protected from a stray bullet during the shootout - turns out it was just some of those illegal fireworks!!!!  Anyway the storm was over and I heard what I thought was fireworks (and I guess they were a form of fireworks).  Then I heard sirens and didn't think much of it until I heard them come from behind our house and the siren stopped as it turned our corner.  I looked out Kyrie's window, and didn't see anything and went back into my bedroom and could smell smoke.  I woke up Chris and told him our neighbors house was on fire and we headed down the stairs and out the front door.  We could see a massive house fire down the street and I instantly thought, that is down by our friends house, the Mowers.  I ran back in the house and grabbed my cameras and ran down the sidewalk bare foot just to make sure, and in hopes that it wouldn't be their home.  I asked a firefighter right there if he knew if it was the 4th house from the end of the street, because I couldn't really tell with all the smoke.  He asked why, and I told him I was concerned about it being my friend's home and he pointed out the home owner.  And sure enough - it was my friends home!  I walked over bawling and put my arms around him.  Actually I don't think he has any idea who I am, but I love and adore his wife, Sandy.  I asked about his wife and he said she was out of town.   I stood there in shock with him and watched with him as their house burned down.  I heard him on the phone as he called his wife to tell her about their loss.  I then realized he didn't have a shirt on, so I ran back home to grab him a sweatshirt and told Chris that it was the Mowers and he called to notify our bishop.  He then called a friend to come and stay with the kids so that he could come down to the fire.   When I got back to the fire there were a few other friends from the ward there.  The EMTs took the homeowner in the ambulance because he had too much smoke inhalation.  He was released and is fine.  What I heard him over the phone telling his wife was that he heard stuff falling in the garage and went to check it out and found it on fire and he didn't know if he was ever going to make it out of there.  She later told me that he had heard a sound so loud that he thought a semi had crashed into their home.  He went outside and didn't see anything.  He didn't know his home was on fire, didn't see or smell smoke.  I guess he had gone back into the home and was getting back into bed and then that is when he heard noises in the garage.  He opened the garage door and instantly shut the door, but that oxygen was fuel to the fire, and with 2 vehicles in the garage the gasoline made everything much worse.  He quickly looked for his dogs, and I guess that is when he didn't know he would ever make it out.  The smoke was so thick he was lost in his own home.  The look on his face is unforgettable, his teeth and lips were all black from the soot.  I can't imagine the panic and shock he experienced.  It really was such an emotional experience.  My heart aches and breaks for them.  Thankfully everyone is okay.  I stood there with another friend for a few hours into the early morning talking as we watched the firefighters make sure there were no more spots smoldering.  We then decided to go home and try to sleep, but for me it was impossible, I didn't sleep even 1 minute that night.  I couldn't believe how big the fire was and how fast that home was engulfed in flames.  I have a list of items that IF something like that were to happen, I would grab if I had time.  That fire taught me - NOTHING!  I will grab nothing more than my precious children.  We will get ourselves out, and I will NOT spend any time grabbing anything else.  I always thought you would have a minute or two.  But even if you do, it's not worth the risk.  Our friends lost almost everything in there home, including 3 vehicles.  They are now in a rental around the corner while they wait for their home to be rebuilt.  Efforts are being made to help them in many ways.  My friend, Sandy came over just a couple days after the fire and she was so cute, she talked about how greatful she was to have had her makeup, that she wouldn't know what to do without it!  She looked at my kids pictures on the wall, and said "I LOVE THAT!  See that is what I can't get back."  Her kids are all raised, and she did lose so many valuables.  She asked to borrow my video camera so that she could record the house for one of her daughters to see.  She told me that it was officially known that the lightning had caused the fire.  I was so happy to be able to see her.  I didn't have a way to contact her, and here she was at my doorstep.  I have been so sad and sorry for my friends, yet everytime I see Sandy she is so cheerful and wears a great big smile. 

My kids were already terrified of the amazing storms we have out here.  The house fire has really disdurbed Kyrie.  She talked about it everynight as we were putting her into bed for several nights.  She talks about the house that burned and about Sandy almost everyday.  She tells me she is sad.  Last night we had another lightning storm.  Not quite as big, or as loud as some.  A week before the fire we had a storm that when the thunder rolled, it shook our house like an earthquake.  The whole house rumbled, the windows rattled.  But last nights storm was big enough.  The kids again laid on my bedroom floor to sleep as I tried to be brave on my own, with Chris out of town.  I watched out my window and could literally see lightning between my house and the house behind me.  I also am a little scared, scared of having to protect and comfort my children on my own when my husband is gone.  Scared of getting 4 sleeping children out of the house in an emergency.  I can't help but think about it.