This post almost doesn't need any words after the pictures, but I have a few to say at the end anyway.







I have a new respect for fire after trying to piss on this one with a garden hose. I yelled in to Donna to call 911 when I saw a glow from inside the garage at dusk, then I grabbed the hose. I knew I couldn't put it out, but I figured I could at least slow it down until the fire department arrived. Maybe I did, maybe I didn't, but they arrived soon after the house started to smoke.

The heat was so intense that I had to back up and couldn't spray directly on the part of the house that was smoking. The propane tank on the grill hissed as the safety melted, and I hadn't even remembered that I had more than 12 gallons of gas in there in four gas cans.

I have minor burns on the part of my fingers that were facing the fire, and some of the glass is cracked on the windows. The rain gutter above the back door is mush, but some of the stuff from the shed was saved, including the $350 chainsaw that was only used to cut one truck-load of logs. The garage was filled with, among other things, about 4 cords of wood. The inspector thinks that most of it can be salvaged, since only the outside of it was toasted.

Trying to get hold of the insurance people on a holiday is impossible, which is also what the inspector said would happen last night. Fortunately, the inspector's colleague uses the same insurance company as we do, and he thinks settlement will go off easily.

They figure the fire was caused by the BBQ grill even tho I had shut it down four hours before I discovered the fire. Could have been grease in the drip can, or something else. He'll look at his pictures and see if something jumps out as it often does. But I may never know exactly what happened, maybe something to do with a bird, squirrel or other rodent on a windy day....

The house was saved, just in time, and the contents of the garage can be easily replaced. But I will never think about fire in the same way as I did before. I used to wonder why houses are totaled when they burn, now I know.