Fancy shower head... adjustable height, handheld...
Nicely done baseboard trim with help from Bob.
Guest bedroom has real beds and mattresses now...
Painted, towel bars, medicine cabinet, sink and toilet are in...
Progress is being made!
Trying to get the guest bed and bath situation under control. We have tiled the guest bathroom.. ceramic tile on the walls (8 x 12, Azul) and limestone tumbled stone 4 x 4 on the floor. A tile guy helped with the mortar bed to make a roll in shower, but we did the majority of the tile and all the grout.
More pictures to come shortly.. .fixtures are almost all in.
Early in the morning, as the fire fighters arrive....
- End of the day.. phoenix behind rising from ashes…
The entire thing ran very smoothly. All the fire departments (Efland, Hillsborough/Orange Rural, Orange Grove, New Hope and Chapel Hill) and the EMS crew were very organized. Once the first bales of hay were lit, the morning proceeded in a series of teams in and out of the house, feeling the heat, experiencing the smoke, and putting down the fires as they needed. They had to chase the fire as it moved between floors and into places they were not yet ready to let burn. And by lunch, a lot of training had occurred, a lot of firefighters were sweaty and tired, but the house was still whole. They brought their large pig cooker and made grilled their lunch and caught their breaths.. then it was back to training and eventually, letting the house go.
They let the back half burn first, and while it was falling apart, they were still in and out of the front, even upstairs. Eventually thought, the entire house was allowed to become engulfed, and at that point, they simply managed the flames and let my son use the hose, and the house burned to the ground. The entire time though, it was a controlled burn. Walls were pushed into the fire, not let to fall out on the ground. The tin roof held the fire in place and prevented the old trees from getting burned. Once the tin was no longer supported the firefighters removed it from the flames so the beams and floors could burn.
About 4 the firefighters were pulling out. They said they had about 4 hours of work to do yet when they got back to the station… hosed and equipment to clean, clean hoses to put on the trucks so they were ready for a call, uniforms to clean and boots to wash. It was a huge undertaking.
They came back after 8 pm in a truck to check on the smouldering remains. It smouldered all night and is still smouldering today. They turned on the spotlight and took a look to make sure things looked fine, and they did. We watched from the den, like looking out over an evening campfire.
Here are some pictures from throughout the burn.
Back of house, the old kitchen
Towards the end.. just letting it rip..
Our son, a junior, keeping a watchful eye.
Our old bedroom and front of house
The eldest found that the hoses were tough to handle...
Resting but watching…
It was about 50 degrees this day, with a sharp wind when it blew, which wasn’t much. But still, you were only warm when you were in the sun. Unless you were a firefighter, then you were sweating. The gear is heavy and hot, the air tanks are heavy, and the heat the building was throwing off was quite strong. And we were standing far away, not inside. The EMS people kept a watchful eye and supplied gatorade.. and fortunately, everyone stayed safe, firefighters and spectators alike.
Getting everyone organized for the big event.
Fire chief gave us spectators a talk when he finished here.. explained how it would work and what we would see.
A practice shot with a hose.
The man about the place lighting the ceremonial hay that would eventually destroy the house.
Once the hay was placed inside the house (and more hay lit with the aim n flame), it was amazing how soon smoke started pouring out all sorts of holes in the house. The real flames took a long time to come out.. the firefighters kept putting out the fire and then getting it going in again.. but eventually, flame erupted and that was hard to see.
First fire truck shows up. For some reason, I think that is enough. But soon I find out it is not. Our town and all the small towns and districts around send fire fighters and trucks. We have 7 just in the 2 driveways, and they also lined the road along the side of the house. A bit frightening in fact, as if they knew something I did not. But really, it was just a wonderfully organized training session. Since this is a rural fire district, and one department may need another department to help them out on a big call, it is useful to have everyone train together so everyone is on the same page. And organized and orderly it went.
Filling the water tank in preparation
Youngest child keeping watch as more trucks showed up and equipment was run all over the yard.
For those of you who can’t make it… I will try to keep the web cam going. I don’t have a great location at the house for the view, but you’ll get the idea -
http://ds1.org:8081/
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