Random little twists of fate.

[rootofnewt]

That was a little freaky.

We went grocery shopping tonight. Driving home, I wanted to drive past a couple houses that had some interesting holiday light sculpture thingies. I forgot until I was halfway home, so I turned back toward another neighborhood. I figure most of them will be coming down this weekend, so I thought Tom should at least see the lit up lobster, y'know?

Anyhow, coming back from lobster house, I turned down another road on a whim, cutting through a neighborhood near Greenleaf Park here in town . . . I knew there was a house with one of those so-dark-it's-hard-to-see blue LED trees on the other end of the neighbhorhood. Tom likes that color. Well, as I'm cutting down this windy road in a heavily wooded neighborhood, we notice a lot of fog or smoke. And then I see a chimney. . . . ON FIRE.

The house has lights on, so I run up and bang on the door. I see a guy in a power chair through the window, but a woman opens the door. I told her what was up and let her know I didn't have a phone. We waited until we saw that they got out . . . I asked if they needed anything or wanted us to stay, but she said she'd called 911 and we didn't need to stay. The road is very curvy, very narrow, so I left. I figure the fire trucks need all the space they can get.

I know they got out (with at least one kid, too). I hope the house isn't a loss.

Comments

[zeldajean.livejournal.com]

Wow. 'Tis the season - for fires and freaky stuffs. The house was broken into again yesterday, but a jumble of things caused the roommate to be home when it happened, and the burglar was caught. And it was the neighbor - gah!

[lightning-rose.livejournal.com]

Wow. I'm glad you happened to be driving by at the moment. The best I've done recently was herd a loose dog back home on a freezing night.

[krasota.livejournal.com]

I'm just glad they were home and moved quickly. I actually watched the news to see if there'd be any spots (this is a small town, after all), but nothing.

We've herded dogs home before. Some owners are thankful, some not. :/ This reminds me, must get Whiskey chipped soon.

[lightning-rose.livejournal.com]

I don't care if the owners are thankful or not (and so far they all have been), I do it for the doggies.

This reminded me of an old volunteer firefighter friend who once told me about a road flare-like device his department used for chimney fires. So I did a bit of googling and found that it's called a Chimfex, and if caught early enough, chimney fires are fairly easy to extinguish without causing any damage.

http://www.rutland.com/
http://www.firehouse.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45432

chimney fires

[scottiemom.livejournal.com]

We always kept a "rod" of some sort to throw in the wood stove if there was a chimney fire (which we did have once). The fire stick would instantly suck all the oxygen out and put out the fire. The key is to get them early. I'm sure your quick thinking made the difference in the severity of the fire. People need to clean their chimneys if they burn wood. Creasote build up is usually the culprit. Course, now their chimney should be pretty clean if it all remained intact.

Good thinking Sweetie.

Love you, Mom

[laverick.livejournal.com]

Wow, that is pretty random. I'm glad you were there to let the family know what was going on so they could get out safely. Hope the fire department was able to spare much of their home.

[twopiearr.livejournal.com]

good citizen! i do not expect most of the folks in my hood would be so obliging if they noticed something like that.

[absinthea.livejournal.com]

Wow...that would freak me out too. Good thing you were there to notify them.

[twostepsfwd.livejournal.com]

wow. talk about being in the right place at the right time. so glad you were there