old home burned to the ground

This has been a very trying weekend for my hubby and I. We were called Saturday night around 11:30PM by our previous neighbors and were told that our other home had burned down and the firemen were still fighting the fire.

We arrived at the home around 12:15AM on Sunday and when we arrived, there were 8 fire trucks there fighting the fire. The fire was so big, firemen from 3 stations were called. When we arrived, the right side of the house was already completely gone. One of the Fire Marshalls took my husband closer to the home and told him to be prepared because the house was gone. There was one portion of the wall on the left side of the house still standing but very insecure. The firemen said they were going to have to pull it down for safety reasons. My husband and the firemen suggested that I might not want to see them do this so my husband walked me back to the end of the drive way so I could not see what they were doing. Our driveway is several yards long and curved around many trees so you cannot see the house from the street where our car was parked.

The firemen finally told Dennis that there was nothing more they could do and we may as well return home. That was around 4:15AM on Sunday. We got home at 5:00AM. We did make it to church at 9:00AM and then went straight to our old home from there. When we arrived, we were surprised to see three fire trucks still there. They had been there all night long.

We were told by the fire marshalls that they think the fire may have started either by a riding mower that was still in the garage or electrical. We were also told that because everything is so charred it may be a "black hole". They may never know the cause of the fire.

The home is completely gone, it is so hard to see the remains of what was once our beautiful 5400 square foot home all gone. We have lots of beautiful memories there with our daughters, sons in laws, and g-children visiting us, family coming over for get togethers and swimming parties.

We are blessed in the fact that no one was living there or hurt. Also, the firemen did a great job of keeping the fire from spreading to our neighbors. That was a miracle as our home was surrounded by hundreds of trees and we have been in a burn ban state due to there being no rain for months.

Our swimming pool is also destroyed. It is filled with bricks and lumber from the house. However, we had a shed to store our boat and that was not even touched.

Well, I guess I have finished venting and sharing my feelings for now. I do Praise God for keeping everyone safe as they worked on the fire, for keeping the fire from spreading to our neighbors, and for the fact that no one was in the house and harmed.

Hard to believe this rubble is what is left of our 5400 sq. ft. home.