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[VAN DELL JORDAN <vdjor AT yahoo.com>]

Very glad it didn't get you, and thanks for reminding
us to take care of things.
Van dell



--- "Lisa K.V. Perry" <lisakvperry AT gmail.com> wrote:

> Hey Gang,
> 
> This past Monday we had an experience w/ fire that
> was, as the expression
> goes, 'too close to home'. Let this serve as a
> reminder to be prepared. I'm
> sure most of you are, but living in rural areas we
> have to be more prepared
> than most.
> 
> My husband and oldest son went for a walk after he
> and I had returned from a
> stressful meeting.  I stayed home w/ the live-in
> clients, it was to be my
> turn when they returned.
> 
> There was smoke in the air; it was a warm day (60
> degrees), so we questioned
> the source figuring it was probably not a wood
> stove. As they walked along
> our dirt road, they took a detour down a side road
> and saw a small fire near
> a neighbor's woodshed.
> 
> My husband yelled for the neighbor, no response. He
> banged on the door of
> his home, no response. He went in and called 911.
> When my husband stepped
> outside to check on the fire (while on the phone),
> the woodshed was engulfed
> in flames. My husband called another neighbor (the
> homeowner's parents--who
> live down the road) and reached them then called me.
> By now the air outside
> at our house was thick w/ smoke and some falling
> ash.
> 
> Within minutes the first fire truck arrived. It had
> just enough water to
> work on the woodshed and ran out just before the
> second truck arrived. My
> husband and son stayed and helped.
> 
> Five minutes later I rec'd another call, the fire
> was in the woods and going
> up the ridge towards us. We live .25 mi. tops from
> the home w/ the fire. In
> between was acres of woods and a farm. The FD sent
> two more trucks and two
> bulldozers to the top of the ridge to make a fire
> break.
> 
> Our farm is a 'holler' on the other side of the
> ridge. Our driveway, a
> private dirt road, is shared by the neighboring farm
> on the top of the
> ridge. Our road would have been on fire before it
> reached our house, I was
> told we might need to leave.
> 
> I walked through the house and began gathering stuff
> you think you don't
> want to live without. Photos came to mind first.
> Youngest son loaded the
> van.
> 
> Two minutes later my husband & son were dropped off
> at home and said we had
> to leave. We loaded the van w/ 2 live-in clients
> (and their meds & record
> books), two cats, our youngest son and myself and
> one box of misc. items.
> They put our two dogs, my son's bird, and family
> Christmas ornaments in my
> husband's Jeep. He would stay until the final "Get
> out NOW!" call (the FD
> had taken down our phone number).
> 
> Fortunately, the call never came. I was in town and
> my husband called twice
> to check in, the last call was that we could come
> home since the fire was
> under control.
> 
> We lost power that evening due to a tree on the line
> and we didn't sleep
> much. It rained Tuesday like cats & dogs and still a
> hot spot flared up
> yesterday. We learned that fires are watched for 7
> days afterwards due to
> hot spots. 30 acres of mostly woods was burned. Our
> neighbor's woodshed
> burned to the ground (and his land), but his new
> house was saved.
> 
> If my husband had discovered the fire five minutes
> later, it would have been
> disastrous. We are very fortunate. Our neighbor said
> that he owes us a
> house. Maybe that's how we can get rid of the
> mortgage. ;)
> 
> The near miss by the fire was a lesson learned on
> many levels.
> 
> Quickly walking around the house thinking "What do I
> need to take in case
> the house burns down?" was humbling, yet  there was
> very little we needed. I
> grabbed picture frames as I went room to room,
> grabbed my almost 18 year
> old's old favorite bunny stuffed animal (he got as
> an infant that occupies a
> spot on the floor near his bed -- probably grabbed
> that for my sake!) and
> his guitar, grabbed my youngest son's camera but
> forgot mine, grabbed my
> husband's ID & money clip (he doesn't usually walk
> w/ them) but forgot a
> folder of our SS cards in my office file cabinet. I
> grabbed the books on the
> bedside table that each of us are reading figuring
> we'd still want to read
> at night for a sense of normalcy. I thought to grab
> our contact cases.
> 
> As I left, my husband asked if there was anything he
> wanted me to get (we
> had already loaded his guitars), all that came to
> mind was a box of family
> Christmas ornaments. Nothing else. There were a few
> other things I forgot,
> including things the boys have made over the years,
> but I only thought of
> those on the drive back home.
> 
> I have neglected the pictures I store on my computer
> which would have been a
> melted pile of plastic and metal had the worst
> occurred, so taking care of
> 4+ years of digital photos is now a top priority.
> Also on the list is making
> copies of important documents in a "Take This" file.
> Add to that a List of
> what to take to aid a frazzled brain in times of
> crisis.
> 
> Our Fire Department is made of volunteers and they
> are getting a donation
> from us.
> 
> Lisa
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