I’m beginning this post with a little commercial clip that shows a glimpse of how our day went, about a month ago. The only difference was our adventure involved a “He Shed” and a lawnmower…
It was Friday, June 21, and I had a nine o’clock appointment for a mammogram. What a way to start the day, but that mammogram was only the beginning of unpleasant things to come–and that whole mammogram experience is a story for another day!
Ed decided to ride along with me for my appointment, so he was late in starting his chores that day. Friday is often “grass mowing day”, and once we got home, Ed was anxious to get started. It was already 11:30 when he started, so I asked him to stop at 12:30 so we could eat lunch.
Ed parked the lawn mower and came inside at 12:30, just like I’d asked. He quickly changed his clothes and we sat down to make sandwiches for our lunch. While making the sandwiches we heard what sounded like a car door slam. One of us asked, “What was that?”, but kept on making our lunch. A couple of minutes later, our daughter came running over from next door, yelling “Call 911, your shed’s on fire!” The look of terror on her face was something I won’t soon forget. (I later learned that our daughter thought Ed was involved the fire.)
Ed jumped up and ran outside with our daughter, while I quickly dialed 911. After I gave the information to the 911 dispatcher, I ran outside, too. I was not prepared for what I saw. Our tool shed and the adjoining shelter were already engulfed in huge flames! Flames were climbing two trees next to the shed, as well! I turned around, came back inside, and called 911 again to tell them the fire had spread to the woods, too.
The dispatcher assured me the trucks were on the way. By then, Ed had the water hose stretched out and yelled for me to turn the water on, while Brandy rushed to move our car away from the fire. (Our carport/utility house is located around twelve feet away from the burning shed). I stood powerless as I watched all of our lawn/garden equipment go up in flames. That was one HOT fire! Meanwhile, Ed kept spraying those huge flames with his garden hose. (and yes, he looked somewhat like the man with the pitiful water hose, in the State Farm commercial)
It seemed like forever, but was only ten minutes until the fire department arrived. I’ve never been so happy to see a fire truck in my whole life! A couple of fire trucks came, as well as several cars of volunteers. Friends and neighbors also began arriving to see what was going on. Within a few minutes, the fire was extinguished, and only a pile of rubble remained. Anything related to lawn/garden had been burned to a crisp!
Upon inspection, the firemen told us the fire originated with our lawnmower, where the fire had burned the hottest. It was then we realized what the explosion was that we heard while making our sandwiches! Within ten minutes after Ed had shut the mower off, it exploded and burst into flames, which leads me to believe it may have been smoldering when he parked it.
At first, we couldn’t believe how quickly this fire burned or how hot it was! When I first saw the shed, the inside of the it looked like an inferno, with flames shooting up the two massive pine trees on either side of it! Afterward, we remembered, that Ed had bought extra fuel for his mower, his tractor, and the pressure washer, and all of it was stored inside of the shed!
In retrospect, Ed and I have several things to be thankful for, to God, regarding this fire. First of all, I’ve never given Ed a time to stop mowing–ever. He always mows on his own time table. If I had I not asked him to stop, he’d have finished mowing the grass before he stopped for lunch, therefore, he could have been on the mower when it caught fire and exploded (with a full tank of gas).
Next, we are thankful that our daughter is vigilant, and has a little dog who barks at everything. It was because of Jack she went outside to investigate the explosion and subsequent noises that quickly followed, therefore discovering the fire before it had a chance to spread.
Third, we are thankful for our fire department, who was able to respond so quickly and efficiently! Thanks to them, the fire was contained and extinguished quickly. From the time Ed shut off the mower until the time the fire department finished their work and drove away, was exactly one hour.
At first, Ed was a bit bummed about losing his “He Shed”. He lost a very large collection of garden tools (many of them special because his daddy had given them to him). He lost several grills, a smoker, several ladders, a wheel barrow, a garden wagon, and a lot more. Of course, the most important [and expensive] item he lost was his zero turn lawnmower.
Fortunately, Ed was able to find and purchase a new lawnmower within a week of the fire. (The frantic search for a new mower would also make another good post!) So far, he’s mowed the grass two or three times with the new, bigger and better mower, and he really seems to really like it.
Recently, after exploring all options, Ed decided to replace his “He Shed” with a pre-built “Handi House”. The house was delivered yesterday, and Ed’s already beginning to make it his own. I guess we’ll call it “Ed’s Handy House”.
They say, “all’s well that ends well.” Thankfully, nobody was hurt in our fire, it didn’t spread far, and the shed was insured–although filing an insurance claim could cause a person to have a ‘stress induced’ heart attack! Ed’s still in the process of replacing items and filing, but life is slowly getting back to normal. Normal is good!
Reflections...by Kathy 