Maybe it was damp grass that broke his leg, but it certainly saved his house, truck, and who knows what else.
The superkids and I rounded a corner in our neighborhood yesterday evening on our way home and saw smoke. Then we saw the fire, a burnpile that had gotten a little out of hand. Neighbor Jeff was already there, sans cell phone, trying to figure out what to do.
I parked the car, rolled down the windows, and started stamping the low burning leading edge while I called 911. Jeff got the garden hose and went to work. By the time the the VFD got there, we had things damp, but not out.
The VFD cheerfully sprayed a truckload of water on the fire, thankful that it wasn't any more than it was. The grass was wet from this morning's light rain, he said. Without it, at least three houses would have been lost, not to mention a pickup truck that the fire had burned right under the gas tank of, and then stopped.
It turned out that this was the second EMS call of the day to that house. The owner, had slipped and broken his leg while starting the burn pile that morning. In the rush to get him to the hospital, the fire was forgotten.
A nice upside was that Superkid and Babyfish got to see the fire department in action, and Superkid in particular got a real-life example of why fire is not a toy.
