Nothing to come home to

A man in our county lost his house in a Saturday night blaze but escaped unhurt. He was looking forward to hosting his grown kids from Florida--they'd lost their home during the hurricanes--on Sunday.

As firefighters dismantled much of the remains to fully extinguish the fire, the man came over to me with the charred remains of a .22 rifle that he'd been planning to give to his 7-year-old grandson today. It had been chrome-plated, but now everything was blackened.

Located well outside of town, the fire gained a hold on the house as firefighters responded. The fire department needed 10-15 minutes of driving to reach the scene, and that's what led to the man's loss.

The fire struck shortly after 10 p.m. on a night with temperatures in the 20s. (I had to scrape frost off my windows before leaving home.)

Two engines and a tanker responded down a gravel road that was just wide enough for a private vehicle and a fire rig. When the FD needed more water, they had to back up a long distance before they could turn around to drive to the river for more water.

I was back in bed by 12:15.

Posted by JRC at November 14, 2004 09:26 PM | TrackBack