Holy Hell We Had a Fire

[tj]

Everyone is ok.

At 8:30, I loaded the kids up in the car to drop off a friend and pick up P who had done play dates today. As I started backing out the driveway, little 9 year old friend shouts “omg what is that?” And I look over, and our whole fence, trees, and old pool equipment on the other side of our barn were engulfed in flames. And winds are gusting 30 mph.

Somehow, I thrive under this type of pressure and go into immediate crisis management mode. E- go grab your dad. Friend - start filling this bucket with the water hose. Called our 2 closest neighbors, asked them to come running with fire extinguishers. And of course 911. I knew we had a fire extinguisher in the barn but couldn’t get to it. And I could have sworn our other one was under the sink but couldn’t find it. Turns out it was at our garage door and I ran past it at least 4 times and my eyes couldn’t see it.

Mh took one hose and started spraying. The girls filled buckets and ran back and forth bringing me the buckets to pour onto the fire and then ran back to refill. By the time the fire trucks arrived, we had all the flames doused and had nothing left but smoldering embers. They soaked everything down really well and did a couple different walk-throughs to make sure everything was out. The whole thing was over in an hour. But it was an intense hour that lasted 14 days.

SO HERE’S THE DEAL FRIENDS:
1) where is your fire extinguisher? Where is the other one? Please lay eyes on at least 2 fire extinguishers TODAY. Check the dates on them. If you don’t have 2 fire extinguishers and can’t afford them, please PM me and I will make sure you get them.

2) what can I do to thank my neighbors who saved us? Not one of them asked a single question. I said “do you have a fire extinguisher” and they both grabbed two and drove over.

3) my kids and the other friend are pretty shaken up. Is there anything I can say or do to help them understand that I know they were scared but we did all the right things and we are all ok?

4) holy fuck.

[tj]

Edit to add:
5) Does anyone know how this works? Do we have to pay for the FD to have come out? Will this affect insurance? Like will there be a financial affect other than rebuilding our fence, buying new pool equipment, etc.

[Speedy]

Yikes! I don't have answers to your questions, but I'm glad everyone is okay and that you were able to get it under control fast.
Hubby said that they usually investigate and if proven accidental generally there's no cost, but it depends from place to place obvs

[jnu76]

Woah- I’m so glad that you’re all ok! It sounds like everyone’s response was amazing.

[charlotte]

Holy shit! I’m glad you’re all okay, and that the friend spotted the fire before you left!

My gut feeling is insurance can raise your rate if you make a claim to them. But that might depend on details related to your policy and state.

You could drop off a little gift for the neighbors. Maybe a bottle of alcohol and a gift card to a nice local restaurant with a note.

[niko8083]

Goodness! Glad everyone was ok and it was only outside structures.

[mintyblueair]

That must have been terrifying! Good for you for acting so quickly. I'm so glad everyone is ok.

For your neighbours, maybe write a heartfelt thank you note and drop it off with a box of doughnuts or other treat?

[mapleme]

Holy shit!

Paying the fire department varies from place to place, but having to pay fire departments is still very rare and in most places it is covered by taxes.

Good job on you handling that. I am glad that you were still there to put out the fire instead of coming home to an engulfed home. Do you know what started it?

For your neighbors, a small gift of thanks is a good idea. Bottle of wine, box of baked goods, etc. Some friends sheltered at our house when their house was threatened with a wildfire and they had us over for dinner after the fire was put out (and their house survived). I think that *what* you do for them doesn't really matter, just the gesture.

When I was in 2nd grade there was a big fire at my elementary school. We had a few days of processing afterward. They talked about the amazing work that the firefighters did to save our school (it burned all of the trees around the school, but they saved the school and play structures) and we all wrote about our feelings and experiences. I think just talking about it regularly and allowing them to experience their emotions is good. Emphasize that they did a really good job helping to put out the fire. Oh, can they visit the fire department to get celebrated for helping to put out the fire? I bet that the fire fighters will have a lot of good words for them.

[DGM]

No new advice from what's already been said, but I'm so thankful you all are safe. Your calm and quick thinking was amazing!!!

[charlotte]

Jan 15, 2022 11:27:00 GMT -6 DGM said:

No new advice from what's already been said, but I'm so thankful you all are safe. Your calm and quick thinking was amazing!!!

Yeah, I’m super impressed with how good you were under pressure!

