The phone rang very early (4:35am) Sunday morning, but I didn't hear it because DS had absconded with the portable that's usually beside my bed and left it somewhere. DH heard it though, strange, very strange as he never hears anything and I am usually the light sleeper, but anyway...
The conversation was very short. I ask, who was that? He says, Sharon (Sharon?) there's a truck on fire in the yard. Now, this may sound like an emergency, but it's not really that uncommon around here. DH has a milk transport and farm machinery repair shop, little fires happen. I look out the window at the shop and see nothing. DH goes to find clothes. I pull up the shade and see flames coming out of the shop, not in the yard. I scream-"It's in the shop, not the yard!" DH doesn't answer, he's downstairs, I look again and see big flames and really start screaming. DH runs out the cellar door, jumps in his truck and is gone down the hill.
My screaming wakes up the kids and we go out onto the lawn to see DH and two employees running in the shopyard. DH breaks down a back door with his shoulder and the men rush in. The fire captain arrives from just down the road and also runs in the building. I can see the firetruck lights coming from town. I turn back around and the shop explodes. A huge ball of flames billows out of the roof and shoots hundreds of feet into the sky as the earth shakes under us like an earthquake. I am screaming at the top of my lungs and running into the driveway, but the kids are holding me back. A neighbor comes barreling across the meadow from her house, quickly followed by her husband and son out of their barn. I decide to put some pants on. Neighbor is trying to calm me down when I see the big back bay doors opening and the guys driving and throwing things out. The phone rings, it's my MIL who lives right next door. She is incoherent. I tell her who is there (driver who called, one other driver, DH, and fire chief and 2 other trucks) and that they are OK. She is still screaming. I hang up.
The building is fully engulfed now, and I am frantic. Neighbor tells me to get in her truck and drives down through the back meadow. I jump out and run into MIL's who is frantic, but says she can't look. I go to look for DH. MIL asks where my kids are and tells me to go home to them. I run home. DS12 is on his knees rocking back and forth sobbing. DS14 has DD4 in his lap on the edge of the deck and she asks very calmly, "Did Daddy burn?" I take her and try to reassure her but I am sobbing and can barely talk. The firefighters are spraying with 4 different trucks but it's not making any difference. There have been 4 more explosions by now, each one a little smaller than the last. More and more firetrucks arrive and block off the road in both directions. The ambulances start coming with their sirens on.
I take the kids and walk down to MIL's and make coffee. MIL asks DD to rock with her, and she does. I go out into the driveway and watch the business burn all the way down to the cement foundation in about one hour's time. There are 6 fire departments on the scene. FIL continues to run at the building and get pulled back by neighbors. DH is manning a hose.
It turns out that a battery on a truck in the shop for repair caught fire. Today DH spent the day demolishing the remains and picking up 4 long dumptruck beds of rubble. They are about halfway done, and snow is predicted tomorrow. The town has been wonderful, and we have more food than we could ever eat. The phone rings 5-10 times an hour with people asking what we need. There were about 10 volunteers on the demolition crew who brought in their own machinery and worked from sunup to sundown. The insurance will cover abour 2/3 of the loss. F/MIL say they don't know what they will do in terms of re-building, but everyone is so exhausted and in shock they havn't been able to have a real discussion yet.
The important thing is that no one got hurt. I really thought DH was gone. I'm sure the kids will have bad dreams once they get over the initial shock. I am just so tired and wrung out I don't feel anything anymore.
Hug your DH.
Hug your children.
Tell them that you love them.
Change your smoke detector batteries. Clean out those lint traps.
Be thankful for the little annoyances. Piles of laundry, who cares?
Stick a couple of meals in the freezer just in case someone needs them.
Appreciate your neighbors and greater community. They care more than you think.
Thank you for the good thoughts and support, I will update you when I can.
-Jo
PS. We did take DD trick-or-treating, briefly, and the entire family will vote tomorrow. If we can make it, you can make it.
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