Fire (Take 2)

So as not to have a calm visit for tom's parents this week while they are in town...

Tuesday Night - it was about 11 (way past my bedtime but that's another story) and I was showing tom's mom the baby clothes we have gotten so far and various other baby stuff - and then we all decide - hey, it's probably time to go to sleep -

And I had been hearing this crackling sound but thought it was tom's dad doing something in the bathroom getting ready for bed -

Tom walks out into our hallway - looks out the window and yells:
"Holy shit!!! There's a fire outside!!" So we run & look out the window.

And holy shit is right. There were flames 8-10 feet high - behind our dog run - right below the poplar trees we have in the front yard - about oh, 20 feet from the house...
TONS of fire.... I'd say probably a line of fire that was about 15 feet long - licking up towards the trees... orange and red.

Tom throws on his shoes, runs outside, runs to get the hose, his dad wakes up and yells something or other - throws on his clothes/shoes - Anne runs outside - I run to the phone and call 911 for the 2nd time in my life - for a second fire...
And then go outside- there's smoke everywhere.

It's now that I really really wish I would've taken a photo to record it all.

Eventually we could hear the sirens blaring...
2 trucks came - one left when they saw it was under control - plus a cop car.
They accidentally drove past our house 2 times - so I ran down the driveway - and was standing at the end waving this big flashlight - as these two firetrucks came my way, lights and sirens blaring - flagging them into our driveway.
So truly surreal.

So tom & his dad raked & tried put out the fire waiting for the firefighters to get there with our hoses.
You could see flames and embers flying around... Hot spots.

But then the firefighters showed up, doused the area with water and then put some kind of protective foam on the top to really put the fire out.

Turns out, Tom had dumped the ashes at about 6 PM that night from the BBQ the night before - and spread them out well - in an area near some dried brush/leaves etc. and that's what caused it.
He felt pretty bad but had left them there many times before so who knew it would happen. I suppose everything is just so tinder dry around here these days due to the lack of rain...

It was very alarming and scary. It was just very close to our house - I'm glad that tom & everyone else acted really quickly - and worked to get the fire out.
It was way too big - and too close for comfort.

So anyway ...That was our excitement for Tuesday evening.

Am not a fan of fire these days. Not a fan at all.