Soundproof

It was a long day yesterday for a multitude of reasons. When we finally got to bed around 10:30, we were exhausted. I heard what sounded like our doorbell ringing, but it sounded really far away. I asked Eric if that was our doorbell, thinking that in my near-sleep state, it was just my mind creating. I heard the noise again and Hannah barked. This made me realize that someone WAS at our door. As I rounded the corner in the kitchen, I saw flashing red lights outside. The bell rang again before I got there. I fully expected to see a fireman, but was greeted with yet another neighbor we had not met yet. He alerted us (and the rest of the neighborhood) that our next door neighbor's house was on fire. He was concerned for our house since our property is separated by a thin line of trees. I came and told Eric that the neighbor's house was on fire. The two of us left our sleeping children and went to see what we could do to comfort or assist in any way. I was shocked to see such huge flames reaching out of the house and into the sky.
We found our neighbors (a family of 5. Mom is a nurse. Dad is a firefighter.) and made sure everyone was okay and supplied whatever immediate needs that had not already been offered.
I must admit, seeing those flames really scared me. My heart was racing and I was near tears myself. I don't know if I was helpful at all, but it was wonderful to see the entire neighborhood come together and help this family. I have to also mention that we live in an extremely quiet cul-de-sac...you know, where we may wave at each other but we haven't necessarily formally met or anything. We have all decided now that we need to have the phone numbers for every house in our cul-de-sac and to know the names and perhaps jobs/schedules for everyone in the event that something like this happens again.
The really scary thing about it is that five fire engines reported to the accident and we didn't hear any of their sirens, see any lights, or even the first explosion (they lost both vehicles in the fire). It's nice to have a home that is insulated and built correctly to muffle the outside noises, but at the same time, it was a bit disturbing to know our neighbor's house was 1/2 burnt up before we even knew about it!


For those who are curious, they believe at this point that one of the vehicles started the fire (the Ford Expedition). Both of their vehicles are fairly new, so that's shocking. The other issue was the fire hydrant. We have one in the cul-de-sac to service all 7 homes. In fact, it is located right next to their property. However, it was an unknown dead hydrant (meaning, it had no water). Delay of the water caused the continued destruction of the home. They had to pipe from the next nearest hydrant that is down and around the corner and at the next corner (essentially an entire block away). That hose actually got kinked and delayed water yet again.
Knowing what my parents went through 3 1/2 years ago with their house fire, we were out there this morning with them advising them to take their own pictures of the smoke, water, and fire damage throughout the house as well as to go ahead and remove any important documents (such as their house insurance policy, checkbooks, ss cards and birth certificates).