[milano]

Omg tj I'm so glad it wasn't worse. But I know any size fire is terrifying and that it still caused damage that will have to be repaired/replaced. I hope that process goes smoothly. Good on you for keeping your head!

This is a very good reminder to check my firefighting tools. Every few months I panic about a potential fire and make sure we have extinguishers and whatnot around but it's been a bit so I'm going to check.

[snowmoon]

Holy hell tj. I’m so glad everyone is ok!

I think a thank you note and small gift is warranted for your neighbours.

[sarenu]

Glad everyone was all right.

If you are in an unincorporated area you may receive a bill.

[tj]

Thanks for the good thoughts and advice everyone. I’m also really glad that everything ended up as ok as it did. We were super lucky. And our neighbors were absolute lifesavers.

We are going to do a nice thank you card from us, as well as a hand-written note from the girls, and a gift card to a local restaurant group (that works for all restaurants in the group, everything from super fancy to burger joint) as our thank you gift. I also plan to replace the 4 fire extinguishers from our neighbors since they will now need a new one.

The girls seem to have bounced back quite a bit today (faster than myself really) but were NOT impressed when mh suggested we have a fire in our fireplace today, since it’s snowing.

[ovenrack]

I’m so glad you’re okay.

[stringy]

So scary TJ. We def don’t have fire extinguishers so I need to do that.

Did you figure out what started it? All the animals are okay?

[rugger]

Holy wow! I'm so glad everyone is ok and that you rocked it under pressure.

We have one extinguisher under the kitchen sink and one upstairs in the laundry room (though, maybe it should be in the master bedroom).

You're an amazing and thoughtful person, so I'm assuming you checked in with E's friend and her family to make sure she's holding up ok. I think talking to the fire dept to see if they could send a note to the girls saying how brave they were would be sweet.

[mc13]

So scary! I’m so glad you were quick on your feet and have amazing neighbors!

We definitely don’t have fire extinguishers either! We did have them in NJ because it was required by code when we bought the house. Thank you for the reminder that we should have one in our new home.

[tj]

Jan 15, 2022 20:36:07 GMT -6 mc13 said:

So scary! I’m so glad you were quick on your feet and have amazing neighbors!

We definitely don’t have fire extinguishers either! We did have them in NJ because it was required by code when we bought the house. Thank you for the reminder that we should have one in our new home.

More than one, please!!

[tj]

Jan 15, 2022 19:02:22 GMT -6 stringy said:

So scary TJ. We def don’t have fire extinguishers so I need to do that.

Did you figure out what started it? All the animals are okay?

So mh had burned our Christmas tree in our burn barrel early yesterday when it was 70 degrees and clear as glass outside. He waited until the fire burned out inside the barrel, and went inside.

Then a cold front blew in and winds were 30-50mph. The wind knocked over the barrel into our trees full of dead leaves. There was obviously still a coal or ember somewhere, and with the increased oxygen (wind) plus the increased fuel(dead leaves) it lit back up. It had been probably 8 hours? And it was barely a small fire to begin with. But that wind tho. And because of the wind speed, once the fire took, it just blew straight down our fence line, and straight into our neighbors dead grass yard.

It could have been so bad. It was also exactly where we always park our camper. So PTL it was still at the deer camp, because that bitch would’ve burned to the ground. And exploded with the 3 propane tanks on it. We were just SO lucky.

[mapleme]

In a similar situation, my friend accidentally started a fire in his backyard when he put what he thought were dead embers in his compost pile, which was right to his stacked firewood. Turns out firewood burns well. His backyard was a wall of flame. In a miracle he only lost his firewood and a couple branches of a nearby huge tree.

[mintyblueair]

That's scary! I always go crazy dousing our fire pit with the hose and dirt and MH thinks I'm overboard. But all it takes is wind...

I'm so glad it wasn't worse for you guys.

[rhymeswithdisco]

Dear universe,

Leave teej and her family alone for a while.

Sincerely,

Willy

[milano]

Jan 16, 2022 13:27:10 GMT -6 rhymeswithdisco said:

Dear universe,

Leave teej and her family alone for a while.

Sincerely,

Willy

Co-signed.

[nikkipal]

Wow tj, I’m so glad you guys are ok. How scary. I will definitely check my one fire extinguisher and buy a couple more.

[pbandj714]

Just now catching up and holy shit. I'm so glad you're all okay and it wasn't any worse.

We a fire extinguisher in our garage and I think in the basement, too. Need to double check on that.