We were driving home from Nixa just before midnight. Joel saw smoke and flames to the west. He said a house was on fire. He called 911. I told him we needed to turn around. I looked at the clock and worried that someone was sleeping in the house. It seemed like we drove forever before there was a place to turn. An orange glow surrounded the roof. Joel ran to the house and banged on the windows with his flash light. He hit the window so hard, he thought the glass would break. I stayed in the truck with two sleeping babies. I prayed. I could hear my husband striking the windows and beating on the door. No answer. Joel kicked the door in. He yelled, “Your house is on fire!” The house was dark. Two young men were in the livingroom. They were probably trying to figure out what to do about the crazy guy beating on their windows. I could hear Joel asking if anyone else was in the house. Everyone was out safely. Other people started to drive up. Joel asked some people to move their cars. The firefighters would need to park there. The firefighters… Where were they? We called 911 before midnight. The trucks didn’t start pulling up until 12:10. That seemed like the longest 10 minutes in the world. Until it was followed by the next 10 minutes. Ten minutes that dragged on as flames reached into the night while the water hoses remained dry. At 12:20, the house was still burning unabated. Spectators were starting to gather, a few were* laughing and taking pictures with their cell phones.

Note: I carry my digital camera with me at all times. I can’t even go into Wal-Mart without it. I worry that I’ll miss a great photo opportunity. When we left home tonight, I realized that I had left the camera’s battery in the charger. I almost made Joel turn back, but decided against it. While Joel was getting the guys out of that burning house… I was in the truck, hitting my head against the dash… mumbling, “battery… battery… arghhh!” Joel has a camera on his Treo. I got him to take some photos for you. They’re little comfort.

* Edited for clarification: Not everyone was laughing. But I did notice a couple of people doing so. I guess there’s more than one reason to go towards a house fire. Some go out of concern, others are looking for inexpensive entertainment.