The weather has been beautiful the last few days – in the high 60’s to low 70’s. Since Toby took Friday off, he decided to get some fence work done on the old Morgan place near Comanche (our last home). He took Bo and a kid from our church with him in order to get lots done. Jesse went to town to do some last minute Christmas shopping. My plan was to stay home and get some work done and then go to Comanche and get lunch and take it out to the boys. As I drove into Comanche, I passed two fire trucks headed east. I got that sinking feeling in my stomach because I knew that Toby had taken the welder, and it has been awfully dry this winter. I just made a U-turn and headed to the old place. I actually beat the fire trucks there because they turned down the section road too early.
Toby has set fire to pastures before, but this one was really scary. There have been some major fires in our area lately due to the dry winter and high winds. Fortunately there was no wind on Friday or we could have set the whole county on fire. If any of you saw the national news coverage of the fires near Velma, Ok, (the Sunday after Thanksgiving) you know how bad they can be. Those fires burned about 10,000 acres and destroyed about 16 homes – mostly mobile homes. Those fires were only about 4 miles east of us, and they made CNN.
Because the day was calm and the fire trucks arrived quickly, they were able to contain the fire to about four acres. Most of that was thick brush that needed burning (maybe not right now) making the flames shoot up over six feet in the air. Everyone was okay – no one was hurt. Hearts were racing, but all was fine.
When everything calmed down, I learned that Bo had been welding while Toby and James pounded t-post into the ground. With Bo’s gimpy knee (knee surgery a few weeks ago), he was not able to move very fast. They had not set up water buckets or shovels or any other fire fighting devices needed while welding. Once the fire started, it just got away from Bo before he could find anything to put it out with. It burned along the bar ditch near the wheat, but when it hit the tall native grass, it was more than Toby and the boys could handle.
Later that evening Jesse confessed that she had been making herself some eggs with little smokies. She set a plate on the stove while she heated up the smokies in the skillet. She said that when she put the smokies over on the plate, they continued to sizzle. She had put the plate on the burner, but forgotten to turn off the fire under the plate. She managed to not burn herself or the house, but it worries me that she is following in her Dad and brother’s footsteps.
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