Ran into some independence day trouble

P2P

P2P

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Jul 24, 2010
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I'll try to make this long story short.

Just got back from the grocery store, got out of the car, and decided to shoot off one of our many roman candles. 10 shots later, I put the candle down, and I go back to bring in the groceries. Well we're all talkin' and walkin up the outdoor stairs when the father in law says, "you smell somethin'?" My wife looks over and see some smoke over in the woods about 20 yards out.

"FIRE!, GET THE HOSE GET THE HOSE". So father in law and wife go to get the hose and buckets of water, for he has NO extinguisher. I've been told to stomp out the fire in the mean time. Happens to be that this fire is on a hill headed for the house. We're talkin' about an 7' by 10' foot perimeter burnin' up hill.

I tried stompin it out in my sneakers for about 5 seconds realizing that I'm about to catch on fire. So I stand there for about 3 seconds to think; then I see a sapling. I immediately pull out my Spyderco Military, and in one quick motion had the sapling in my hands in 5 seconds tops.

I begin to try and smother the uphill portion of this fire that was headed towards that house. Meanwhile, the family is still putting hoses together to try and reach this fire. For awhile I had this fire slowing down a little with this sapling. Finally, the hose makes it down and everything is settled.

Now I probably didn't save the day, specially since I'M the one the dumb dumb that started it, but this experience truly helped me appreciate having a good quick folder handy as I do 24/7. I don't know if the outcome would have been any different if I would have just stood there and watched, but who knows? Maybe my actions kep't this fire to a manageable size. I did what I thought I should do.

Anyways just thought some of you might get a kick out of this one.

And I'll go ahead and answer the question now... No I had not been drinking alcohol at this point, that started about 30 seconds afterwords.
 
Great story. I'd say it's definitely a good thing you did what you did. That fire could've spread extremely fast.
 
My mom always told me not to play with knives. I bet your mom told you to play with knives, not fire. She's a smart lady that one.


Cool story, I like hearing about people and knives "saving the day". Jealous of your PMII by the way.
 
Just to restate it was actually the regular Military S30V model.
 
Not sure where you're at but it's been way too dry around here to even consider shooting off any fireworks, 4th or not. Glad no one got hurt or had their home burned down.
 
We were under a burn and fireworks ban because of the weather, and I'm happy to say that most people seemed to heed it.
In years past, our neighborhood resembled a combat zone, but the heat has been so bad that folks actually took note.
 
Guyon said:
We were under a burn and fireworks ban because of the weather, and I'm happy to say that most people seemed to heed it.
In years past, our neighborhood resembled a combat zone, but the heat has been so bad that folks actually took note.
Click to expand...

Same here. I hosed down the entire yard before and after my kids played with sparklers (and still worried until we were done). It is a BAD year for fires.
 
Just inexperience with not having issues with fireworks in the past I guess. I know for a fact that I'll be much more cautious in the future.
 
Stupid: Playing with fire.

Even more stupid: Playing with fire when it is dry.

Smart: Carrying a folder.

Redemption: Thinking quickly and using your folder to control the fire, thus saving the day.

:D
 
Woo doggies, glad you could knock it down before the adrenalin really got to going. It does help to understand how as we get older we tend to use more good sense and take less risks. Imagine the same deal but add ten, twenty or thirty years to your current age and then you got problems most likely. Anyhow, life lived with no risk is boring...have a good one.
 
I decided against fireworks for the first time in my life this year. I was too frightened of a fire breaking out with the dry weather. Not many others did the same, though. :(

I'd say you likely slowed it down, even if just a little. And every little bit helps.
 
Our local fire department went ahead with the planned fireworks show. I'm located in western NC and we had had some heavy thunderstorms on Monday and Tuesday and I guess they felt it safe. Guess it was safe as no fires were reported!

It allways pays to carry a knife, ALLWAYS!
 
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