“Fire And Rain” song by JAMES TAYLOR
Talk about more stress!!!!! The next day, after my mammo results, I was in such shock to think I could have cancer. I didn’t feel good and I was very bewildered about my mammo results. I kept thinking what the heck was I going to do if I have cancer???
It was Saturday and I kept myself busy doing yard work. My husband and I just finished laying down fresh new bark dust. I took a shower and my daughter thought it would be a good idea for me to get out of the house and decided to take me out for dinner. Ray was exhausted with all the yard work and had some unfinished work at his job and so he stayed home.
Kelsey and I left the house around 7:25 pm and headed out to a restaurant. BJ’s was mobbed. We ordered and all of a sudden, I get a text from Ray stating, “House behind us on fire!” I text him back, “What, a kitchen fire or BBQ fire?” I told Kels and I really didn’t think much about it. Then a few minutes later, I get a call from my neighbor, Lisa, asking where I was and her husband said the house behind our house in a flag lot was on fire. I then get a text from Ray, “House burned down behind us, GONE!”
Okay, that is it! I freaked. It was around 100 degrees which is way not normal for the Northwest. My daughter saw the look on my face and I freaked and yelled, “The house behind us is on fire!” We started getting our stuff together right at the same time our food arrived to our table. We told the nice gentleman we have to leave NOW and if he can pack our food up in a hurry. We paid, grabbed the food and ran out the door to the car.
As I am driving, I am now getting a ton of texts from the neighbors. My daughter was smart and told me to take the back route home because probably the main roads would be closed and she was right.
We entered our subdivision through the back route and you could smell the smoke. You should have seen all the people out in the streets. Some people were worried if they were going to have to evacuate the subdivision.
We drove up to our house and Oh My Gosh! I just about had a heart attack. This is our house with the house behind ours on fire. The house on fire is in a flag lot with 5 other homes surrounding the house. Everyone in the neighborhood thought our house was on fire.
While Kels and I were out for dinner, this is what Ray was doing, trying to keep the fire away from our house. The video is only 2 minutes long, but it gets freaky near the end when windows get blown out and the firefighter yelling for water to be turned on. There were 5 other homes that had damage and one of the homes, the family had to move out for 2 months because their house also caught fire and another house had windows blown out. Our house was the ONLY house that did not have any damage or smoke damage. We were blessed.
If I was home, I would have had a heart attack. Ray said if I was home, he would have had me up on the upper deck with a water hose trying to put out the fire. I strongly believe Ray and a neighbor saved our house by using our garden hoses that kept the fire at bay. Ray had to use his shirt over his nose and mouth because of the smoke. He kept wondering when the firefighters were coming. Because of the heat and winds, there were 75 firefighters and 10 fire engines along with a fire truck with a ladder.
More pictures of of the house on fire: 
