Perspective.
The house behind ours burned to the supporting timbers last night at about 1:30. The flames took hold in minutes -- so fast, so incredibly fast.
Only the far side was on fire when I went into the backyard to see. In the time it took for me to run back to the house, secure the back door, and run out again, it had spread to the rear of the house. When the flames spread onto the roof barely a minute later, I could feel the heat on my face. After about five minutes the back of the house collapsed. No crashing, no groaning of timbers, only the roar of the flames, and that high-pitched keening sound burning wood makes sometimes. It just sagged, then sheared away and fell down in slow motion.
I did not think something so large could burn so quickly and so completely. I have seen tiny campfires that took far, far longer to burn down. There was no wind, so the flame and smoke just billowed up, and the heat shot a fountain of golden, swirling sparks fifty feet in the air or more. Beautiful and horrifying. Once the firemen got to work, the pounding water of the fire hoses and the roaring steam sounded like hooves.
The woman and her son who live there were not home, apparently, so the word so far is that nobody was hurt. Don't know what happened to their dog. I don't want to speculate too much, but a truck was seen hauling ass away from the site. It would not surprise me to learn that it was set, though that would disturb me a great deal. The thought of losing my home to fire has always terrified me.
I will go see what's left tomorrow and see if anyone has heard from the residents. Good thoughts to them. And if someone set it, I hope they catch him fast and lock him away forever.
There's a lot of crimes I can forgive because I understand them, or understand the need that drives a person to commit them. This would not be one of those. Fire is really awesome, but . . . nuh-uh. Fuck a bunch of that.
Only the far side was on fire when I went into the backyard to see. In the time it took for me to run back to the house, secure the back door, and run out again, it had spread to the rear of the house. When the flames spread onto the roof barely a minute later, I could feel the heat on my face. After about five minutes the back of the house collapsed. No crashing, no groaning of timbers, only the roar of the flames, and that high-pitched keening sound burning wood makes sometimes. It just sagged, then sheared away and fell down in slow motion.
I did not think something so large could burn so quickly and so completely. I have seen tiny campfires that took far, far longer to burn down. There was no wind, so the flame and smoke just billowed up, and the heat shot a fountain of golden, swirling sparks fifty feet in the air or more. Beautiful and horrifying. Once the firemen got to work, the pounding water of the fire hoses and the roaring steam sounded like hooves.
The woman and her son who live there were not home, apparently, so the word so far is that nobody was hurt. Don't know what happened to their dog. I don't want to speculate too much, but a truck was seen hauling ass away from the site. It would not surprise me to learn that it was set, though that would disturb me a great deal. The thought of losing my home to fire has always terrified me.
I will go see what's left tomorrow and see if anyone has heard from the residents. Good thoughts to them. And if someone set it, I hope they catch him fast and lock him away forever.
There's a lot of crimes I can forgive because I understand them, or understand the need that drives a person to commit them. This would not be one of those. Fire is really awesome, but . . . nuh-uh. Fuck a bunch of that.