Housefire: An Unconventional Way to Meet Your Neighbor

This afternoon, my neighbor’s home caught fire.

No one was hurt.

Everyone is okay.

We live less than 20 feet away from this neighbor, so when my hubby came home from work and saw the firetrucks, he reacted quickly. We didn’t know the names of the folks living there. We did know the couple have three children under four-years-old. (The youngest is only nine months.) The mother got her children out of the house and my hubby brought them over to our place where I immediately supplied them with snacks, drinks, cartoons, and a plastic bin full of toy cars—relics from my teen.

The good news is, the damage was contained in one room—the kid’s bedroom. The mother managed to douse the fire with water then threw anything that was smoldering out the window. She saved her kids. She saved the house. There’s some damage to the room, but it could have been MUCH worse.

So what caused the fire? The kids found a plastic cigarette lighter and they were playing with it. Soooo scary!!! I can see how this could happen. They look innocent enough, almost like a toy.

When everything was over and safe again, the mother thanked us profusely and got her kids. We exchanged names and cell phone numbers. She’s been our neighbor for more than two years. What a pity we didn’t even know each other’s names until today!

I am so grateful that my hubby is wired the way he is, how quick-thinking and kind he is in a crisis. And I’m so glad my neighbor was quick-thinking, too! Today could have gone SO much worse.

xo Juli

*Photo by Christian Allard on Unsplash (Thank you!)