where do i start?
i got home from taking the dog out at about 4pm, then did a bit of housework as my brother is coming over this weekend for my birthday. i decided to have a bath, so i ran the bath. i had all the windows in the house open as i have had recently (its been quite warm and its nice to air the house out). well i smell this burning smell. nothing unusual, we live near a lot of fields so am used to the burning crops smell.
it starts to get quite smoky, so i go and close all the windows. just about to get in the bath when i realise its suddenly gone VERY dark. look out the window and i cant see the houses at the other side of the road. thinking this is a bit wierd, but i just thought one of the farmers is burning something, and its really windy so its blowing the smoke over.
then i look at the field behind the houses across the road and notice its on fire.
start getting a bit worried at this point. i go outside and ask the neighbours whats going on.
well long story short, the field thats ACROSS THE ROAD from the field opposite my house is on fire. the fire has CROSSED THE ROAD and has set our field alight. the neighbours across the road are trying to hose their fences down so they dont catch fire.
eventually a fire engine turns up, quickly followed by 4 more.
the fire has blown across the field and is now making its way down the street, behind the houses down the side of my house (we live on the corner). someone i used to work with's garden was fully alight, and it set fire to 2 houses in the road further down from us.
its now about 3 hours later, its pitch black, 2 and a half (terraced) houses have been burnt down, a car has been burnt to a crisp, my friend has lost her garden shed and decking (luckily the house was ok), a house on the other side of the field has been singed, a lot of people now have VERY burnt back gardens.
i feel sooooo sorry for the people in the 2 houses that are totally decimated now. they've lost everything. as of about 45 minutes ago they were still on fire, but under control.
i feel relieved that we're on the non field side of the road but i cant even start to imagine how the people whose houses burnt down are feeling.
garys on his way back from manchester, and they've closed all the surrounding roads, so he'll have to park about a half mile away and walk back.
i'm still in a bit of shock really.