When I picked the kids up this evening, I needed to drop by a friend’s house so we took the route we normally would have taken to the townhouse. As we drove along pointing out Christmas lights, I noticed we were coming up on something a bit worrisome. About two feet away from the road, behind the guard rail, in a very wooded area, there was a small fire. I’m not sure how it started, but my guess would be a discarded cigarette from a passing vehicle. Thankfully it wasn’t close to any houses, but I noticed that the area that was burning was dried leaves, which meant it would start spreading quickly.

I pulled over as soon as I had the chance and dialed 911. The kids thought it was the coolest thing as I answered the operator’s questions, and turned the car around to get a better look at the fire. When we passed it again, it had started to grow. We pulled into the closest road where we could still see the fire, but we wouldn’t be in the way and we waited for the fire trucks to show up. The kids thought it was awesome when they pulled up and started unwinding their hoses. Within a couple of minutes the fire was out, which was good because it had grown to about 5 times its original size.

The kids asked a gazillion questions about fires, fire trucks, etc and it was fun to let them watch it all unfold. I’m very grateful it wasn’t in a very residential area and that the fire department responded so quickly. The kids couldn’t wait to tell all about their adventure when we got home. 🙂

It’s such a bad picture, but it had gotten so dark out.