When neighborhood kids get bored…

they start fires!  Yep, that’s what happened on Tuesday.  It was sometime after 1pm, and I was sitting on the couch while Micah was napping.  I smelled something burning, so I got up and asked Brian if he smelled it.  He really just brushed me off.  After a minute or two, I decided to look outside.  Boy am I glad I did.  When I looked out our back window, I saw about 5-6 boys, smoke, and fire.  I went to our bedroom and told Brian that he might want to go see what’s going on because there’s a fire behind our back fence.  Once he saw what was going on, he asked the boys what they did.  They of course denied any wrongdoing.  I then asked where there parents where, but I didn’t get any response.  While I did hear sirens, I wasn’t sure if they were headed our way, so I called 911 to report the fire. 

At this time, the fire is in our neighbor’s yard, and it’s pretty fierce.  Brian jumps the fence and starts fighting the fire while we were waiting on the fire department.  Well, the fire truck parked in front of our house, and I told them that it was behind our fence.  Once they figured out how to reach it, they moved their trucks to the appropriate place and started doing their thing. 

Our neighbor’s son eventually finds Brian outside fighting the fire off of their fence (he had been sleeping and was headed to the shower until he smelled the smoke and saw Brian).  So, the fire department is doing their thing, Brian is fighting the fire still in the neighbor’s yard, and it’s slowly creeping up under our fence.  Brian finally comes back to our yard, and it’s still creeping under our fence.  It ended up burning up three spots in our back yard, and the majority of the backside of our fence is charred.

After a while, the fire department came knocking on our door asking for our name, address, and phone #.  They were able to figure out which kiddo started the fire, and they had to get everyone’s information so that the damage can be taken care of.  So, hopefully, we won’t have to come out of pocket for any of the repairs.  Trust me, if we do, Brian will be livid.

***The boys were wadding up pieces of grass, lighting them on fire, and throwing them down a metal drainage grate.  Well, when it rains, all sorts of debris falls down the grate.  So, all of that debris caught fire, and it spread rampant because it’s been so dry here.  Our fence and several of the other fences near us butt up to an open field, and that’s where the fire got started.***

Thankfully, Brian was working from home.  I honestly don’t know how this would have turned out if he hadn’t been here.  I don’t even want to think about what would have happened.

So, that was another highlight of our week.  And if that’s not bad enough, I got a call on Friday morning from my mom.  She informed me that my baby brother’s apartment building burned to the ground.  Thankfully, they were able to save themselves (he and his girlfriend) and their dog.  However, they lost everything else.  I’m sure it will take a while for their emotions to return to normal.  They were able to get another apartment at the complex, and the Red Cross and apartment owners have been very gracious to them and the others that were displaced. 

Here are a few pictures from the fire at our place that Brian took.  We are not sure how long it will take for someone to replace the fence.  My oldest brother did give us a quote from his company who specializes in fire restoration.  So, we’ve got that on hand just in case we need it.

This is our neighbor’s fence.  Brian was able to help keep it from spreading any further. This is a view of our fence and some of the damage to the field.This is another view of our fence and the field. This is a closer shot of our fence. This is another side of our fence that joins up with our neighbor’s.  They didn’t go back as far as we did, so there’s a gap. This is one of the grass spots that got burned. This is a view of some of the damage that we see from inside our yard. This is another spot that got burned.  This was near the raised garden beds, and we’re so thankful they didn’t up in flames.

Without a doubt, it has been a crazy week around here.  However, we are all grateful to be alive, and we are blessed to have so many family members and friends that care.  So, even though the week has been dismal (Caleb’s diagnosis, our fire, and the fire at my brother’s apartment building), God is in control.