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Left work early today to drop the FoFo off at home and carpool down to a company safety meeting / social at the Clarion. On the way home:

- I get passed by a pumper with sirens going. No biggie. About halfway home at this point. I realize Sara's ahead of me in the FoFo (I was in the company Scooby). Minor panic as I wonder if she has been in an accident between work and home (not far to go, either).

- I'm a block from the house as I look up and see a massive plume of grey/black smoke coming from what seems to be IN LINE WITH MY FREAKING HOUSE! MAJOR PANIC TIME!!!

So I rabbit the last block, park and realize the flames are coming from the house behind. Fire crews are JUST finishing rolling up. I grab the Nikon and go to head into the backyard. Then, I realize that MASSIVE flames from the back of the house are no more than 10 feet from the nice, dry wood fence at the rear of our property. I put the camera down and tell Sara to call our co-worker we were going to pick up and tell him we'll be "a little late". I run out, turn on the garden hose and start soaking down the fencing.

It seems everyone's out (from my vantage point of a jungle gym in my back yard) and noone is screaming frantically. The flames get larger at the back. I back off. As I do, the fire crews move to the rear of the house and begin soaking it down there too. MUCH MORE SMOKE. I back right off to the front of the house and finally inhale a fresh breath. From the dining room / deck walkout and kitchen we watch them slowly (seems slow anyways when you're that panicked) knock down the flames. I go back out and start snapping again as the smoke dies down.

Then we realize that the tree next door is smoldering. :lol: The firecrew hoses it down, too. More pictures.

I stood there for another 10 minutes as my co-worker shows and checks things out. We watch flames lick out from under the eaves. Fun stuff. Finally, it's under control and we leave for the meeting.

I don't think I've been THAT scared in a long ass time. Pics to come tomorrow.

well im glad you didnt get bbq'ed!!! :)

Man thats crazy, sucks for your neighbour, but glad it wasn't your house and that you guys are ok.

Geez NOS, you should buy a lottery ticket 'cause I think someone was looking out for you there :blink:

NefCanuck

Yep, fire and smoke suck. Hope they had insurance.

Wow, Glad your stuff didn't go up in flames. But I hope your neighbours are ok. Do you know them? Good going on thinking on your feet and grabbing the hose. Can't wait to see the pic's.

i woulda parked my car right next to the fence, and grabbed a can of gas :ph34r:

ZX5focused,May 3 2007, 10:37 PM Wrote:i woulda parked my car right next to the fence, and grabbed a can of gas  :ph34r:
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Don't joke about that... I nearly lost my car about ten years ago when someone decided to torch my mom's heap and I was parked beside her.... when I saw the flames coming out of her car only thing that stopped me from racing to save my car was the firefighter who collared me and grabbed my keys, leaving me to sweat it out while he moved my car in full protective gear....

NefCanuck

My car catches fire, i'm grabbing marshmallows. Burn B$#% BURN!.

Sucks for your neighbor, I remember my house catching fire once. It was put out quickly but the damage was heavy even from a small chimney fire.

So how's your heart this morning? Did you sleep well last night? I'm hoping your neighbour and his family are okay, other than the house. That's pretty scary. Kind of makes me want to move out into the country, with no one around.

:blink:

Pics!!!??!??! :P

ZX5focused,May 3 2007, 07:57 PM Wrote:well im glad you didnt get bbq'ed!!! :)
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x2

Sorry bout the delay. We had our annual "Safety Day" today and the social last night for work. Policies, strategies, yadda yadda. It was actually quite interesting. Plus, being the IT consult / support for the evening and following day = food, drink and chat time.

It was also kinda kooky that my co-worker who met us at the house yesterday is our safety and training coordinator for the head office and district. :o

I'll edit with pics in a sec. Everyone seems fine at the house behind, noone was injured and they've pegged the damage at around $100,000. They won't be allowed back in on their own till massive repairs are done.

What annoys me here, and this will likely offend some here but too bad, is that it was ruled "accidental" after discerning from the homeowners that a cigarette that was not stubbed out correctly fell between deck boards and onto more wood and grass at the rear of the house. They were also expanding/renovating at the time and the building materials at the back were a major cause of the fire spreading around the house the way that it did. THAT'S BS. It's negligence, it was careless and they're damn lucky that they didn't directly ruin the lives of anyone else in close proximity to their own house. They admitted fault and they're still covered. That means, just like car accidents, we'll all pay that much more when we renew our coverage next time. :angry: :angry:

Pics (Photobucket's getting size-Nazi on me lately... they're cropped too damn small for my liking):