One Hallowe’en, I …
… nearly set the house across the street on fire.
It’s an event that is firmly entrenched in our family lore. I’m certain my two will be dining out on this tale for years to come.
It happened at our annual Hallowe’en dessert party in 2005.
My friend’s 15-year-old son Ben phoned earlier in the day to ask if it would be okay if he brought two friends along to the party. As well as some fireworks. I was thrilled. We’d hosted this post trick-or-treating do every October 31st since 1994 and it was in dire need of a spice up. With the youngest participant now nine, the delight of observing the neighbours’ pyrotechnical displays from the safety of our living room had decidedly faded.
Things got off to a grand start. The three boys were extremely careful. The box of fireworks was placed far from the rest of us who were huddled on the front porch steps. Each candidate was carefully selected and gingerly placed in position prior to lighting. We were initially treated to a wealth of ground spinners; everyone marvelled as they hissed, spun and whizzed harmlessly along the concrete sidewalk. As the last one fizzled, we called for the lighting of the fountains. Soon the silver showers of Volcanic Eruptions rained down before us. Encouraged by our enthusiasm, the chaps followed up with a plethora of poppers, more spinners and roman candles; all worthy of every penny spent.
“And now for the Gangsta Blast! This baby packs a punch! Behold the 50 shots of colourful stars!” Ben sang out as his pals crouched low to light the wick.
Our first clue that something was amiss? The sudden sideways plop of the tall and rather impressive rocket. It began unleashing its relentless barrage of crackling red, silver, green and blue stars straight across the lawn. Thankfully each fizzled harmlessly into the night.
Or so I thought.
My eyes were drawn suddenly to a weensy orange flame winking within the depths of the small heather plant to my right. Always loathe to panic, I sauntered casually to the nearby tap and turned on the hose. Annoyingly, my discrete hose watering was abruptly interrupted by a panicked bellow.
“F i r e!“
“Exactly. And-I’m-about-to-put-it-out.” I proclaimed in a carefully patient manner.
Something about his response was wrong. I followed the line of the pointer’s right index finger.
Across the street, far from the heather, right next to my neighbour’s tidy bungalow, a majestic blue spruce was in deep trouble. Crimson flames, growing taller by the second, were arcing skyward, greedily consuming innocent branches. As acrid fumes filled the air, a solid wall of pulsating heat gathered strength.
Dave, Ben’s dad, leapt into action. Grabbing the buckets of water I somehow managed to fill, he dashed back and forth across the street, hurling the contents onto the flames. Slowly, ever so slowly, they died. Mercifully the fire was out. The tree, blackened in patches, looked a little worse for wear while the house beside it stood proud, whole and intact.
Thank you, yet again Dave, from the bottom of my heart.
Did we continue this fireworks tradition on subsequent Hallowe’ens? Absolutely. We were just very careful to safely place each firework into a sturdy, sand filled bucket.
I doubt any of us will ever forget that one Hallowe’en I nearly set the house across the street on fire.
***
This post is part of Finish the Sentence Friday on the topic: “One Hallowe’en, I …”
33 Responses
Holy Moley! That must have been one heart-stopping moment when you saw that the poor, innocent blue spruce had become a victim to the wayward fireworks! Glad to hear that safety measures have been implemented to prevent future calamities!
Super Holy Moley! Time froze, shunted into slowww motion and then sped up faster than fast. As to the safety measures – the firemen (yes firetruck pulled up just as the last of the flames were doused) said they had over 75 calls that night to fires caused by fireworks. Can you say wakeup call?
Oh, NO!!! Hahahahaha.
Thank goodness that you already had the hose going and that Dave was a bucket hauling hero!! 😀 That’s certainly one way to liven up the old dessert party!! It was the year you could have had flaming cherries jubilee instead of just cake! 😀 –Lisa
Definitely a dessert party for the books! Had a New Zealand houseguest pacing around the guest bedroom, clutching his head going “this is bad, this is bad”, a retired flight attendant grasping my panicked son Henry saying “You are fine. Everything is fine.” and the owner of the nearly-torched-house wandering blearily out about ten minutes after the firetruck arrived saying “Why are the firemen here?” Life is never dull.
Thanks for the flaming cherries jubilee idea … I was wondering what to serve this year!
I love that you continued to do this even after you lit the neighbors house on fire! Seriously though sounds like so much fun and thank you for sharing this with us at FTSF. So glad you joined this week Kelly and glad you linked up!! 🙂
Thanks Janine. It was so much fun to link up with the troops and am heading over now to check out the other posts. Looking forward to a delightful morning!
I laughed out loud at that line after hearing, “FIRE!… Exactly. And-I’m-about-to-put-it-out.”
Good going, Kelly! Your calm and just-put-it-outness makes me laugh and lighten up when trouble visits. (My son set a big plant on fire, too. Yep, fireworks. Maybe that’s part of the growing up ritual?)
Oh boy – it must be part of the growing up ritual. Fireworks and Boys. My son came alive the minute he saw big boy Ben stagger into the house that night with his modest box of pyrotechnics.
No way! What a fantastic memory- you are such a vivid storyteller! Thanks for joining FTSF this week!
Thanks for the welcome Stephanie. All true – I could have gone on and on about how the fire dept arrived after fire out and we got pics posing with very delightful Mr. November and Mr. January (firemen’s fundraising calendar models). Passed out plateful of Hallowe’en cookies to them etc. So happy to have photographic proof of the whole evening. Then my daughter (about 10 then) opened up my camera to “look at the pictures, Mom.” Film camera. No pics remain. Hence sad almost pictureless post. Ah well – we have the memories!
