On a smoky Sunday morning... Jan. 15, 2012

I had a terrible flashback the smoky Sunday morning of Jan. 15th. I woke up that morning to firetruck sirens and smoke. The mobile home 2 doors down (#36 and #37- I'm #38)was on fire. When I looked out my window I saw that #37's roof was on fire, so I got dressed, grabbed Rascal and my purse and drove my car to the dirt parking area to watch the fire and stay safe. At that point all I could think of was my house was in danger and I  needed to get out of there. As I watched the mobiles burning, I started crying thinking of that awful night so many years ago when my inlaw's mobile burned on an early morning in Las Vegas where we lived. Paul, Bill's brother - my brother-in-law was severely burnt saving his family. Lives can change in an instant...barely a blink of the eye. My home is fine. The firefighters came by off and on all night to make sure no embers relit. #36 is totally destroyed. The man who lived there...another Bill (we had 3 living in a row while my Bill was here) had probably left a candle burning before he went to sleep and got out alive with just his feet being badly burned due to the rubber soles of his slippers melting to his feet. The neighbors in the nice doublewide next door..another Bill and his wife Laverne...get up around 3am everyday and she looks out the window around 7:30am every morning. She calls herself the "nosey neighbor." She saw #36 on fire and called 911 or he may not have made it. Then she realized her living room was on fire and her and her husband escaped. The firefighters saved their home but the front room and roof is pretty damaged. Later I heard the windows blew out and the frames melted. All in all it will turn out ok as they both had insurance but lives were changed. When I told Paul about it and my emotions, he reminded me that he almost lost his eyesight too. I had not remembered that. He had been afraid he would never be able to see again or play guitar since his hands were so burnt. He said Alberta brought an elder from the Mormon church and they prayed over him and here he is today...good eyes and still playing guitar and keyboard. He was blessed. I think how hard that must have been for him, Alberta, and the four kids. And how grateful that we are all ok since back then and here today on our little street in Sunset Village.