October 10, 2007
Rude awakening
I finished my coffee while cleaning the overnight spam out of my email, then wandered into the kitchen to make some toast and pour up my first iced tea of the day. I smelled it as I walked down the hall and apporached the front of the house. Sure enough, a quick peek out the front door showed smoke on the horizon. I set the ladder up, grabbed my phone and camera and climbed up on the carport roof. As soon as I had a fix on the location I dialed 911. “Police, fire or ambulance?” “Fire, please.” During the several second wait for the fire department dispatcher to come on the line I heard the first sirens screaming from the highway. Yes, crews were on the way, but mahalo for the call. I snapped a couple of pictures, went back inside and prepared my tea and toast. It’s a beautiful day on the Leeward Coast of Oahu. Brisk trade winds are chattering through the palm fronds and a bit of rubbish was blowing down the middle of the street in front of the house (some child may be in trouble when it comes time to turn in homework today.) Before my toast popped up I went back to the roof for another look at the government lot behind my across-the-street neighbors. In the two or three minutes that I had been inside the smoke had grown from a single wispy column to a puffy cloud, courtesy of the trades that have turned the tropics into paradise. Such a mixed blessing, those lovely breezes.
I love our firefighters. We go through this so often and they give their all each time we need them. The fire was out within a half an hour this time. It was apparently fairly close to the road on the far side of the lot from us, so they were able to get in quickly and work their magic. The problem now is that our brush fires tend to come in bunches. We haven’t had one for a couple of months, so today’s show may have awakened the interest of the children who play with matches. Yes, every fire that the investigators have been able to define has been arson, most suspected of being started by children and teenagers. I suppose it has something to do with being way out here on the coast, away from arcades and movie theatres. They have to do something with their time, right? Some days fishing and surfing and canoe paddling just aren’t enough. Their drug-addled parents have little interest in providing more wholesome distractions.
We’ll be on edge in my neighborhood for a few days. Will history repeat itself? At least school is in session this time, so maybe, just maybe, the little miscreants don’t have time for such games. We can only hope.
Technorati Tags: brush fire, fire, Hawaii, Leeward Oahu, Waianae Coast
Posted by skeet @ 12:00 pm • Just stuff
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October 10th, 2007 at 6:37 pm, Whim Says:
I’m so glad that no one was hurt and nothing was damaged.
October 11th, 2007 at 3:58 am, Leigh Says:
I had a dream the other night my house was on fire. *shutter*
October 11th, 2007 at 7:00 am, pussreboots Says:
Hopefully the fire is quickly contained. We get them in bursts too in the foothills. I cringe every time I hear the firetruck storm down our street.
October 11th, 2007 at 8:30 pm, friend of Jagad Guru Says:
A couple of kids set fire to an old abandoned house in the neighborhood a couple months ago.
That’s good it got put out so quickly!
October 11th, 2007 at 10:58 pm, skeet Says:
It was a small fire and quickly controlled this time, Whim. Second best thing to no fires at all.
October 11th, 2007 at 11:00 pm, skeet Says:
Fire really scares me, Leigh. Fire dreams terrify me. We’ve lost several homes in our neighborhood to out-of-control brush fires since I’ve lived here (ten years.) The good news is that no one has been hurt.
October 11th, 2007 at 11:02 pm, skeet Says:
I don’t get the fascination some people (especially kids) have with fire, friend. I also don’t understand the need to destroy. I guess it takes a damaged psyche to even understand how they could feel that way.