Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Save the Dresses First!

It is spring time in Georgia! Everything all around us is in bloom and it is so beautiful! Lovely flowers, blooming trees and shrubs! And the smell of the flowers is a true gift to the senses.

Yesterday, I smelled a different kind of smell - though not offensive - it wasn't a smell I associate with spring. Our neighbors were burning leaves. Not entirely surprising - as we, too, usually wait til spring to burn leaves. Seems like the trees all around our property wait til winter is over before completely shedding their leaves, so why bother to rake them up if you are just going to have to do it again, right?

So, when I got a whiff of the burning leaves yesterday, I simply enjoyed it. Who doesn't enjoy the smell of burning leaves? Then, this morning, I again got a whiff of the same scent. After a few hours, I kind of half-heartedly noticed that the smoke was getting thicker, the smell stronger. A short while later, the dogs started barking as though they were upset. I yelled at them to be quite and went about my sewing. A few minutes later I heard sirens, and thought, "Hmmmm .... hope it's not my neighbors leaves going out of control."

And before I knew it, I was surrounded by firetrucks!
In front of the house;
Around the side of the house;
The other side of the house;
Our neighbors driveway;
The road going by our house;
And yet one more came to park at the side of the  house.

This is not including the ones in yards and driveways of other neighbors, which I didn't get pic's of!
 They had fortunately arrived in the nick of time, as apparently, while I was busy enjoying the scent of 'leaves burning', those burning leaves were getting closer and closer to our property.
By this time, I was outside on the deck, camera in hand, clicking away, all the while thinking, "Put the damn thing out already!!" Ofcourse, I was also concerned about any people who may have been injured, and I knew they have a dog, who I was very concerned about as well.

But as the flames grew bigger and closer -
I began to wonder if I should start to quickly evacuate! But soon, they seemed to have things under control, flames subdued, leaving nothing but ashes and smoke.

The firemen - and women! - kept very close watch on it for a couple hours atleast. I spoke with one of the fire chiefs, and learned that it had indeed started as a leaf fire, but quickly got out of control with the brisk breeze we had, and had ignited an illegal home 'dump site', which had fueled the fire to spread.

I was so very thankful to these hard working firefighters for taking over my yard and using it for a 'base station' against the fire which could have been devasting for many.

 Fortunately, nobody was hurt. The family dog was fine as well.

I did learn a couple lessons today.
Listen to danger signs: Too much smoke, incessant barking, sirens coming closer . . . .

Interesting what goes through your head when evacuation seems eminent. My first thoughts were, "SAVE THE DRESSES!!"

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