A Scary Night
Last night the kids went to bed exhausted from swimming in the pool for the afternoon and Dana and I were fast asleep by 11:30. Just before 1:00 am we heard the doorbell ring about 10 times, I rolled over and asked Dana if that was the door. I got out of bed and walked downstairs and that's when I noticed flashing lights outside, as I opened the door there were police cars on the streets and officers scattered about. I first thought there was a shooting nearby or something like that. The officer said "Who lives in this house?" I said "My family" he told us there is a house on fire behind us and that we were to evacuate the house right now because the fire department feared it would spread to other homes.
I ran inside the house and Dana was already gathering stuff up, I put some clothes on and ran out to move the truck so we could get in the van. That's when I looked over my neighbour's house and saw flames, it was very dark out and the flames were huge. Back inside, Dana called her parents and asked if we could go over there, she got Hannah up and I carried her out to the car, she was scared - she has always had a fear of fire and this sure didn't help. She began to cry as I left her in the van. We grabbed Jack and Henry and Dana somehow gathered the cats and we were out of the house in minutes. Everyone on our side of the street was outside, told to move to the other side. We decided to bring the kids to Dana's parents, figuring they would get more upset if we stayed. Thanks Penny and Rick, they comforted the kids and after an hour Dana and I drove back and the street was empty, everyone back in their houses. We went back and picked up the kids and brought them back home and they fell back to sleep after being told all was safe and sound.
Dana found out the fire was from the pool heater, the owner turned it on at 9pm, a neighbour came home at 12:30 from working a shift and saw a fire, they tried to fight the fire with garden hoses but it got out of control. The house is heavily damaged in the back but the front seems to be in good shape. The street was still shutdown when we finally went back to bed, and the fire department was there until early morning.
It was a crazy night, but it's comforting to know the police were there ringing everyone's doorbell to make sure we got out and that we had somewhere to go in the middle of the night.
I ran inside the house and Dana was already gathering stuff up, I put some clothes on and ran out to move the truck so we could get in the van. That's when I looked over my neighbour's house and saw flames, it was very dark out and the flames were huge. Back inside, Dana called her parents and asked if we could go over there, she got Hannah up and I carried her out to the car, she was scared - she has always had a fear of fire and this sure didn't help. She began to cry as I left her in the van. We grabbed Jack and Henry and Dana somehow gathered the cats and we were out of the house in minutes. Everyone on our side of the street was outside, told to move to the other side. We decided to bring the kids to Dana's parents, figuring they would get more upset if we stayed. Thanks Penny and Rick, they comforted the kids and after an hour Dana and I drove back and the street was empty, everyone back in their houses. We went back and picked up the kids and brought them back home and they fell back to sleep after being told all was safe and sound.
Dana found out the fire was from the pool heater, the owner turned it on at 9pm, a neighbour came home at 12:30 from working a shift and saw a fire, they tried to fight the fire with garden hoses but it got out of control. The house is heavily damaged in the back but the front seems to be in good shape. The street was still shutdown when we finally went back to bed, and the fire department was there until early morning.
It was a crazy night, but it's comforting to know the police were there ringing everyone's doorbell to make sure we got out and that we had somewhere to go in the middle of the night.
posted by St. Louis Family at 7:37 AM
2 Comments:
Holy crap! Your poor neighbours. Is your house OK?
I didn't know Hannah had a fear of fires. I went through a terrified period in grade 3 when someone in my school died in a trailer fire, so I know how she feels. Hope everyone's not too shaken up today.
- Andrew
What a scare! I hope you guys are okay. I'm thinking of you guys.
-Ali
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