“It all began with a 5:00am phone call from my neighbor, but I’ll get to that in tomorrow’s post.”
I said that over ten days ago and never followed through. I’m sorry. Here’s what happened immediately following that 5:00 AM call!
~~~~~
My neighbor called me and in a flat voice said,
“Lynda, if you look out your back window you’ll see the house on fire.”
Bleary-eyed, foggy headed, and half asleep I am jolted into the here and now. I go to the dining room window to see her house, but it is not burning. Then, to my left I see the flames…
They are directly behind the woods and shooting easily 100 feet into the predawn sky! Dazed, I hear her continue; something about being woke up, a cell phone, and more. I thank her for calling and we hang up.
Still a bit dazed, I begin to wonder why she called me so early in the morning when clearly both she and I, her’s and mine, are not in any danger. Then I get it. She want’s me to pray for the family whose house is afire. DUH! We had no way at that time to know if the family was OK, or if they all got out in time.
We listened for the news on TV, heard that the road was blocked off for the fire crews, and saw a momentary shot of the house, fire trucks, and an ambulance. Later in the day we drove by, on the way to the hospital for my eye injury, and would see the gutted wreckage. There were at least twenty cars pulled up onto the front lawn. Family and friends, folks from church, all there to sift through the mess and to collect anything salvageable for the family. I doubt there was much. Taking one look caused me to cry and exclaim, “It’s so sad!” To which Bob replied, “They have a lot of friends. They will be OK.” Blessedly, that evening we would hear that although the house was a total loss, the family had gotten out in time.
I tend to write about so many things. I try to keep it fun and not complain too much, but sometimes it all gets the better of me.
However, events like this…
put it all into perspective.
~~~~~
Article from WHNT Huntsville: http://whnt.com/2013/02/03/house-fire-in-hazel-green/
Life on the Farmlet 
fire affects us on a primal level; one is helpless when it’s out of control, and we watch as memories and valuables go up in flames.
that would have affected me as well.
z
Yes, it is also that primal level that would have us watching, unable to turn away, even when we can not bear it.
I’m glad that your neighbours were safe. It would have been more alarming of you had been told that it was your house that was on fire.
I hope your eye is better.
Yes it would!
Oh yes, my eye is fully healed and there is no permanent damage. Thanks, Tom!
Yes those people need prayer and a bit of niceness even if you don’t know them or whatever the case might be.
Yes they do! Prayer and kindness is not an exclusive for only our family and friends. A humbling thought.
My gosh I think things o bad enough those times Lynda. Even if you are not personnaly concernet, it must had affect you. I hope your neighbor has not been inured. How is your eye Lynda?
with you a better week end
friendly yours
Yes, events like this are frightening, and they do affect us, even when we are not directly involved.
My eye is fine now thank you, and this weekend is not only a better one, it is a very exciting one! (Pictures later today!)
I like your husband’s comment about them having a lot of friends. That is a blessing, and I’m glad to hear they all got out of the burning house.
He always sees the brighter side of things. I wish I had his gift. Yes, me too!
I’m so glad the family got out in time! I always shoot off a little “arrow” prayer when I see an ambulance, or drive past a wreck or see some kind of emergency or accident. Just keeping in mind that a little prayer goes a long way – even if it’s done quickly. I often did this when I worked in the banking industry, waiting on customers and clients who vented about personal problems or tragedies. As they were leaving my desk, I’d say a quick prayer for them before calling in the next person. You do what you can to help when prayer is needed!
You are so kind! If they only knew I’m certain they would have been so grateful!
So sad to hear when a family loses everything.
There are so many irreplaceable things in our lives like family photos and the like – I don’t know how families get over loss like this. And while at least there wasn’t a human life lost, the time it takes to rebuild seems forever.
Yes, the thought of loosing everything is sad. Isn’t it? We are all especially grateful that they were spared the loss of a family member.
thank goodness they all got out safely. I think that is my worst nightmare, for my house to burn.
Yes! (On both counts!)
Positive thoughts.
Hope.
Love.
To you as well – how’s your eye?
Thank you, Deb! The eye is great!
Fire is terrifying, whether it’s a single home or a wildfire. I’m so grateful everyone got out in time. And yes, there are advantages to living in communities where people know one another and will help one another.
My biggest fear about fire, or whatever, is getting Dixie Rose out. She tends to get under the bed, and if a fire starts and I can’t get her out – well, it’s a problem to be solved. In tornado weather, I put her in her carrier ahead of the storms,
We just had the sprinkler folks here last week, going through the apartments and replacing sprinkler heads. They’re very good about such things. They do a walk-through every quarter, checking to be sure everything is functional. What I do know is that, if the fire alarm goes off, I won’t sleep through it. It’s ghastly loud!
And aren’t you glad they are “ghastly loud!” There was a fire across the street from us when I was a kid, and the firemen went in afterwards to find the family dog under the bed and ALIVE! He was suffering the effects of smoke inhalation, but was otherwise unharmed. Strange but true!