Just call me Smokey the Tupperware lady! lol

Last summer on a late afternoon driving to the lake.....I spotted a young man on the side of the road. When I got closer I saw smoke coming from the woods, it was the beginning of a small brush fire......the culprit? a cigarette carelessly tossed or flicked out of a passing vehicle. The young man was trying to call 911 to report this, but had no idea exactly where he was, he was just passing through and it's a fairly secluded road with houses that range in the upper 800K on one side and what is left of forever shrinking wild life preserve on the other side.

I can't tell you how many cars passed without a care....maybe they thought the situation was under control...I am hoping that is the reason. I was running behind joining the rest of my family and friends at the lake because I was home washing, cutting, chopping fresh fruits to make a huge fruit salad and I had thrown it into my largest piece of Tupperware. While I was trying to relay to the young man and 911 just exactly where we were, I flipped my fruit salad off into the bush, at least the animals will benefit from that forced to litter moment and I began my 3rd time in my life as a make shift fire fighter! lol

Here I was, standing in a very large puddle about 30 feet from the area that was now starting to blaze, in my very favorite pair of summer sandals and capris, scooping up water, running into the woods and throwing water on the fire......don't ever under estimate the power of a woman with Tupperware! lol The area grew from just about a 12 inch by 12 inch area to about a 6 foot by 6 foot area in a matter of minutes, but me and my Tupperware bowl were getting the upper hand.......A man in a pick up truck who stopped and said he lived near by was getting a 5 gallon bucket out of his truck and was making his way to the small creek down the road when the fire department finally arrived at the scene. By then it was no longer flaming, just a lil smoke was still coming up from the area around a telephone poll that it spread to.

Did I get a thanks for being such a good citizen? no.....I was yelled at to get away from there before I got hurt! How could I have got hurt with my handy dandy Tupperware bowl there to protect me! lol although my puddle was shrinking! lol The young man with the phone took off when he heard the sirenscoming.....so I stayed behind to give a report, if needed. The man with the pick up truck...stopped by me on his way back to his truck and asked me if I was all right and he thanked me.

By the time I arrived at the lake, my sandals, shirt and capris where ruined, I had mud all over my arms and my legs and my Tupperware bowl was empty except for the drying mud.....Jim just looked at me as I muttered don't even ask! lol Since he knows me well enough and that I don't do anything without a good reason, he didn't push for an answer.

The reason I stated in an above paragraph that it was my 3rd attempt at fire fighting was because, the other two times I had to try and put out a fire when I was much younger.....my teens.....both times took place in my bedroom, one was with a candle that I forgot to extinguish before falling asleep for the night (this is the reason candles are not allowed in  my kids rooms today) and the other time it was my pajamas with me still in them! yikes! With my bedroom the fire department actually had to come and assist me! lol I also was treated for smoke inhalation as well as my sister who's room was across the hall from mine and with my pajama fire (again my fault playing with a butane lighter while on the phone) was just a flash fire, out as soon as it started but all the loops on my terry cloth jammies were gone, even though the material underneath didn't even have a scorch! I was a very lucky girl!