Processing Yesterday

I usually try to keep my posts positive but I need to process yesterday's events and this is my best outlet.

I was driving back from taking our puppy to a dog park to let him run off some energy and socialize with other dogs. As we were driving home down Rt 29, in Centreville, VA, I noticed smoke coming over the treeline. It was a cold day but I knew the smoke was too thick and dark to simply be coming from a chimney.

About a mile down the road I could clearly see what I had feared; it was coming from the roof of a house. Rt. 29 is a very busy four lane road but at that point no one was around the house. I pulled into the neighbor's driveway and called 911. As I jumped out of my truck another guy was pulling in behind me. He ran to the house and I ran to the neighbor's house (which was very close) to alert them.

As we tried to get in the front door of the house we could see the second level was full of smoke and the flames were coming down the stairs. We began looking in the bottom floor windows to see if we could see anyone inside. By that time the backyard was already burning from the debris coming off the back of the house.

Just minutes after Fire and Rescue arrived the house erupted with flames and smoke. It was so intense they had to spray the houses on both sides to keep it from spreading, and at one point they were concerned that they might lose several houses in the neighborhood. It ended up being a two alarm fire that took 60 firefighters an hour to get under control.

An elderly gentleman was inside and died in the fire. Talking with the next door neighbor I learned that the man lived there with his daughter and son-in-law and that the man's wife had passed away a couple of months ago.

So, those events and that family are weighing heavy on my heart and mind.