Why do I smell smoke?
Our ward here takes such good care of us. Babysitting, lending a truck, fixing the car, meals when Nate was in the hospital, the list goes on and on. My visiting teachers in particular are amazing. For example, yesterday afternoon, one of them showed up unannounced with her husband around 4:00, and stayed until 7:30 doing numerous repairs on our lawnmower, cutting grass, and weeding. For no reason except that they are amazingly wonderful people and our yard is in serious need of assistance. And if I'm as agile as they are at age 60ish I'll be one happy camper.
So with two thirds of our yard looking immaculate thanks to the kindness of their hearts, Nate and I set out to tackle the rest of it this evening. Nate and Addison started at our garden plot shoveling gravel while I ran to Maverick to get some gas for the lawnmower. I came home, filled the two-gallon tank to the brim, and got ready to mow the field of hay to the south of our house. We have a big yard, and by divine intervention our house came equipped with a riding lawnmower.
And let me tell you it had some serious work to do. Not only was the grass ready to be cut, but last week had left giant piles of dried grass to go over too. So it was working hard. About the second pass around the yard I started to see/smell a little bit of smoke coming from the engine. Yikes. So I yanked the key out and jumped off to find mounds of dried grass wadded up in the front wheels. And last week's hay? On fire. A veteran at burning dinners, I recognized this fire as one that a little blowing would definitely not put out, so I started yelling for Nate, who was an acre away as I hauled my pregnant self at breakneck speed to turn on our outside water valve.
Nate came running and grabbed the nearest hose, which contained about 40 different knots and kinks. He started trying to spray the fire from about 50 feet away as I frantically undid them all. After 30 seconds of intense garden hose sprayage with the flames still growing, he decided that maybe we should call the fire department. So I (still pregnant, by the way) sprinted to the house and called them.
A few alarming side notes. The gas tank of this baby touches the engine. And I'd just filled it. And the lawnmower was about 20 feet away from the old folks' home next door.
The nice 911 lady told me that we should stop spraying and get the heck away from it, so Nate ran next door to warn the old folks (I can only imagine the pandemonium it must've caused - dentures flying, tripping each other with canes to be the first to the door). And then we waited, praying all the while that our firefighter friend from church was not on call. (Can you imagine the embarrassment?)
Finally the fire truck came, along with our friendly neighborhood sheriff, being sure to park halfway in the street with the lights on to make sure that everyone we knew who drove by couldn't miss us. They rolled out the hose and sprayed the engine, now engulfed in flames, for at least five minutes while the fire kept crackling cheerfully. Meanwhile, one of our ward members who was in the middle of a pizza delivery stopped to see why we had a fire truck in our front yard. As the flames continued to grow, the firefighters started getting a little more serious. They got out a shovel. And then a rake. I have no idea what they were for. Then they brought out a fire extinguisher, which did nothing. So they got a bigger one, which finally did the trick.
Addison thought the whole thing was a big party, and made sure to point out all the buses that drove by.
So now we have a riding lawnmower with a half-melted engine. Nate called another friend from church who happens to be a mechanic, to see if it's even worth trying to get fixed. He called about 30 minutes after, and instead of saying, "hello" the guy said, "why is the fire department at your house?" He lives a good ways away from us, by the way, so let's hope everyone who lives between our houses saw it too.
Having my wits about me as always, I managed to snap a few pictures for posterity without being noticed. And yes, the flames got much bigger than that.
Nate says this would all be much more humorous if it hadn't been the most valuable uninsured thing we own. What a Mr. Grumpy-Gills.
So with two thirds of our yard looking immaculate thanks to the kindness of their hearts, Nate and I set out to tackle the rest of it this evening. Nate and Addison started at our garden plot shoveling gravel while I ran to Maverick to get some gas for the lawnmower. I came home, filled the two-gallon tank to the brim, and got ready to mow the field of hay to the south of our house. We have a big yard, and by divine intervention our house came equipped with a riding lawnmower.
And let me tell you it had some serious work to do. Not only was the grass ready to be cut, but last week had left giant piles of dried grass to go over too. So it was working hard. About the second pass around the yard I started to see/smell a little bit of smoke coming from the engine. Yikes. So I yanked the key out and jumped off to find mounds of dried grass wadded up in the front wheels. And last week's hay? On fire. A veteran at burning dinners, I recognized this fire as one that a little blowing would definitely not put out, so I started yelling for Nate, who was an acre away as I hauled my pregnant self at breakneck speed to turn on our outside water valve.
Nate came running and grabbed the nearest hose, which contained about 40 different knots and kinks. He started trying to spray the fire from about 50 feet away as I frantically undid them all. After 30 seconds of intense garden hose sprayage with the flames still growing, he decided that maybe we should call the fire department. So I (still pregnant, by the way) sprinted to the house and called them.
A few alarming side notes. The gas tank of this baby touches the engine. And I'd just filled it. And the lawnmower was about 20 feet away from the old folks' home next door.
The nice 911 lady told me that we should stop spraying and get the heck away from it, so Nate ran next door to warn the old folks (I can only imagine the pandemonium it must've caused - dentures flying, tripping each other with canes to be the first to the door). And then we waited, praying all the while that our firefighter friend from church was not on call. (Can you imagine the embarrassment?)
Finally the fire truck came, along with our friendly neighborhood sheriff, being sure to park halfway in the street with the lights on to make sure that everyone we knew who drove by couldn't miss us. They rolled out the hose and sprayed the engine, now engulfed in flames, for at least five minutes while the fire kept crackling cheerfully. Meanwhile, one of our ward members who was in the middle of a pizza delivery stopped to see why we had a fire truck in our front yard. As the flames continued to grow, the firefighters started getting a little more serious. They got out a shovel. And then a rake. I have no idea what they were for. Then they brought out a fire extinguisher, which did nothing. So they got a bigger one, which finally did the trick.
Addison thought the whole thing was a big party, and made sure to point out all the buses that drove by.
So now we have a riding lawnmower with a half-melted engine. Nate called another friend from church who happens to be a mechanic, to see if it's even worth trying to get fixed. He called about 30 minutes after, and instead of saying, "hello" the guy said, "why is the fire department at your house?" He lives a good ways away from us, by the way, so let's hope everyone who lives between our houses saw it too.
Having my wits about me as always, I managed to snap a few pictures for posterity without being noticed. And yes, the flames got much bigger than that.
Nate says this would all be much more humorous if it hadn't been the most valuable uninsured thing we own. What a Mr. Grumpy-Gills.
Well if that isn't the most awesome and also sad/scary story I've heard in a while! Glad the thing didn't explode, and it stinks that your mower is most likely ruined. But you gotta admit, it's a good conversation starter. "So, you guys ever set a riding lawn mower on fire? I have."
ReplyDeleteOooooh, that sucks! I'm sorry, but glad everyone is okay!
ReplyDeleteHahaha man, what a story! And you wrote it so well! I love that the fire was "crackling cheerfully." That was just too awesome.
ReplyDeleteI'm really sorry to hear about the most likely loss of a lawn mower, but that was a really funny story. I read it at work and had to email it to Nate. We both read it a few times and laughed every time. Thanks for making work a little better!
ReplyDelete