I became a firefighter today!

Early this afternoon, I dumped out a bucket of ashes that had been sitting on my back patio since Tuesday. I really thought there were no coals left in it, but I guess I was wrong!

At 4:45, the first parent arrived to pick up his little boy (I babysit 2 kids)… About a minute after he came in, I saw someone walk up on the front porch, fling open the storm door and burst right into my house! That in itself nearly scared me to death!! But then he yelled, “Your house is on fire in the back!”

Ok. Now I'm scared. My heart started to pound in my throat!

I ran for the back door, and outside there was a fire between my outbuilding & the fence. Apparently I had caught the leaves on fire. OH DEAR!!

Dave (the dad of the kids I babysit) runs out right behind me, and we grab a water hose. A woman I’ve never seen before in my life ran around from the front of the house with my other water hose, and I ran inside to call 9-1-1 just in case it was too out of control…

The dad of one of my Brownies (a fireman) drove up behind the fence. He asked how I was doing today, and I said that apparently I must be scatterbrained and just didn’t know it!

While I was outside helping put out the fire, the other dad came to pick up the little girl. Why didn't it occur to me that I had left my 7-year-old inside the house alone with his 1-yr-old & my 2-yr-old? I don't even know. Thank goodness she kept them inside and out of harm's way, but poor Jenna was really scared. So one of the firemen (a really cute one, I might add!) kept talking to her, and I think his calmness helped.

Soooo.... All is well. The fire was put out easily, and we dug through the leaves and made sure everything in the area was thoroughly saturated. I am so thankful that it was only that small spot, but it still really worried me!! I thought it was going to get the outbuilding that we keep gas & lawn mowers in (which I was prepared to move out quickly!)… but it didn’t hurt it at all. All it really did was clear out the fence row… which really needed done, but that wasn't how I was planning to do it! ;-)

Thank the Lord for those people who stopped to tell me and to help!! Otherwise, I might not have known there was a fire until it traveled to my neighbor’s house!! I wish I knew who the guy was so I could thank him, but I couldn't even tell you the first thing about what he looked like. (So much for my training as a bank teller where they teach you how to remember what the bank robber looked like! LOL!)

I’m so thankful it was not windy today, as it could have spread to the woods or to the house beside me. And I am incredibly grateful that my house and my family are both still intact.

The whole ordeal only lasted about 30 minutes, and my heart is still racing!!

I went to a Stamp Club meeting tonight, and I was the first to finish all my projects... I am still feeling such an adrenaline rush.