Last night at 2am we get a call from our neighbor. She told us the house behind ours was on fire!
We jumped out of bed to go check it out! You can't see this house because of the woods between us. When we got outside we could see the orange flames above the trees and lots of smoke. You could hear the fire crackling and other assorted noises. It sounded like a helicopter at first, but we realized it was the sound from the fire engines' water hoses.
I am silently FREAKING OUT at this point!
You know it's a big fire when you see the flames above the trees! (these are not small trees)
"Dwayne, what do we do?!? Is it coming this way?? What do we do?!?"
The scariest part for me was not knowing if the fire was coming through the woods towards our house. We couldn't see far enough.
And then I start worrying if everyone got out of that house okay.
And what should we do? Should we wake up the kids and leave? Should we stay and see what happens? Should we call someone? The wheels in my head are spinning so fast it made my stomach hurt.
We decided to wait and see what was going to happen. We got the cars out of the garage just in case we had to run for it. If the fire did come through the woods we knew we would have plenty of time to get the kids, pets, and a few other things and leave.
And then I started thinking I should pack a bag just an case we have to evacuate.
But what do I bring along???
I first think I should grab some extra clothes and toiletries for everyone. But the kids were sleeping and I didn't want to go in their rooms for the stuff and wake them up unnecessarily. Then I thought I'd grab our photo albums, but there are too many to take them all. OK, I'll just take the computer that has all the pictures. But it's not a laptop and is that just silly to rip out your big computer from the wall and bring it along?
So I got nowhere with the bag.
We watched and waited outside for awhile and it seemed like the fire was slowing down. Much less orange glow and crackling, and lots of water hose sounds.
We waited longer and finally decided it was most likely not going to come our way.
So we went inside, but there was NO WAY I could go to sleep! My mind is going a thousand mph and I'm too scared the fire will pick back up!
I keep thinking about this bag I might or might not need to pack. And maybe not tonight but sometime I might need to. And then, what would I grab if I only had a few minutes?
Sometime later, after we were sure it was going to be okay, we drifted off to sleep (maybe 4am?)
But then I had horrible nightmares about our house catching on fire! And I couldn't get the kids in my dream.
What a night!
In the morning I told Dwayne to drive by the house on his way to work and call me afterwards. He said the house burned to the ground. Everyone got out safe! thank goodness! It was a big house and luckily it was all contained to their house and lot. I guess all the rain we've had and no winds last night really helped.
So we are going to be doing a big fire safety check around our house this week- check smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, escape routes, etc. And make a plan if it were to happen to our house because you never know...
But I still keep thinking about this bag I should have packed!
So my question to you is: What would you take with you if you had to evacuate and only had 10 minutes to pack a bag??
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13 comments:
Glad all is okay. As for me and what I would take... Aidan!
I've played with this question for years. Assumming that my kid, hubs, and dogs are out, this is what I would grab: my scrapbooks, my camera, my laptop (cause that's where all the pics are), my GGMAs Bible, my jewelry thing (it's small). Mostly I'd grab stuff that is absolutely irreplaceable. How awful for your neighbors!
How scary!!
I'm totally glad you're okay.
I would grab my camera and my CD's with all my pictures saved on them.
id grab my cat, my computer, and depending on how long that took, id just start throwing things in my car til the 10 minutes was up.
but really, if i had a family, sure it would suck to lose their pictures, but it would suck a lot more to lose their lives. so if i got out alive, the memories would just have to stay in the old noggin...
We have all our important documents in a safe deposit box at the bank.
I also burn photo cds every month and put them in the safe deposit box.
(Assuming the kids and pets were out:) I'd take my camera, the scrapbooks, and my purse.
that is scary. I am glad everyone is ok.
I am not sure what I would take. I would make sure my husband, the dog and I got out. then I would get my purse, underwear? makeup, laptop, keys, and any thing else I could grab on the way out. But if all I could take was me and my family that is all that would be important everything else can be replaced.
That's so scary!
Pack N Play...still gotta keep the kids confined. Picture definitely (as many as I could), our fire-proof safe which is full of SS cards, and other documents, the laptop and some toiletries...I guess.
I don't know!
Wow, that's a hard question.
I think I saw this on the news, but I didn't stop long enough to listen to the whole story. I am glad that it did not spread to your house.
After all living things were safe and sound, I would grab photos and our family bible.
WOW! I know that scared the crap out of you. I've practiced fire drills with my kids since they were very small. As for what I would grab......probably nothing other than my pets. All this talk has made me think about getting one of those fire proof safes.....Fire scares me to no end! Glad you are ok...so sorry for your neighbors.
Yikes, that is scary! Fire really freaks me out. My best friend's husband was one of the firefighters that worked on that house (if you're in WL). He's on the video on the KXAN website! I would take all the pictures I could grab, and the quilt my grandmother made me for college.
Well, after the cats were rounded up and put in cages and carted to safety, I probably would be out of time. But if there was time, I would probably grab my medication and toiletries bag off my sink (had contacts, glasses, makeup) and my picture albums assuming I could find them.
A few weeks back I was awakened to the loud screeching builing fire alarm going off in the wee hours of a saturday morning and I learned two things:
1) all the cats will hide in the most difficult place to reach them, this time being under the bed in the middle where I can't reach them
2) Inevitably, in an emergency, my glasses will have fallen behind the nightstand and I will not be able to find them or see what is actually going on. :)
Fortunately, it was a false alarm. :)
I have been meaning to get one of those fireproof safes so I can store all my important financial/insurance/etc. documents or even valuable stuff so that in the event of a fire I wouldn't have to worry so much and could just come back for it later.
Glad the fire didn't spread to ya'll!!! I bet that was scary!!!!
I've had nightmares all my life about being in a house fire. I am probably having surgery next month and I plan on taking my recovery time to scan in all our pictures and stuff and burning them on CDs. That's a good idea that someone mentioned.
Ok..I'm feeling like being compulsive and packing an emergency bag right now and popping it in the closet. Hmmm. After kids,hubby and dogs...I would grab my computer, pics, blankets, cell phone and purse! Hubby would grab fireproof safe stuff. Then we would throw some clothes on. (a little levity is needed right about now.)
Ok,we need to think about this. I'm seriously thinking of throwing a little suitcase in our closet just in case. Hmmm. I hope your neighbors are ok.
XOXO
C
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