Fourth of July Fire

Holy bajeebers. I was wishing Grant a happy birthday yesterday morning and he told me that at 3 a.m., his house was on fire! They had put their fireworks debris into their trashcan and set it in its normal place outside by the garage wall. Several hours later, they woke up smelling smoke. Their house guest banged on their bedroom door, yelling, "Fire!"

He got his family of six plus their guest out of the house, called 911 and got out a hose. The gas meter was spewing fire like a flamethrower and the electrical box was sparking and on fire as well. The flames went all the way up to the rafters, but luckily they have just reshingled their roof with composite shingles that don't burn easily, so they weren't catching fire.

The fire department got there in 9 minutes. He says "...the 9 longest minutes ever, while you're wetting your burning house with a garden hose."

Now there's a 15-foot hole in their garage and a sooty, wet mess and their house smells like burned tires. It could have been worse and thank God they and their kids got out without any injuries. Scary!

The fire department told him that you always want to douse all your fireworks debris in a bucket of water before throwing it away. Great advice!

In somewhat related great advice- Don't see The Heat. It's not that funny. You're welcome.