January 14, 2013
9:30 pm
When the fire dept. got out here, the fire was confined to the living room of "A" (the main trailer); and, they had the flames put out relatively quickly. Unfortunately, they ran out of water before the could quench the hot spots.
During the 20+ minutes it took to get more water out here, the flames reignited, broke through the west wall, and caught the nose of "C" trailer on fire.
With no water, the fire just flat took off; and, before more water arrived, all 3 mobile homes were fully engulfed. From there, all they could really do was just keep the propane tank from blowing. They just let things "burn out."
I spent most of Wed., Thurs., and Fri. morning trying to quench hotspots myself, with a garden hose. After a couple of hours up there on Fri. morning, I HAD to come back down to the annex for a little while, to make a sandwich and get horizontal for a little while. The winds were forecast to pick up; and, as badly as I was hurting, I figured "better now than later..." Besides, I was hurting SO badly that I was staggering around like a drunk; and, I'd already fallen several times that morning.
I hadn't been gone all that long when my dogs started barking; and, thinking that someone was here, I stuck my head out the door to see who it was. When I did, I heard that unmistakable sound of fire!...
I grabbed my cell phone; and, headed back out the door, headed for "D" trailer. Within feet, I could see the flames; so, I was trying to call 911 while trying to get up there as fast as I could without too many falls.
I got the gate open for them; then, tried to get enough hose pieced together to at least keep the fire from spreading west towards "what little was left" and my friend Glen's trailer (who was flat on his back in bed, due to his back being out on him.)
"D" trailer burned very quickly; since, it was in the worst shape of the 4; and, that's where I stored all of my combustibles. We were able to keep the fire from spreading west; but, with the winds having picked up, it got north of my fence and started taking off across the 80 acres to the north of me.
They had one heck of a time getting the ensuing grass fire under control. It's ironic, though, that they DID manage to get enough water to do THAT; but, that they had waited until they ran out of water before getting more water to try to save "A", "B", and "C"; and, that they had considered it to be a waste of water to quench the hot spots, which could've prevented "D" from catching on fire.
For a lack of enough water, about 80 to 85% of everything I owned was reduced to ashes; but, they could come up with enough water to make sure that it didn't spread any further north... (I wouldn't have wanted it to; but, it just feels like saving my place - which would've prevented the grass fire - just wasn't as high a priority as saving grazing land.)
During the 20+ minutes it took to get more water out here, the flames reignited, broke through the west wall, and caught the nose of "C" trailer on fire.
With no water, the fire just flat took off; and, before more water arrived, all 3 mobile homes were fully engulfed. From there, all they could really do was just keep the propane tank from blowing. They just let things "burn out."
I spent most of Wed., Thurs., and Fri. morning trying to quench hotspots myself, with a garden hose. After a couple of hours up there on Fri. morning, I HAD to come back down to the annex for a little while, to make a sandwich and get horizontal for a little while. The winds were forecast to pick up; and, as badly as I was hurting, I figured "better now than later..." Besides, I was hurting SO badly that I was staggering around like a drunk; and, I'd already fallen several times that morning.
I hadn't been gone all that long when my dogs started barking; and, thinking that someone was here, I stuck my head out the door to see who it was. When I did, I heard that unmistakable sound of fire!...
I grabbed my cell phone; and, headed back out the door, headed for "D" trailer. Within feet, I could see the flames; so, I was trying to call 911 while trying to get up there as fast as I could without too many falls.
I got the gate open for them; then, tried to get enough hose pieced together to at least keep the fire from spreading west towards "what little was left" and my friend Glen's trailer (who was flat on his back in bed, due to his back being out on him.)
"D" trailer burned very quickly; since, it was in the worst shape of the 4; and, that's where I stored all of my combustibles. We were able to keep the fire from spreading west; but, with the winds having picked up, it got north of my fence and started taking off across the 80 acres to the north of me.
They had one heck of a time getting the ensuing grass fire under control. It's ironic, though, that they DID manage to get enough water to do THAT; but, that they had waited until they ran out of water before getting more water to try to save "A", "B", and "C"; and, that they had considered it to be a waste of water to quench the hot spots, which could've prevented "D" from catching on fire.
For a lack of enough water, about 80 to 85% of everything I owned was reduced to ashes; but, they could come up with enough water to make sure that it didn't spread any further north... (I wouldn't have wanted it to; but, it just feels like saving my place - which would've prevented the grass fire - just wasn't as high a priority as saving grazing land.)