This was the second fire in five days. This one was at Bub's best friend's house. I was almost physically ill when I saw the fire truck from the other county come up the sideroad and turn onto our road because it was then that we saw where they were headed and could see our county's emergencies crews already there.
The kids and I were just heading out the door for church. (The Engineer would have been with too, but he had to work today). I decided to drive down the sideroad. My heart returned to normal when we could see our friends' house still standing proudly. It was the barn next to their house.
In this situation, we could again see God's hand at work despite the loss of valuable property:
1) The barn was empty with the exception of lots of bales of straw, one tractor, and a few minor other objects.
2) The tractor is insured.
3) K and his dad were having breakfast and saw the blaze in time to call 911, move some volatile (explosive) objects that were just outside the barn and collect all the important documents that were in the office just inside the barn.
4) The fire was contained to the one barn and did not spread to the house or other barn that is full of expensive farm equipment.
5) Our small town ERTs may be made up of primarily volunteers, but they are dedicated to saving lives and property. They're all great crews who will drop everything at the sound of a call to be on the scene as quickly as possible.
Our town's crew of volunteer firefighters will watch this blaze for the next 24 hours. The hot spots that are prevalent in this type of fire need to be watched until there is no guarantee of a flare up. How do I know? Our other friends and neighbours on the sideroad lost a barn under virtually the same circumstances about ten years ago. So yup, two barns within two miles of each other in less than twelve years.
Isn't that an awesome catch phrase to see on a fire truck!?
Bub and K
I handed Bub the one camera at one point and this is one of a bunch of amazing shots that he took. I think we have another photographer on our hands.
The excavator "found" the tractor, while digging for hot spots.
You can view our photo blog for a few different shots as well as links to the full galleries.
oh no! I am so sorry for your friends. Praise the Lord no one was hurt! I love volunteer fire-people they are the best!!!! I was an emt and did my training with volunteer fire-people. And they had full time jobs and families, yet still dedicated so much time to helping others. Just awesome!
ReplyDeleteWow! You DID take some amazing photos and so did Bub.
ReplyDeleteWow.
ReplyDeleteWhat a relief that no one was hurt... nor anything irreplaceable.
yikes!
And, great photos, Bub :D
oooooooh . i felt sick when i saw that too. I drove out to Oma and Opa's place for the afternoon with my kiddo's and passed by the mess.
ReplyDeleteI am glad to hear that everyone is alright.
Su
That is what I miss about small communities and living in the country - the helpfulness of one's neighbours. Everyone is always there to lend a hand when something horrible happens. Before we moved to the city for work reasons, Hubby was part of the volunteer fire department in the small community where we lived.
ReplyDeleteThere were those who complained about "not having a decent fire department" - mostly city transplants - but they sure stopped whenever those men and women showed up to help them with an emergency. They might not have been "professionals" but they were all as well trained in all aspects of fire and rescue as the community tax dollars could afford.
My Hubby was trained in Jaws of Life as well as water rescue and First Responder not to mention the training they recieved to put out fires.
If it was not for such volunteers, a lot more people would lose their property, but more importantly, a lot of them would have lost their lives if it weren't for these men and women who GIVE of their own personal time.
This is so heartbreaking! I am so glad no one was hurt.
ReplyDelete