The Story Behind The Fire

I think most of my followers are also friends with me on FB.  Just in case anyone missed what happened on Sunday I thought I would share it here on my blog. 

It was a normal, busy Sunday morning.  We got the kids up, fed, dressed, and loaded into the van to head to church.  We chatted about normal things, and about 15 minutes into the drive our windshield wipers randomly turned on.  Then other weird things started happening, and we heard a clicking noise.  I remember thinking "Oh great, car problems".  We then saw smoke coming out of the dash, so R pulled off onto the side of the freeway.  He popped the hood got out and didnt see anything smoking there.  As he was getting back into the van he saw that the fuse box was smoking (down by where his leg was), and there were flames coming out of it.  We got the kids out of the van, as we were standing there, even though R had the keys in his hand and the the van was off, it all the sudden started on its own!  Thats when we really backed up and started getting out of the way.  R had the sense of mind to grab my purse and our GPS (THANK GOD).  I was busy worrying about the kids and keeping them safe from the freeway.  He handed me my purse and told me to call 911.  I made the call and handed the phone to R to have him tell them where we were.  We saw a bunch of smoke and started getting as far as we could away from the van.  Within a couple of minutes there was lots of smoke billowing out the windows and then the flames started leaping out.  We stood there both shocked and nervous as we waited for the fire truck.  The flames started REALLY shooting out and across two lanes of traffic.  We were scared that the van would blow up before the rescue workers got there, people were still driving past it, flames and all.  The girls were both crying and I actually at one point in time had to grab Blondies face and tell her to breathe!  It was all happening really fast, and it was rather surreal to stand there and watch your vehicle that your were JUST IN go up in a blazing inferno, in just a matter of minutes.  The fire department arrived and put the fire out.  They came over and gave the kids stickers.  Some cops asked us questions.  They wanted to know if we had someone who could pick us up.  Our options were limited since most of our friends were on their way to church like we were!  My Aunt and Uncle answered the phone and said they would come (they are the best).  The Fire Department wanted to get us off the freeway.  They asked if we would mind riding in the ambulance to the fire station to wait for our ride.  We said of course we wouldnt.  The kids thought it was pretty great (so did I).  They had a seat belt for all of us and R was the last one in so he got to ride on the stretcher buckled to that, HAHAHA!  It kind of funny! 

Come to find out they ended up closing down the freeway and re-routing traffic while getting our mess all cleaned up!  We created some drama!  Anyway, they took us to the fire house, all I have to say is the fire department workers were awesome!  They gave the kids little paper doll firemen and some coloring sheets.  They showed George the fire trucks and let him try the coats on.  They also gave us a tour.  After R left with my relatives (he went home to pick up our Suburban since my Aunt and Uncle didnt have car seats), they let the kids watch cartoons on their tv.  I was very impressed.

Anyway, that was our exciting Sunday morning!  We're praising God for his protection and perfect timing in everything.  When we were on our way to church that evening we saw that just a mile or two down the road there was road construction.  All along the road there were concrete barriers, which would have hindered us from being able to safely pull over had it happened there instead!  We talked about it and decided we would have tried to keep driving till we were past the barriers.  Which would NOT have been safe as the fire got bad fast.  Makes me shudder to think about what COULD have happened, but didnt.

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Much less serious note, but something I want to remember, is sending our boy off to camp.  Hes been so excited about it, counting down the days and getting ready for his week away.  I took him to the church to meet up with everyone else, bright and early this morning.  I didnt cry when saying good-bye, but if I hadnt felt kind of stupid about being weepy in front of everyone, Im sure I would have.  He was so sweet sitting in the van beside his little church buddy and waving at me till he couldnt see me any more, all the while having a big happy grin on his face.  I have been drilling him on what the name of our church group is, his counselors name, what he needs to bring with him to shower, NOT to go in the water without a life jacket (he can swim, but barely, and has much more confidence in his ability than he should), to obey his counselor, how much money he can spend at the candy shack each day, etc.  My mommy heart worries. 

The house already seems much quieter and emptier without him.  I think the whole family will be so happy to see him again on Saturday!