Fire

Little Lake Santa Fe.  We go there every year, sometimes twice a year.  This year, there was some excitement.  We watched smoke rise from the trees for about 20 minutes before something struck us as odd.  Initially, we assumed it was a brush fire.  People burn stuff on their property all the time and nobody takes notice.  But the smoke just didn’t seem to let up.

Picture one, 1:36 p.m. when we decided something was not right:

Fire 1

We kept on tubing and having fun, looking over to see if there were any changes.  By this time, people were starting to drive their boats over to watch.  Suddenly, we notice a huge change in the smoke.

Picture 2, 1:41 p.m.:

Fire 2

The smoke had become very black.  We assumed they had a brush fire gone wrong, and headed over on the boat to take a look.

This is what we saw.

Pictures 3 and 4, 1:48 p.m.:

Fire 3

Fire 4

About the time we saw the very black smoke, we also started to hear fire engines.  The smoke had been showing in the sky for over 20 minutes.  At home, there is no way anyone would have waited to call the fire department.  In this area, however, smoke is a normal thing.  The first thing you assume is someone is burning their brush.  The other weird thing was that we drove the boat past there once, before the flames showed, and people seemed to be outside looking around the house as if something weren’t right.  But it was a solid 20 minutes before the sirens could be heard.

The Gainesville Sun reported the fire the following day, but they didn’t have much more information than we had:

Cause of house fire on Little Lake Santa Fe Unknown

Ooooh big excitement for a little town.  I’m feeling really bad for the people who own the house.

August 6, 2008 | Filed Under Trips and Travel 

Comments

4 Responses to “Fire”

  1. tribeofautodidacts on August 7th, 2008 8:12 am

    Yikes! I assume no one was hurt; that’s good news. :-)

  2. jove on August 7th, 2008 2:57 pm

    Well, and really glad it didn’t catch all those trees nearby. Imagine what a huge mess that would have been. Glad you (and assuming those in the house) are okay.

  3. Not June Cleaver on August 7th, 2008 4:37 pm

    Actually, the trees above the house did catch on fire and big chunks of Spanish moss were falling off of them. It was creepy.

    According to the news story linked, the owners of the house were outside down by the water and that’s why they didn’t notice the fire for so long. I guess it was easier to see from a distance?

  4. debra on August 12th, 2008 10:08 pm

    I can’t imagine being just out of range when my house was burning down…

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