Broken Tree & Fires in Houses

While off on our trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway, the storm tore the branch off the tree that is in front of my parking space. Power up and down the main highway is out in both directions. When we get inside the house to drop off our groceries, the power flickers on after a moment. We head back outside to remove the tree branch.

It was a pretty impressive branch to be sure… Dad then got his bow saw and cut the smaller branches off the tree before ripping the rest off the tree trunk. He pulls the pieces out of the road then starts towards the house. He looks to the left, stops, then starts forward.

Our neighbor’s house was on fire.

He yells at me to call 911 and dash into the house, my flip flops sliding on the muddy ground. Dad throws the bow saw and runs to the front door, slamming his fists against it, yelling at anyone inside. I grab my phone and run back out. The emergency operator is nonchalent with a Southern twang and Valley Girl way of speaking of, “Alrighty, they’re on their way. Have a good day.” The fire battelon chief is there in under three minutes as a small orange flame flickers out the kitchen window. Smoke is pouring around the window. The fire chief takes his time prepping.

The fire trucks take forever to appear. And when they do, there are six of them. Smoke is coming out from around both doors and all the windows now. The firefighters move slow, the fire is burning leisurely.

In the end, the neighbor lady had left the oven on when she left. The power must have gone out shortly afterwards. When the power came back on, the oven sparked and set the wall on fire. Outside their backdoor lies their burned oven and crispy pieces of wall. I believe it was all about timing and a miracle from God that Dad and I happened to have just arrived home when the power returned. So thank God for that fallen tree branch!