Don't Start a Fire on a Windy Day

It had been just two weeks into our Fletcher Farmhouse adventures. My husband wanted to burn some brush outside in the "designated fire pit." I was raised on a farm where we often burned our own trash. I knew the rules. Husband on the other hand had been raised in the city and didn't quite understand the "rules" to farm fire safety! In particular, it is not safe to start a fire on a windy day.

As I was cleaning up in the kitchen, one of our children raced in to say, "Dad needs a bucket." What a strange request, I thought. "A bucket? Do you mean a pot? Why does Dad need to get a bucket? Isn't he out by the barn?" Child still relatively calm says, "Well, the field is on fire, so Dad needs a bucket."

As I go out the back door, I expect the "field on fire" to be an exaggeration. Unfortunately, the field beside us (not ours) is on fire, but just a little. "Husband, what on earth is going on! What did you do? Don't you have a hose or something?" He answered back that the hoses were still packed in a box somewhere and he had no idea where. Instead, he would jump the fence and just pound out the little flame with a shovel.

Just as he makes it over, I notice this fire requires more than one person with a shovel. "Don't you think we should call the fire department? You're going to burn the whole field down."

I quickly make the call, but we live several miles from the nearest volunteer station...so it takes awhile. In the minutes waiting, we decide the wind is strong enough that it could make it to the neighbors and we decide to let them know of the possible danger.

Now keep in mind, we haven't even met our neighbors yet. We'd only been there about 2 weeks and hadn't been able to meet everyone. You can imagine their surprise as I banged on their back doors and said, "Hi, we just moved in to the farm next door and my husband accidentally set the field on fire. Just wanted to let you know. We have called the fire department and they are on their way."

One neighbor and his son came running with their shovels to help if they could. The little yellow fire truck soon arrived and the fire was put out, however not before quite a bit of the field had burned. Thankfully, the corn had already been harvested. Can you imagine?!

My family arrived from all directions and so did a few more neighbors. We met and laughed and the kids all got to use the fire hose.




Husband was quite embarrassed...until he heard the rumor going around the following week. Rumor was that a combine had caught on fire and burnt the field. His reputation was saved.

Moral of the story...even a little wind on a hot, dry day can easily start a fire. Always keep a hose ready to go. And, meet your neighbors right away!