How I almost burned our house down this weekend

Imagine a 12x10 dirt hole. In the hole, imagine about 3-4 feet worth of dead leaves, brush and sticks. This dead stuff has been sitting for about 2 years...becoming more and more dry an dead. Imagine the hole surrounded by trees and a quasi-dead willow tree. Imagine the hole and its trees about 10 feet from the chicken house and 25 feet from the house. Imagine the entire area covered in dead leaves from said trees.

It all burned. It all burned and could have created a larger fire that could have burned our house and entire property down.

Why? Because I was distracted and stupid.

On Saturday, we burned a huge pile of leaves on the driveway. On Sunday morning, I started picking up the ashes. I did a quick sweep of my hand across the ashes and did not feel any heat. I did not probe further and loaded the ashes up and dumped them in the pit.

We go on a hike on the land behind our property. As we are hiking, we note a plume of smoke right near our house. We think it must be our neighbors burning leaves. I don't think about the ashes. We continue on the hike and note as the smoke continues but doesn't spread. We joke: "it could be our house on fire."

About four hours later we return from the hike. As I approach our property, I see that the smoke is not coming from either side of our house but from our house. I run across our neighbors field and jump the fence. The leaves, brush and sticks are a smoking black pile. A wave of nausea hits me as I run up to the hole and can feel the heat. I frantically grab the garden house (thankfully we have a spigot from the well back there) and start spraying. I then note all the dead leaves that a perched precariously close to the smoldering pit and grab a rake and start raking the leaves away from the fire.

The trunks and leaves of the trees are singed.

The Hubby arrives. The Hubby is...well, there is no real way to articulate the look on someone's face in this moment. Not happy? Terrified? Enraged? D, all of the above?

The 13-year old boy we mentor is with us as is another friend. This is not a 'mentoring' moment but a stressful and scary moment.

We grab shovels and start working to the fire out. Or, rather, I should say, put the smoldering fire out. The shit had already burned - big time - and now we were faced preventing the fire from igniting underground in the roots of the trees or igniting the area around the pit. Our neighbors, who were doing work outside, noted that "yup, it was really going for a while." Yet they had assumed that we were around and were tending the fire. Um. No.

I trudge into the pit and turn over the smoldering fire as our kiddo embraces the role of "operator of the hose." And yes, this all did create a mentoring moment: do not underestimate ashes, fucko! (I did not use any expletives, btw)

It is amazing in a circumstance like this what your body will do. Our hike had been grueling, lots of scampering and hand-over-foot and scree. I was exhausted and very hungry. Yet, once in the moment of 'fuck fuck fuck it is all going to burn,' I got the most incredible adrenalin high. I worked for about five hours nonstop putting out the fire, raking and clearing the leaves around the area, trudging through the smoldering pile and, generally, freaking out.

This also has channeled an inner Catholic or something in me because I have the strongest need to 'repent from my sins.' I suppose almost burning the house that is, in so many ways, your most perfect notion of a home will do that.

No, I did not sleep too well last night and the first thing I did this morning was to look for signs of smoke. Thankfully, it was very cool last night and, as the Hubby noted, the 80,000 gallons of water I poured into the pit and hours of work helped too.