Just another electrical summer fire

3 years ago

And to tell you the truth, I'm quite tired of it. I'm too old.

After all was over we started LOL at the chaos but my adrenaline is still running high. I gotta start from the beginning. Temps got up to 99 today, a great day for wheat harvest because it's ready. And it makes such a good fire. Because of the high heat I didn't let the cat out to play until around 6pm, she'd come in before bedtime.

While DH and I were fixing dinner in the kitchen, a very high wind began because storms were trying to form and the power was doing the weirdest flashing I'd ever seen over and over. Not once did I hear a clap of thunder close by and I told DH that too, but I needed to get kitty inside. The front door was closed, and right before I opened it I told DH how bad summer storms can be because of lightning.

I open the door and the first thing I see is a tallish fire right across the road under a electric pole that sits between our's and DS's driveways. Ripe wheat was on the other side of the pole, our cedar trees across the road. Wind was about 45mph.

I ran to tell DH and I don't look old but I sure ran like an old lady to the kitchen, screaming "There's a fire! There's a fire!" DH comes out of the kitchen running to the front door, I call 911. Panicking I said we have a fire, she ask the address and I gave it to her. Then I gave her DH's name. Once again she asks me for our address. And again I told her. Then I said, "Just call our town's volunteer fire department, they all know where we live!" Because most are friends. :) Plus, one of the guys is building a house about 3/4 of a mile away, he'll be our closest neighbor & of course he showed up before the trucks got here. I actually hung up on her. I mean there's a fire and she wants me to hang out with her? Uh, NO.

An oil guy was driving up the road and bless him, he got out and helped with the hoses. In the meantime I was doing my old lady running around gathering my purse to set next to the door when I heard DS on the patio hollering "Mom, let me in!" and I ran to the back door. They saw the fire from their house behind us. Even my grandkids saw it but they thought it was neat. Kids. Can't help but love them.

Thank goodness our dirt road was dry for the trucks to zoom down with sirens blazing as if there was traffic. lol. People did show up though, small town, word gets around.

By this time the fire had traveled a quarter of a mile to the creek, and the smoke was so heavy I don't know yet if it crossed it, I doubt it, the guys were on top of it.

Here are some pics, the guy down at the road on the left side in the dark is DS with the house, while the big tanker trucks were in the wheat field and the rest of the area.

I wasn't able to get the big part of the fire that started across the road because I was too busy running around like my head was cut off. My men and the oil guy got that part put out. These pics aren't that impressive because the big stuff next to us had passed.

First pic is the road to the creek. I also have no idea if any wheat got damaged because it got dark and I had to lighten the pictures. I sure hope not.

DS's driveway, I took all pics from the porch.

The fire started at the pole you see below. We don't know yet what got hit first but we all have power. That's DS putting out hot spots in the back left of picture.

I can't show anymore pics, people I know are in them but trust me when I say, that fire got HIGH and spread fast, and once again my mouth went dry. Don't call me if there's an emergency, I always told myself I'd be great during one, but I'm totally worthless.

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Comments (16)

Fun2BHere
3 years ago
Wow! Glad you are safe!
Sandplum1
3 years ago
I wonder how far apart we are, Oakley. I just went out to get my purse out of my truck when I noticed lightning. Hope it lightens up before it gets to us.
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chispa
3 years ago
It probably wasn't lightning. The big fires here in CA started with winds causing the power lines to arc, and those sparks started the fires. You might want to have your power poles checked.
mindshift
3 years ago
Actually, you handled it as well as anyone. You immediately called your DH, then you called 911. Other people in the area stopped to help, which made it unnecessary for you to go out and fight the flames.

Decades ago, I was off from work when a man came to my front door asking me to call the fire department. At that time I lived in a rural area that was wooded pasture, so as soon as I was off the phone I grabbed a shovel and went to help. The wildfire originated with burning construction debris. The grass around the burn was short but dry. The fire was small but spreading, and I didn't know where I should concentrate my effort. When the fire hit some tall grass in the creek it roared and took off upstream. Fortunately, the volunteer fire dept arrived and made short work of it all. I also felt useless. My point is everyone does the best he/she can in an emergency. Afterwards we second-guess ourselves.
gsciencechick
3 years ago
Wow, Oakley, that is crazy! So glad you are all safe.
tannatonk23_fl_z9a
3 years ago
Oh my, fire is my worst nightmare. So glad you are all okay. I can just imagine your fear. We lived in cattle/wheat country in Montana for a long time and those summer fires will show you the meaning of wildfire! It’s absolutely terrifying to see a wall of fire racing across the prairie. Thank God for our volunteer fire departments and common sense country folks. Keep an eye out for hot spot, Oakley. Stay safe.
DLM2000-GW
3 years ago
Oakley you have all the fun - mice, snakes, fire......what's next, locusts? 😉 Glad all is well and you had a fast response.
OutsidePlaying
3 years ago
Glad you saw it in time for it to not get worse. Sounds like you had a fast response too, and glad all is well now. Wow!
schoolhouse_gwagain
3 years ago
I think you handled it well!
graywings123
3 years ago
Did you get your kitty inside safe?
Tina Marie
3 years ago
Scary. We had a barn fire here last week, thankfully no people or animals were hurt. Glad your fire was outside! This is hay season here but I cannot remember ever the wheat catching on fire. It's standard procedure for 911 to keep you on the line until the first responders get there.
pudgeder
3 years ago
Thank goodness y'all are okay!! Those wildfires are nothing to mess with.

Gotta love the volunteer FD!!!
Oakley
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks! If you were to look at the damage today after reading what I wrote, you'd think I was some crazy lady. It's just straight ditch burn because our farmers, maybe most of them go around the perimeters of a field with a tractor and disc blade to keep a nice row of dirt between the wheat and fence lines. It worked great last night!

Chispa, DH suggested the same thing you did, and later today I'm going to take a picture of the pole from bottom to top and look at it on the pc to see the exact area where the fire started. It was at that pole, other poles are good.

Sandplum! When I became a country girl is when I learned about sandplums in ditches and then the great sandplum jelly/jams. I'm in central OK, west of OKC. The storms tried to begin right over us but went a bit south and formed.

Gray, my kittty got royally put out with me. She must have hid in the garage during the ruckus and it was around 11 pm she walked to the door to come in. I always pick her up and she expects it, but we were once again getting high winds from being behind new storms and I had to hold the door so it wouldn't blow open. I reached down with one hand to grab her, she backed away and I ended up pulling a big chunk of hair off her back. She.was.mad. and wouldn't come inside until 8 this morning. lol

Tina, in our situation she was only ten miles away in another rural town and had all the info she needed. Staying put during a rural fire would be the worst thing anyone could do. If the wind shifted just a little bit, the cedar trees would have spread the fire to the garage, then the house. With this being rural, the firefighters get called at home, most live in the country like we do, a few in town, they have to dress, and bring the trucks. It took them about 10-15 minutes for the tanker trucks which go in the fields to get here. Also, being small town, just say go to Oakley's house and they'd know where to go. Was it your barn that burnt?

I'll be so glad when the wheat is cut and the fields turned over.
nutsaboutplants
3 years ago
That must have been scary. Glad it all ended well.
Olychick
3 years ago
Scary, I'm sure. Glad all, including kitty are safe!
blfenton
3 years ago
I'm so glad everyone is safe. What a scary time for you though.

Just another electrical summer fire

Comments (16)

Fun2BHere

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Just another electrical summer fire

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