Thank you engine 77!

Date/Time
June 13, 2008, 6:15 p.m.

Setting
Wade has gone camping for the evening. It's just mom and Lucy. Time for dinner.

Plot
Mom: Lucy, do you want some dinner? How about spaghetti?
Lucy: Yum! I love spaghetti!!

Mom goes to the stove and gets a pot started for boiling. Click, click. The sound of the gas stove igniting.

Mom: Hmmm... that will take a while. Let's go watch "So You Think You Can Dance" while the water boils.

Mom and Lucy enjoy So You Think You Can Dance (mostly mom). Lucy shows off a few moves of her own.

Mom: Sniff, sniff. What's that smell? Oh well... maybe someone is BBQ'ing. Oh, my favorite dancer is on next.

A few minutes pass by.

Mom: Sniff, sniff. What?? That smells like..... hmm. Is that gas? Lucy, do you smell something?
Lucy: La, la, la

Mom quickly jumps up from the couch, suddenly realizing that burner didn't ignite! The house is filled with gas. She runs to the stove to turn the gas off, but then realizes that she would have to pass the "ignite" switch in order to turn the stove off!

Mom: What do I do??? Why did dad go camping?? What do I do?? Why did dad go camping?!??

Mom turns the stove as low as it can go and opens all windows and doors, then runs to get Lucy and the phone. She takes all outside, knocking Lucy's knees on the back door and she squeezes through as quickly as possible.

Lucy: Ouch! MOMMMMYY!!!

Lucy is sad. Mom is freaking out. Mom turns on the phone and calls 9-1-1.

Mom: Um, my house smells like gas. I left the stove on (I'm an idoit) and didn't realize it didn't ignite. What do I do?
9-1-1: Okay, mam. Calm down, and then GET OUT OF THE HOUSE! Don't turn anything off. Don't turn off the phone. Don't turn off the lights. Don't turn off So You Think You Can Dance.

Mom freaks out a little bit more. Really?

9-1-1: We're sending out some help.

Mom runs through the house and takes Lucy to a neighbor's house. Then she waits... and waits. It seems like an eternity (actually only 1-1/2 minutes), and then the sirons start blaring. It sounds like the entire fire department is on its way! Mom calls her mom, and her mom laughs at her.

Two firetrucks pull up, and mom looks around to see how many neighbors are peeking out their windows. Only 4 so far. Ten or so firemen get out of their trucks, and 2 men go into the house with nifty equipment and then come back out. One fireman went through the entire house (yes, even mom's bedroom where laundry that was spread and piled all over her bed, waiting for a "better time" to fold it). "I should have folded it! Why didn't I fold it?", she thought. He opened all the windows upstairs, and mom even saw him step on her couch, but that's okay.

After 15 to 20 minutes, they give the "okay" to re-enter the house. Fireman #1 talks to mom about safety (I guess it's a given she needed the lesson). He told her they were happy to come out, though, and that she did the right thing (phew!). He even showed her that if you "quickly" pass the ignite button on your stove, it will not try to ignite, so it's safe to turn off when gas is filling the air. Well, that's a lesson she won't have to learn twice.

So, all in all, Lucy got to meet a fireman in person and mom got to meet 3 new neighbors. As soon as the firemen left, they ran upstairs to take a picture.

Have you ever had a fire truck come to your house? Or even a police officer? Or an ambulance?

How old were you when you met your first fireman?

Did you know that your stove doesn't try to ignite if you quickly pass over it? Did you just go to your stove right now to make sure??