Up In Smoke

Yesterday we had the sobering experience of watching a neighbor's house burn. This makes the second house fire we have witnessed since being in this area, this one and one on our first trip to Sedona. In both cases it took the fire department about 15 minutes to arrive on the scene. The fire house is about six miles away from yesterday's fire and by the time they got there, the house was fully involved. It looked to us as though the fire started as vehicle fire in the back yard and then quickly spread to the house. We have no news of the fire other than just watching it so we don't know if anyone was injured, but there was enough time to get anyone out of the house and the ambulance that responded stayed all day.

This house is located in the White Horse development adjacent to the area where we are and they have city water and hydrants, but it appeared that the closest hydrant was over 1/4 mile away and it took a long time to set up a water supply. The fire department and the Forest Service that responded just mainly kept the fire from becoming larger and spreading to the community and the landscape. It wasn't until several hours later that we saw them actually spraying water on the house itself. Of course, the house is a complete loss with the roof caved in and parts of it totally consumed.

We were struck by the complete sense of vulnerability that comes with living in an area of little water and a long distance from help. There just isn't anything that can be done to fight a fire like that. The local ponds are all dry. We are reminded to be extra careful in our daily habits, making sure that we reduce the risk of fire to an absolute minimum.

The other inescapable thought is how fleeting our lives are. Gone in a puff of smoke. We accumulate treasures and "stuff" and surround ourselves with things that can be gone in a flash. We need to de-emphasize the "stuff" and concentrate on the things of real value: our family and our relationships.

Today is the birthday of our daughter and grand-daughter. Happy Birthday to them. We miss our family back home while enjoying our family here and on our travels. The trip is fun and we're having some great experiences but the most important things to us are still the people in our lives.