Major apology! LONG!

[Guest guest]

A profuse apology to my customers! I have not been in a good state

of mind lately. I think the correct word is " paranoid " actually.

Here's what happened:

 

There have been at least 5 major fires in my little town since June

1. The first one was clear on the other side of town, and the only

reason that we noticed it was that we were in the Walmart parking

lot and we could see the smoke. We thought it was at a

restaurant/casino that we like so we went to check it out. The

first thing we saw when we got there was that our town water truck

was " imbedded " into a little car that had exploded, and all that was

left was the frame. We also found out that there were two people in

that little car. (We didn't know them personally, although my

daughter went to school with the 14 year old girl).

 

The water truck was heading for a fire that was down the street.

The little car didn't stop for the flashing lights and the water

truck, of course, was too heavy to stop. The little car exploded on

impact. This made another fire about 4 blocks from where the water

truck was trying to go. We also only have two water trucks in our

town. The first one was out of service.

 

This was on Labor Day weekend. My husband works for a cement

company who has a large water truck. His boss was out of town and

unreachable (even though he was supposed to be). It took about two

hours for my husband to contact the big boss and owner in Vegas to

get permission to take the water truck and try to help. This fire

burned 9 buildings and about 20 acres, and of course the town water

truck and the little car.

 

A week or so after that one, there was a fire about 4 blocks from my

house. We could see the flames, there were so high. My husband

again called his boss and tried to get the water truck. Nope, no

water truck, but you can use the cement trucks, filled with water,

to help.

 

I guess I can kindof understand the fire department laughing at

cement trucks arriving at a fire to help. They stopped laughing

when the realized that the trucks hold 14,000 gallons of water, and

there were 5 cement trucks. By this time, due to wind, the fire had

jumped across a main road, and was spreading. The wind was not

pushing the fire in my direction. If it wasn't for the cement

trucks, the fire would have burned so much more.

 

The loss amounted to around 40 acres, 15 structures, including

houses, and people's horses that just couldn't get out. Not to

mention my little safety net. The fire melted 5 transformers and

most of the neighborhood was without electricity.

 

Last Monday, the 13th, there was another fire around a mile from my

house. Again, the wind on the ground was not blowing in our

direction. This one they had to call HazMat for dangerous

chemicals. I think they said it was some kind of acid that, when

burned, turns into hydrochloric acid. Great. So me and my kids

were sitting in the backyard watching the airplanes and helicopters

drop stuff on this fire. The wind about 100 feet up was blowing the

smoke in our direction so we were grateful for those planes!

Although it wouldn't have helped much, I was out there with my

little water hose soaking the empty lot in back of my that connects

to my yard. It was all I could think of to do to try to save us.

 

The newspaper says that they entire county is under a state of

emergency. We just do not have the power to fight large fires, and

they are asking for Federal money to help us get a new water truck

and another fire truck (I think we only have two). Being a desert,

it hasn't rained since Spring, and the heat and wind have already

started. Not to mention people aren't really smart until it's too

late.

 

This has been the reason for my mental state since the beginning of

the month. I tried so hard to keep everyone here safe, including my

animals, that I kindof lost my perspective. My sincerest apologies

to everyone. But I am back, and I'm ok now. There hasn't been a

noticeable fire in a whole week! Groan… and my husband and family

are just fine.

 

Mary T.