Fire! Fire!

Earlier this year we arranged for someone to come round a few times a year to feed, scarify, de-moss & weed the lawn etc. In other words to keep it in good fettle. Anyhow the man came yesterday for the spring treatment.

I duly showed him round to the back garden. Immediately we were struck by the billows of black smoke & a crackling sound. As we moved further into the garden we were struck by giant flames leaping into the sky.

We looked over the fence & were struck by a scene of utter chaos.

Our neighbour had decided to have a bonfire. The gentle breeze had blown a spark on to the hedge at the end of his garden which had duly taken light.

We watched as our neighbour ran in & out of the house with bowls of water, most of which he’d spilt by the time he’d got to the fire. Meanwhile his wife was trying to get out the long hose which was all tangled up. Eventually she managed to get it sorted & attached to the tap. 

By this time the workman who’d come to us had gone round to offer extra assistance & I was getting ready to dial 999 to get the fire brigade out if things got too out of hand. Trees were beginning to catch. Fortunately the hose was working & our neighbour managed to get it water through to dowse his neighbours’ wooden sheds with water before they went up to. He then managed to get the water on the hedge & trees & get the fire out.

It had all been rather Keystone Cops. It wasn’t helped by the fact our neighbour’s wife is Chinese & her English is not very good. What little she has disappeared in the panic of the occasion. 

However, the situation was rescued. We hadn’t had to get the fire brigade round twice in one week. I bet those other neighbours had a shock when they got home in the evening to discover the hedge had gone. I'd had visions of our beautiful new fences joining the inferno.