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’.
