We went out for a Sunday drive today and saw a plume of dark smoke pushing its way up through an overcast sky just north of Manchester.  Turning the corner, we saw a mix of fire trucks (with no lights on) and cars parked on both sides of the dirt road.  As we pulled alongside a small clearing we saw what presumed to be a “controlled” burning of a house.

I have never seen such a blaze up close before.  This is a good thing.  We were only 500ft away and when I rolled down the window we could feel the heat instantly.  It was one of those times I wished I had my camera with me.  I tried to take a picture with my cell phone but it was weak, unable to capture the leaping flames and rolling smoke.  The firefighters picked the right day to do this – very wet and rainy with no wind.  Our little boy was enthralled.  Which is why we kept saying, “…and that’s why you should never play with matches.”

As a side bar, this was a house that had been on the market for some time.  A foreclosed, empty building set on several acres of land.  It wasn’t a pretty house.  Apparently someone’s architectural brain storm – heavy on the storm, light on the brain.  It was for us, however, 20 minutes of ‘wow’.