Latest Posts

An Average Trip to Town Including Smoke, Flames and Firefighters

By 09:02:00 , , , , , , ,


Yesterday my sister and I drove to the butchers to buy some sausages. We were delayed. As we got closer a huge cloud of billowing black smoke grew larger and larger and we seemed to be driving right towards it as we neared the butchers. I decided to park the car a way off and get out and walk. 



I take my camera everywhere, even shopping and my reason has always been, "What if a house burns down and I don't have my camera to photograph it." And so when this house burnt down I had my camera with me to photograph it. 


Apparently it was an old deserted shed that some of the homeless slept in, and it is rumored that the fire was lit deliberately. As terrible as it sounds I have always wanted to see and hear a house burning in real life. There was am almost oily smell to the smoke early on, and the crackling of the flames sounded like a piece of loose tarp or thick plastic flapping in a high wind. Like the sound of when a vehicle speeds past with something in plastic wrapping on the back that vibrates in the wind of its passing.





I arrived there at the same time as the fire trucks began arriving. The police took a while longer to arrive so cars continued to drive straight through the smoke that obscured the bridge. Even a mad motorcyclist went through it. 




It did not take the firefighters long to get it all under control though. The bridge made a good vantage point to watch and photograph all the action from. 


 The Argus photographer only got there as the police did. And after most of the flames had got put out, but there was still a lot of smoke for a while after and it looked as if the firefighters were going to let most of the grass on the hillside next to the road just burn itself out.


So our everyday mission of buying sausages turned out to be quite the adventure.

Have you ever seen a house burn down?
Or a bush or grass fire?

You Might Also Like

10 comments

  1. Wow, that sounds like quite the trip! And you got there right in time for the action. Good photos too. :)

    No, I've never seen a house burn down, and I don't think I'd like to - I'm too sentimental, even if it didn't hold any memories for me. Although, I'm seriously considering taking my camera with me on shopping trip now - you never know what might happen!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well you wouldn't want to miss amazing photos, these made up for all the years of lugging my camera around and almost nothing happening, though I do sometimes take it out to get some interesting photos but these were the most spectacular ones I ever got when I never thought I would need the camera.

      Delete
  2. Wow! That's pretty cool, kind of the best way to watch a house burn down. I've never seen anything of that nature, which I'm kind of OK with. Must be all those westerns I read as a kid about devastating prairie fires, or that scene in Black Beauty where the barn burns down.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was indeed. I remember that scene with the burning barn in Black Beauty. At least watching this one burn in this case we knew it was empty.

      Delete
  3. Oooh, wow! That's exciting! It's good it wasn't a house anybody actually lived in. :)

    I've never seen a house on fire, but I have seen a car. It was in the parking lot of a shopping plaza, and it didn't even really have paint on it. It was all beat up and it was about 90 degrees outside - so no wonder it caught on fire!

    ~Lydia~ <3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I assume that is 90 degrees Fahrenheit not Celsius, otherwise everyone would be almost literally boiling :D The power of fire is amazing to watch on such a large scale, and though I had watched a lot of videoed of houses burning, there is nothing quite like experiencing it. I watched all the video's because I had to write a scene in a story where a house burnt down.... not because I was planing on burning anything down. The weird things writers research...

      Delete
  4. What an adventure! Who'd have thought buying sausages could be so exciting. I must admit, that I'm like you. I'd love to see a building burn down, so long as no one was in danger.
    Your photos are dangerously beautiful. I loved looking at them. You should post more on Instagram. I'd love to see your photos more often!
    Sophie | The Techno Maid

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly! And thanks, the problem with Instagram is I have to get the photos onto my tablet.. so it is not very 'insta' for me, but I should try a bi harder I guess.

      Delete
  5. I wrote this once before, but I don't know if it sent. So here it is again, just in case!
    I know the feeling! Have you tried dropbox? It free and it quickly transfers files from your computer to your tablet. I use it for all my photos and it helps a lot! Maybe it would help you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have not used dropbox much though my family does have 3 dropbox accounts, mostly for two churches we support. I could have a look at it anyway, thanks for the tip :D

      Delete