it spread like wildfire

Boys were resting.
FireCracker was napping.
I headed over to a favorite shop for a little thrifting…scored this little guy that will be making another appearance on Wednesday.

I was going to go by one more shop, but thought I’d do a drive by the house. Chris was wanting to mow down the tall grass as some final yard work before spring. I wanted to make sure FireCracker was still asleep. As I drove past the house I saw Chris and FireCracker both in the back field. Bummer…guess, I’ll skip the next shop and go get her so he can finish mowing. I pulled in the driveway and left everything in the car.

As I came around the back of the house, I saw Chris jump off the mower, start running to me with our girl in his arms….yelling “Call 9-1-1! Call 911!”

Panic set in. A father running with his girl. A yell for 911. Everything stopped in that moment. Time stood still for what seemed like minutes. It was really probably only a couple of seconds before I saw the flames and realized my girl was fine, but our field was ablaze.

I called 911. “Our field is on fire!”

The wind was blowing and we stood helplessly watching the embers fly from tall grass to tall grass. In those moments, the phrase “spread like wildfire” became an experience, not a phrase. Our home was never in danger…the fire was spreading towards our neighbor’s home though. We tried all sorts of things….it spread like wildfire. We could hear the fire truck coming.

They arrived and in a matter of moments, the fire was out.

They were so wonderful to my boys…and my family. They let the boys explore the truck and wear their helmets.

Five minutes after they left I was on the phone with a friend when my oldest said, “Mom…the field is on fire again.” I told him that was not funny and we don’t joke about those things. My heart still racing. He was adamant. I looked out the window. He was right. The lawn mower ignited a different area of the field. We called 911 again.

A little extinguisher doesn’t do much, but it helped some. The neighbors began spraying down their grass with water. We waited again helplessly.

The fire department returned…in an instant they saved the rest of our field and probably our neighbor’s home.

There is charred grass where green and brown blades once stood.  My home was never in danger. My kids were never in danger. We are grateful. I’ve never known what it is like to stand helplessly watching a fire burn. I’ve never known how the sound of a firetruck is a beautiful song when flames are dancing. I am so incredibly thankful for those men that rushed to my home in a moment’s notice. I’ve thought a lot about what it would have been like if the wind was blowing in the opposite direction. If the flames were racing toward my home. What would I have grabbed from the house while the fire was still in the distance? What would have even mattered?

Chris ran with my daughter in his arms yelling 911. Our field was on fire. She was fine.

The lawnmower, filled with gasoline, didn’t explode with Chris on it. Chris was fine.

The fire never reached our neighbor’s property line. Their home was fine.

There could have been so many different outcomes to that story, but there was one. Everything was fine.

I won’t get stuck in the ‘what ifs’, but will thank God that today everything is fine….knowing that the outcome of this story is a gift.

And I am grateful.

And Firehouse #2 is getting homemade chocolate chip cookies delivered today.