House Fires & Heroes

Just after midnight on Friday, May 1st my dear family and I experienced a house fire!   I am unable to describe in words, what went on, but in images, the story is startling.  While most of the house remained unscathed, the garage took the brunt of the damage and the entire house was filled with smoke as the firefighters went to work.

The Hershey Fire Department is volunteer.  Engine 48 is its house, and quite a few of the men and women who came to our rescue are people that I know...some are fellow housefathers whom Andy & I worked alongside for many years.  Others are folks who coach in town on sports league of which my children belong.

They are all heroes.

What makes a hero??  I  define a hero as someone who defies the odds and performs something supernatural for the sake of saving someone else's life. 

While my children and husband backed away from our beloved burning house, men and women ran in to save it.  In the closed up garage stood our gold Toyota Prius with half of a tank of gas in it.  One firefighter asked for the keys so that he could back it out of the flames that had engulfed it.  The car runs fine because it never caught fire.

How did the fire start?  An electrical wire caught fire in the rear of the garage due to a faulty swimming pool pump timer.  In the picture below, firefighters are inspecting what they believe is the source of the flame.

We were in fact home when the fire started...in fact we were just heading to bed when the kids and I smelled smoke.  Ironically, my kids had asked me earlier if they could go to the midnight showing of the newest Marvel's "Avengers", but I said no because I had work in the morning. It's interesting because looking back--I suppose we DID get to see some Super Heroes after all!


Thanks, Engine 48 for your tireless commitment.  We appreciate you so much!

Sincerely,
~The Slamans Family

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