Up In Smoke - FIRE In LaCrosse

[Ocklawaha]

Yesterday afternoon, whilst driving to the VA hospital in Gainesville, on one of my usual back road routes, I noted a nasty pall of smoke starting to rise over the rolling hills between La Crosse and Alachua. Having been trained in firefighting in the Navy and having the 'luck' of being assigned to the fire school, I guess I still recall some of those lessons. At first it seems to be off to the south, but several hills and curves later and just a few miles shy of the New Raman Reti, Hare Krishna temple, a place where I have enjoyed some baronial conversations, I spotted the outline of a wood framed farm house. Flames were already shooting up from the porch and the intense heat could be felt across highway 235 as I pulled off the road.

An African - American gentleman was standing some distance away in the yard next door, I inquired about any possible occupants and was told the house was empty. Walking over to his cinderblock wall I noted the temperature was well past the 'impossible to touch' state. Worried that his house would catch fire next, another neighbor went up the road to retrieve a hose. I told him we needed to soak his wall and roof space, meanwhile we secured a second house on the other side. Several children were around and we pulled them back as the first fire trucks arrived from La Crosse. We got the house cooled down and the occupants moved to a more distant yard as it was now impossible to stand either across the highway or in either of the neighboring yards due to blistering heat.  In fairly quick order the fire departments from Brooker, City of Alachua, Worthington Springs and Alachua County began to arrive.

The whole thing apparently started when the neighbor that I spoke with decided to burn some leaves between his concrete block house and the wooden farm house.

This really could speak to all of us, in spite of recent heavy rains, northeast Florida has been in a 50 year drought. A careless moment, stray spark, hot exhaust pipe, careless cigarette or a marshmallow roast can all tragic in the blink of an eye.

It was obvious that the best thing I could then do for anyone was get out of the way of the younger, able bodied professional  fire fighters.  I snapped a few photographs and offer them to our readers as testament to someones dreams going up in smoke, in a rural area, served by tiny departments, neighbors and friends. Who would have thought after all these years since my own fire school, I'd be using some of those skills? One thing I'm sure of though, Lord Krishna would have been pleased.

[Ocklawaha]

As a footnote, I should add that I went home via a different route, risking my family fortune by driving through WALDO. I just didn't have the heart to see that house again.