Saturday, November 15, 2008

Day 15 -- Photo Hunt Ruined

The theme for this week is ruined. This is our ruined well house at the place we had outside of Danevang. The details of the fire that destroyed this structure and all it contents follow the pictures.

The fire happened in May 2005. It was a dry spring that year. The grass under the fence was tall and brittle. We had cut down an old pecan tree and Robert wanted to burn the stump out.

On a still Saturday, he set the stump on fire, but then remembered he had told a friend he would come out and help him on his place. He popped into the house and told me he had lit the stump and to check on it occasionally. This was about 10:00. About 11:00 I thought I would attend a Pampered Chef party a friend was having. As I got to the car to leave I thought about that stump. I poked my head around the edge of the well house and saw one thin line of smoke lazily make it way up. I thought to myself, "That fire is going out. I'm late, I'm leaving."

About an hour into the party my cell phone rings. It is Robert's former boss. He wants to know where Robert and I are. Wondering why he needed him, I told Todd, Robert was helping a friends and I was at a party. At that point he tells me he has just driven by our place and two fire trucks were there and black smoke was boiling up.

Exit me from the party. I was about ten miles from the house and I made that ten miles in record time all the time calling Robert's cell phone and leaving him messages.

When I pulled up the fire department from El Campo was pulling out and the Danevang fire department was rolling up hoses in preparation to leave.

I couldn't believe my eyes. About all I could say was, "Oh, my goodness. Dear God."

I got to visit with the fire chief and a deputy sheriff. I kept thinking he was going to give me a ticket of some sort. Mostly for being so stupid as to leave a burning stump (even if there was only a little tiny thin puff of smoke). He didn't; part of me wishes he had.

A breeze had fanned the fire which blew into the grass where it followed the fence line to the well house that was insulated with Styrofoam. Now Styrofoam is a wonderful insulator, but it burns easily and it burns hot. Hot enough that all the lawn equipment inside the well house had their tires totally melted and burned up. We lost several thousand dollars worth of stuff --- lots of it junk, some of it good. Had to have a new well pump put in along with a new water filtration system. As bad as it was it could have been worse. The garage, storage barn and house were all spared from our mistake.

We felt/feel stupid that we did this. We have been teased by all of our children over it. We have been reminded endlessly about all the Smokey Bear safety rules concerning fire. Robert has been banned for life from playing with fire and I have no idea where any matches are.

14 comments:

Jientje said...

Oh my God, that's ruined allright!
Luckily, no one got hurt in thr process! Loosing all your tools and stuff is bad enough!

Anonymous said...

Oh, that is sad indeed. Its a good thing no one got hurt.

Take care!

Anonymous said...

How dreadful! Thank goodness it wasn't near your house. A great post though, but not much of a compensation!

Granny said...

OMG Patsy, what a story! But, thank goodness the fire department arrived before your house, garage and barn also went up in flame! Shame though that there was so much damage and it happened so quickly. Lessons that hit us in the pocketbook really hurt - ouch! But thankfully no one was injured - that's the most important thing. This is a good lesson for us all - thanks for sharing!

RJ Flamingo said...

Oh, Patsy! I'm glad no one was hurt, but that certainly was "ruinous" on so many different levels.

Thanks for stopping by!

Rebecca Mecomber said...

Gosh! What a story!!! Thank God it was only stuff, though, whew.

I did Photo Hunt today, too. I hope you get a chance to visit and leave your link!
http://newyorktraveler.net/photo-hunters-ruined/

Have a great weekend!

Ladykli said...

Thank God no one was hurt and you didn't lose your house. When I was little we used to have a travel trailer in the middle of the woods. Whenever we left to go home my dad would remove a big battery in the back. Well apparently it made a spark unknowningly to us. We found out later that the trailer burned to the ground and only a few of the trees near by got scorched. 66 acrecs of trees were spared from destruction.

Mine's here

Hootin Anni said...

Hey....things like this happen. I wouldn't be so hard on yourself. It's just that thinking this could have escalated into a rip roaring fire before if it hadn't been for someone calling in to notify the fire department!!

And tho it was a tragedy of sorts, the photos are perfect for today's theme. Does that make any sense?

Thanks for stopping by today. Hope your weekend is off to a great start.

Anonymous said...

Gosh, that sound terrible but good that it didn't get your house or turn out any worse.

Anonymous said...

those are pretty powerful pictures. fires scare me sooo much and i have such respect for the people who battle them
Have a great weekend, I gave you a shout out on our blog!
MuchaCostaRica Round-Up

IdaR said...

Oh, the things I could say, Sis, but, being the superior human being that I am, I won't. (besides, you've probably heard them all by now) Great photo of the damage, by the way!
Love ya!

Hootin Anni said...

Ps....you commented "enjoy the crisp, clear day" today...

It's hot here. But it is clear. Wish our day was crisp! [well, it was this morning]

Hope your Sunday was perfect, Patsy.

Anonymous said...

OH My, Patsy! What a good submission for "Ruined," but Oh My!

Momisodes said...

WOW! That is quite a story! I am so sorry that happened. I'm just glad everyone was safe and nothing else was damaged. Yikes!