Hero in Our Midst

Our calm and quiet Sunday ended with some excitement. The baby and I were outside in the front yard, watering the water poor plants, sweating in the still hot and humid air, while the little kids were inside getting ready for bed after enjoying an extended 9pm bedtime. No one else was outside in the cul-de-sac, as all of our neighbors were still away at their cabins, and the houses across the street were quiet as the little kids who lived there had been put to bed long ago. Besides the random noises made by my baby as he played on the porch, it was wonderfully quiet, with only the occasional pop of fireworks as they were lit by the teenage boys at the top of the hill.

Suddenly, as I was minding my own business, dumping out the kiddie pool (a.k.a. mosquito breeding haven), the teenage boys up the road came screeching down the hill in their "cool" black little car. They recklessly parked in front of our house and went running through our neighbor's yard. Here I am, annoyed as all heck, thinking,"By golly, you would have run over one of my kids if they had been out here with me" and wondering if they were trying to break into our neighbor's house while they were away. Dummy I am, did not even notice that only 30 feet away from me, my neighbor's boat was on fire!

Finding no one at home, one boy quickly called 911 from his cell phone as the other ran around the side of the house looking for a hose. I ran inside with, "The neighbor's boat is on fire! Can you please help?" My husband, thinking I was just overreacting, ran outside behind me, along with a trail of little Zajacs. Seeing 10 foot high flames where only 2 foot flames had been just moments before, things did not look good. Bob grabbed a hose from the other side of the house, and he and the teenage boy set to work battling the blaze as we waited for what seemed like an eternity for the fire fighters to arrive.

The beautiful boat was burning so fast, the fire so hot, and literally only 2 feet from the garage wall. I called our neighbors with the news......luckily, they were on their way home, and only 10 minutes away. Bob said it had gotten so hot, that he thought they would have to just give up and let it go. But he also knew that if they stopped, the house would surely go next. So they pressed on, and I stood by, so afraid that something horrible, like the gas tank exploding, was going to befall on my helping husband.

Bob and the boy had the boat in a mostly smoldering position when the fire trucks(all 5) finally arrived. That's when I finally could think clearly enough to grab my camera. Our neighbors pulled in a few minutes later.....what a way to end a 10 day vacation. Bob went in and took a neb, but seemed to be fine. Jonny hovered on the porch, afraid to go to bed. Melissa thought the whole scene was "cool". In hindsight, I never want my husband to fight a burning blaze again. Our neighbors thanked us, and offered to do the same for us some day. Goodness, I hope it won't come to that!

We have a renewed sense of urgency to clean up our house, get rid of all the clutter, and make things more safe. The kids are on board with this plan, and we are going to start cleaning tomorrow with renewed fervor.

Interesting point: fireworks were found next to the boat. I'm not connecting any dots here, but it does make one wonder what exactly caused this little accident.