Sounds like you’re lucky to have understanding neighbors! Nowadays, more likely than not you’d be slapped with a lawsuit or something! This reminds me of one summer when I was a kid. My Dad and uncle had a bunch of firecrackers (nothing major) and were letting me, my sister, cousins, and some other neighborhood kids set them off. The group was all standing in one spot, with the bag of fireworks in another, he’d take one, bring it to the kid who’s turn it was in another spot and help them set it off. That worked out fine until one neighborhood boy went to take his turn. You know the type – when they go bowling, they don’t let go of the ball at the right time and lob it half way down the alley … yup, he didn’t let go when he should have and threw it over his shoulder – directly into the bag of fireworks! As it sparked to life and started to set off its contents, my Dad did the only thing he could under the circumstances; the slow motion movie scene of the guy diving onto that grenade from which the pin had just been pulled. Fortunately, it all worked out fine, but that could have been serious! Guess we both got lucky! 🙂
Love the idea of the post-trick-or-treat party! Gives the grown ups a chance to mingle and the kids a chance to swap goodies.
What? That sounds like my life! What are the chances the firecracker would hone in on the bag? Guess it wanted to be with its mates or at least share a little action. Yikes. Your dad must have dined out on that tale for years.
Yep, we both escaped, as my mom would say, by the skin of our teeth. Long may the luck continue!
That was a GREAT story, Kelly! You pulled me right into the action with your description of the fire in the bush and the events following it! I really enjoyed reading about this blunder and LOVE that you continue to set off the fireworks at your post-Halloween parties! You’re my kind of lady!
Thanks Lisa. Now that you mention it, it never occurred to me to stop with the fireworks. Funny, I hadn’t thought of that before. I just went into safety edit mode.
I know you wrote “nearly” right from the beginning but I feel like I had my breath for entire read. Whew… exhaling now – that was a great story to share for the prompt!
Oh Kenya – I lucked out with the prompt. Couldn’t believe it when I saw it as this story just keeps nudging at me to be told. Thanks so much for your positive comments.
uh…mah….gawd I can’t believe you lit the neighbor’s tree on fire! LOL. That’s so funnynotfunny if I ever heard it!!! So glad it’s one of those “coulda been worse” stories and worked out okay. Understanding neighbors? I hope so. You are SO COOL to keep the tradition alive despite a rocky start. I love you more and more every time I read a post of yours. 🙂
Aw – thanks Beth. As to the neighbours – well I’ll open with the revelation that they had just moved in. Delightful housewarming offering. However it could have been so much hotter, no? They appeared once the firetruck arrived. I introduced myself with a “I’m so terribly sorry about your tree” and they smiled, blinked and went back inside. Pretty much the last we saw of them until they moved away about six months later.
Wow! And that would explain why fireworks are illegal in our state! LOL. It sounds like a really fun tradition though, and I’m sure our “boys” would love it!
Wow – so fireworks are banned in the whole state? Firecrackers are banned here and some cities now require you to take out a permit for fireworks. Kind of silly though as the permit is a quick online form – one that you could do in the pop up fireworks store if they are equipped with a computer.
I am so glad you joined FTSF this week and I got to meet you. This was literary and is it OK to say hilarious? Also, I’m a sucker for family traditions (and people prone to panic), so I enjoyed your post on so many levels! Look forward to reading more.
Thanks Katia. Lovely to meet you and thanks for your kind words. Yes – perfectly fine to say hilarious. Man alive – just minutes after Dave doused the flames the firetruck pulled up. Soon we were all laughing together and posing for pics with the firemen. Quite something – an evening never to forget.
No harm no foul, right? What a great tradition. That will be something your kids will always remember. Thankfully, their memories won’t include burning the neighbors house down. Great story.
Thanks Jamie. You’re bang on! No harm no foul. It is certainly something my guys will always remember – me,too! And yes, thankfully a memory not tainted by the incineration of our neighbour’s house…
Omg! You weren’t kidding about this post. Very scary. I’m impressed that you continued the fireworks tradition the next year. I would have been gun shy.
It’s all about the fireworks placement. Horrid Hallowe’en night saw them just squished in garden and grass, subsequent Happy Hallowe’en nights saw them buried in either a sandfilled wheelbarrow or sturdy bucket.
OMG OMG OMG…I can’t stop laughing and crying…I can so see my huby doing something like that. I am glad you had such understanding neighbors.
Hi Karen. Thank you. And – there is SO much more to the story that I didn’t include … firemen, the different reactions of my party guests, my daughter opening my camera (then a film one) and therefore erasing all proof …etc.
Ok , I know I’m late to visiting from Friday…but how funny that we both posted about setting things on fire! At least (y)our fire starter tendencies make for a good story!
So true – we’re all fired up! Bet you, like me, have gotten a lot of mileage out of these combustible truths.
Oh my gosh how SCARY!!! Thank goodness you were there at the hose already… and of course that the house didn’t BURN DOWN!! Wowzers. Close call! I love that you carried on the tradition even after that near miss!
Chris, it was really quite something. The firefighters could not have been kinder. Mind you the fire was out by the time they got there, thanks to my friends. This year I should have set off fireworks. It was so wet from days of rain I suspect lighting the fireworks’ wick would have been difficult.