I had to work dayshift today to make deliveries and there were remarkably very few so I wound up walking around bs'ing with the cashiers. I was chatting with one of them when I heard something on the scanner one of my department managers was wearing about a fire north of Chico on 101.
Hmm, I live on 101 north of Chico. I asked him where it was and he said he did'nt know, but it was big because they called in help from 2 other fire departments. The winds were gusting 20-35mph. I deciced it was time to go to lunch!
I work about 15 miles from home. I could see the smoke from work. I hauled bellybutton towards the house. On the way I called my phone to see if the answering machine would pick up. It went straight to voice mail. I floored it.
As I got closer there was no doubt it was on my place. The DPS had a roadblock set up and I blew past it on the wrong side of the road. It was like driving in a fog bank heading up my driveway. The first thing I saw was 3 firetrucks around my house and roaring flames 30 - 40 feet in the air from the woods that surrounds it.
Luckily, the house was still standing. I ran to the well house and turned on the 150 ft hose I have. It was burned into about 5 feet from the wellhouse. I ran and grabbed 2 5 galon gas cans and started filling them with water. I noticed a guy standing around taking pictures but I did'nt have time to jack with him. As I was filling the cans a second time he walked over and took one to help fight the fire. He later introduced himself (I already forgot his name) and said he was from The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. You will probably see me in there tomorrow.
I called my Brother-In-Law and asked him to bring me all the hoses he had. He showed up with 100ft and we started working thru the trees. 4 1/2 hours later the fire was out.
All the underpinning was melted away. My phone lines were crispy. My antenna pole bent over from the heat. My DirecTv coax was fried. 5 windows along the back of the house cracked from the flames. My brushhog was burnt to a crisp. My air compressor is toast. My air conditioner is cooked.
But not 1 scorch, burn or bubbled paint on the house it's self.
About 100 acres of my place went up and around 50 more on the place next to mine. The fire started when my neighbor to the south left a live wire hanging from a broken light socket.
I hope he's got
GREAT insurance!
Here's a couple pics I snapped with my phone after things kinda settled down. Excuse the poor quality, I was kinda pre-occupied.
