I Did NOT Remain Calm

When I went to go pick up Alyse from her class this morning at church, her teacher told me that they had "talked about people in our community who help people, like firemen! "

"Oh, really?" I replied. "Did you talk about police men like Daddy?"

Her teacher said, "Not really. We basically talked about firemen...."

Little did I know that she was preparing her for events that would happen later in the day!

It was about 3pm and Josh and I were relaxing watching a little Law and Order off the DVR. Alyse was suppose to be sleeping, but had just ended up in bed between us since there wasn't much sleeping going on in her crib.

There was a very loud knock at our door. Josh and I looked at each other and I said, "Um...why does that knock scare me?" Josh got up, went in and got his gun, and told me to stay in our room. He walked out of our room and I sat waiting for him to come back in. A minute or so later, he walks in, puts his gun away and starts to change out of his comfy clothes and into work jeans and an old tshirt. I asked him what he was doing. He said, "Well....don't freak out on me! I am going out to our backyard. There is a fire."

Now, if you know me, you know that I have a not so small fear of fire!!!

"What!", I yelled as he walked out our bedroom door.

"Stephanie. It's ok. Call 911. I have to go outside now. Just remain calm." He said, with this super calm voice.

I rushed to our window and looked out into our backyard.

I saw flames in our backyard, our neighbor's backyard, and a few had started to spread into the next backyard. My heart started to beat out of my chest.

By the time Josh got back to the woods where the flames were, I realized that the flames were bigger than him. (He is 6ft 3.)

I, my friends, did NOT remain calm.

I started to pull myself together, said a little prayer, and picked up the phone to dial 911.

Fire, Police, or Medic?

FIRE!

-------- County Fire, how can I help you?

There is a fire in my backyard. You may have gotten a phone call by now, but I wasn't sure.

What is your address?

I told her our address as calmly as I could.

Yes, I believe we have gotten a phone call about this. Is it the fire in the woods in (name of our neighborhood)?

Yes. That is it.

We do have help on the way, Ma'am. Can you tell me how big the fire is now?

Well, it's about 3 backyards long. I can't tell how wide it is.

Ok, well it sounds like it is spreading. I will let them know. Just please remain calm and know that they will get there as soon as they can.

Thank you, I will.

Ok, please call us back if you need anything else.

Thank you.

Click

I then walked to the back door to check on things. Josh was now pointing here and there and telling a number of our neighbors what to do.

I started to look around and put my "Fire Plan" into action.

(Oh, yes! I have a fire plan. It consist of me grabbing my child, the dog, the cat, and everything else I can get a hold of, putting it in my car in the garage, and driving away.)

I started to get Alyse dressed and was grabbing things when Josh walked by the back door on his way to the garage to get our hose.

He stopped and asked, "What are you doing?"

I yelled, "Getting Alyse dressed and packing! We have a fire plan!"

He just rolled his eyes at me and told me that he didn't think that was necessary.

I started to calm myself down again and then watched him as he continued to get together hoses from the neighbors, and jump into action. (I also called my friend Joy because I needed someone to talk to!)

Soon 3 firetrucks showed up and the firemen started to get to work.

It did not take long and soon the flames were gone and everything was wet and smokey.

The firemen stayed around for a little while, and now everything is fine.

There is a lot of ashes and burnt grass and trees, but nothing was seriously damaged.

Here are some pictures of the backyard (well, actually that is my neighbor's backyard) and my hero, Josh! They aren't the best because you know I wasn't going out there!