Let me explain.
I spent the whole day yesterday raking leaves & fallen branches from underneath the pine trees which line Eric & Michelle's driveway. It has been many years since they were cleared & some parts of leaf litter were up to 4 feet deep. I started many small fires to clear the piles, all of which smoked away merrily without producing too much flame.
Although it was hard work it was enjoyable watching the bulk reduce quickly. Each time I took a breather I would lean against one of the big pines & watch Eric's multi-racial flock of sheep in the adjoining paddock.
At dinner time I looked at the still smouldering piles & decided they would just burn out but that it might be wise to check on them later.
Famous last words.
After dinner we began to watch Ice Age & at 8.30pm Eric headed off to do a night-time drive for work. The residents of Waharoa are somewhat lax with their dog0care & just turn their dogs out to fend for themselves at night-time. There have been many complaints & in response to this, Eric & his colleague Steve were doing a night-time patrol.
As Eric left the farm, the leaves were still smouldering in little piles.
We all turned in for an ealry night & I was listening to a talking book about an hour later, when I heard Michelle calling, no, shouting my name. I thought maybe my tape was on too loud but wondered why she was shouting loud enough to possibly wake the girls.
I turned the tape down & got back into bed.
When she shouted my name for a 3rd time I began to worry.
I looked out of the french doors from my flat & followed her pointing finger.
There was a huge blaze in the place where I had been burning leaves.
'I have called the Fire Brigade' she yelled before dashing off towards the blaze.
In the next few moments I can safely say, I could not form a single, intelligent thought.
I ran a couple of small circles in my bedroom before realising I should put some clothes on.
I was about to run out in bare feet & a dressing gown before realising this was not ideal clothing for fire-fighting.
After pulling on jeans & a fleece I ran out to help.
I cannot over emphasise how sick I felt as I got closer to the blaze. It was huge. It covered about 30 square foot, the flames were at least 10' high & they were igniting the huge pine tree which towered above them. This pine tree was the 1st in a line of about 20, all of which led up the driveway towards the Tanner's house. To make matters worse, the tree now on fire was next to an outhouse in a paddock which contained most of the stock, certainly all the sheep.
What followed was maybe 10 minutes of the hardest physical effort I can safely say I have been involved in. Luckily, there was a big, circular water-trough in the paddock adjoining the blaze. We ran backwards & forwards in the dark on an increasingly muddy path throwing water up a bank at head-height on to the fire. The smoke was acrid & choking & it felt like my lungs were going to crawl out of my chest.
To make things more interesting, the fire was circled by an electric fence. I would be lying if I said I didn't expect a shock with every bucket of water I threw over the fence onto the fire.
I am shaking as I type this.
The fire was still going strong but we had taken a considerable edge off it when Eric said we should leave it now for the Briade. Up until now, no-one had spoken. I didn't know what to say & they were too busy.
Within 10 minutes I saw the fantastically reassuring red lights which heralded help.
I have NEVER been so pleased to see a fireman.
With all the right equipment & a thoroughly organised routine, the guys had the blaze extinguished in another 10 minutes. They spent another 30 minutes damping everything down & checking there were no embers.
At this point, Eric turned to me & said
'This will make interesting reading on Blog'
Michelle gave me a big hug & said 'I feel awful cos I know how awful you must feel'
Were ever there more understanding people ?
It's no exaggeration to say that my stupidity put their house, farm & selves in danger.
Not to mention the kids.
All they could say was 'Don't worry'
I didn't sleep very well last night as you can probably imagine.
Michelle is a very firm believer in fate & she just said calmly that it would have been a great deal worse if Eric hadn't spotted the blaze when he was coming in from work.
Apparently, he saw an orange glow from quite a long way off. You can only imagine how he must have felt to realise it was coming from his property.
I have been running thru all the 'what-ifs' & can't stop thinking about it.
What if Eric had been delayed at work ?
What if the fire brigade had been dealing elsewhere ?
What if I had just raked & not done the burning ?
Pointless, I know but last night was the closest I have come to throwing up due to shock. It will give me more sympathy now when I speak to shocked people. I couldn't think straight for the rest of the night.
As we walked back to the house for a cup of tea, Eric said 'Worse things happen at sea'
I am going into Matamata today to drop off some crates of beer at the Fire Station.
I think it's the least I can do. Then it will be a case of waiting to see if I am billed for their call-out. As they were cleaning off their gear, Eric pointed out that as volunteers these poor guys would have to be getting up in a few hours to do their normal jobs.
How bad do I feel ?
I can't remember having ever done something which put so many people's safety & livelihood at risk before. I did once leave the gas-taps on at my middle school on a Friday afternoon to see if the school was still standing on Monday, but I don't think that counts as I was only about 13. It was a very sobering lesson & saying sorry just doesn't seem to cut it.
I think I'll stick with weeding today.
Cx
No comments:
Post a Comment