16 September 2010

Early morning Fireworks

This morning we were awoken by what sounded like fireworks going off very close by. Which would have been a little odd anyway given it was 4.30am on a Thursday morning. Instead, Mark opened our bedroom curtains to see this:


He said Meg quick call the fire brigade there's a fire across the road. I fumbled under the bed to find our spare phone and put in an emergency call which brought 2 fire engines within about 10 minutes.

But it was a long wait. Watching this.


A hot wait. Feeling the heat of the flames reaching even into our bedroom.


A scary wait. I found myself praying hard out for God's protection on our house (10 metres away) and everyone in our little street. From our vantage point, we could see that many of the people who live in our cul-sac had taken to the street to watch the blaze.


The  garage quickly burnt to a shell which then partially collapsed, teetering precariously against the garage next door.


By this stage the fire brigade had arrived and were dousing the garage with 2 hoses. It took about 10 minutes to get most of the flames under control, made more difficult by the fact that fire seemed to be stemming from the far back corner of the garage (which is on poles anyway), so it made it very difficult to get the water to that part of the garage.

I was due to get up at 5.40am for a run, and needless to say there was no chance of getting back to sleep before then. The noise of the fire engine right outside pumping water was enough on its own without the adrenaline that was still coursing and hearts beating a little faster than usual. We climbed back into bed and lay awake watching the flashing red lights of the fire engine reflecting on our ceiling. Also Thanking God.

Daylight came. And with it the full extent of the damage. The firemen stayed for over 2 hours, checking and making sure everything was fully put out. This photo was about 6.45am.


Mark took his turn to go out for a run after I got back, and on his return managed to catch up with Alison (an ex-colleague of mine who lives across the street and owns the garage). She and her partner Mike were out in the street also assessing the damage. This is what is left of her partner's rather nice BMW parked in the garage, and a new scooter (well new to them) just purchased yesterday (of all days).



The fire engine left about 7.00am and by the time we left at 7.45am for work and daycare, a fire investigator was already on the scene. Tonight when we got home the garage the car and bike were gone and the garage had been pulled down into a pile of rubble.

Thankfully both our little boys remained blissfully asleep, unaware of how eventfully the morning had started. Although Noah was very intrigued when he got up and we explained what had happened, and it made for a good teaching lesson about what you do in an emergency, calling 111 and asking for whichever help you need.

The rest of these photos are courtesy of Alison later in the day via Facebook:










2 comments :

PaisleyJade said...

Wowsers! What a shocking blaze - so sad about the vehicles too - but glad no one was hurt!

Tracey Easte said...

WOW, that must have been pretty frightening - amazing, and thankfully, that no one was hurt.Good thing you saw and were able to call the fire engines.

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