Fire!

Early Wednesday morning about 4am, I received a text telling me that there was a fire at the mill in Tilleda.  I got out of bed and called my brother, Pat.  He was already on his way and almost there. 

He called me just as we were getting in the car to leave.  He said it was definitely an electrical fire and that it didn't take the entire structure down.  That was good to hear. 

When we arrived, there were several fire trucks and lots of firemen.  Most of them weren't doing much or anything since there wasn't an active fire to be seen.  There were still sparks when they sprayed inside the removeable part of the roof.  I could see wisps of smoke in the lights.

Apparently there was smoke earlier in the day and the guys checked it out.  Mike the electrician came and cleaned things out and didn't find the source either.  Pat came back at 8pm and again at 10pm and didn't find anything.  Randy comes to work at midnight to start hauling chips and didn't see anything.  But when he returned at 3am, there were a lot of flames.  He tried using fire extinguishers to no avail.   

As I walked over to my brother, we had a side hug type of embrace.  I needed that and so did he.  It was a reassurance that all would be okay.  The chipper motor was not burned; not even the belts!  The insurance carrier said to get an estimate and "let's get you back up and running."  A fire is never a positive thing but this may be a blessing in disguise as the new updated electrical will be installed and will be outside in a concrete "bunker" to keep the dust out.

Pat said he had such emotions that he didn't expect.  He always thinks, "this is Dad's baby, not mine."  I told him it may have been Dad's baby but it is his rebellious teenager.  We will get through this and I have every confidence that all will be well.