Brian was looking at the load board and a good load came across but Brian would have to leave right away, unfortunally missing out on New Years night. I was sad that he had to leave but I understood. He went out to prep and start his semi as I started to gather his clothes together to take on his voyages. Brian came back inside frustrated that the truck batteries had died and he needed to jump his truck. He grabs the keys to the Plymouth and drives up to the front of his semi and hooks the cables up from the van to the truck to jump start it. He comes back inside to help collect the things he needs to bring with him letting the truck get a good charge before he tries to start it.
We were talking in the bedroom while I was finishing up packing his bag having small conversation when Elizabeth, who was 9 years old at the time, came into our room. "I just looked out my bedroom window and I am seeing smoke coming from the van." she says.
"Oh, that' not smoke. That is exhaust from the van going into the air. Don't worry about it." Brian says to her.
"Okay," doubtfully sounding as she left the room. A few moments later she comes back in. "I really think it's smoke coming from the van."
Brian reassured her that she was just seeing the exhaust and how confusing that can be to a young person. She left the room again. We went on with our conversation for a little while. I casually walked into the back room to grab something for Brian. I looked out the window and I saw flames starting to lick up from the lifted hood of our van. "OH MY GOODNESS, BRIAN! THERE IS A FIRE!" I yell to him.
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| Taken December 31, 2007 a short time after we discoved our van was on fire. |
He darts across the house to the back door where I was standing. "MY TRUCK!" he yells out, "CALL 911!" He ran out the door and out to the van.
I grabbed the phone and proceeded to call 911. The operator asked if the van was near the house or another building. I told her no but it was near the road and my husband's semi truck. Of course she also asked if there were any injuries which there were none since we were all inside. Then she informed me that she was sending the fire department out our way.
I put on my shoes and ran out to join Brian. He was busy trying to toss snow into the engine to try to extinguish the flames but it was of no use. He realized how close the van was to his truck and tried to drive it further back in the driveway. He tried to break but it didn't want to stop. Somehow, with God's help, the van stopped short of entering the roadway. Brian opens up the slider door of the van and quickly pulls out the car seats and tosses them to the side in the snow. He dashes over to me with a look of doom in his eyes. "There's nothing we can do but just watch her burn." he said.
We stood there is awe watching the flames lick up around the van mockingly dancing around taunting at our helplessness. The children started to come outside to see such an amazing sight. Our focus turned to the children in keeping them safe. We went inside and I escorted them to our bedroom where they can see from the window in the safety of indoors. I grabbed my camera and went back outside to join my husband in watching our van be destroyed before our eyes.
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| 2000 Plymouth Voyager up in flames. |
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| Look to where the side mirror would be. You can see the melted plastic dripping down. The windows at this point have melted away. |
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| The fire even goes right down to the tires. |
Then we remember that we had the children's Christmas gifts left inside from the night before. They were all gone now. Our favorite music CD's that we would listen to in the car - gone. Some of the receipts from the trucking business was now up in flames. Brian realized that he never tried using the alternative fuel that the van was designed to use but he always wanted to try out.
The heat was so intense that it was hard to get close to it. We kept watch to make sure a jumping spark didn't set off Brian's truck. The unplowed driveway was now lacking snow leaving a burning black residue in its place instead. The feeling was so surreal.
We would go inside to get warm only to hear knocks at the door of passer-byers informing us that our van was on fire. It was like a painful reminder of part of our life falling apart and there wasn't anything anyone can do to stop it. Neighbors would come by to make sure everyone was okay and to watch the devastation unfold before them. Cars would pull off at a safe distance to watch. I don't blame them for staring. It was hard not to look.
One small white car was slowly passing by. You can tell that she was looking at the fire. Right when she was passing smack dab behind the van something in the van made a small explosion and a loud pop. It was like our van was giving off a scary "Boo" to the white car. The car quickly accelerated and kept on driving north. We couldn't help but laugh. I think God knew we needed a comic relief break at that time.
The fire department finally showed up and put out the fire. By then there was nothing left to the van. The things that could melt were already melted off. The steering wheel was gone, parts of the tires were gone, the window's were gone, the seats were all gone. Our family van was nothing more than a pile of burnt metal.
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| Fire Department getting hoses ready to put out the fire. |
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| Elizabeth is looking on from the tree to the right. |
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| Firemen working hard to put the fire out. |
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| A skelton of a car lingers out from the smoke left behind from the flames. |
The fire chief did his job of trying to figure out what caused the fire. They pointed out that there was a charred area in the hood which gave them the impression that the fire started around the battery area. They questioned Brian wondering how our finances were and making sure that we didn't purposly start the fire. Our van was paid off so we just had basic PLPD insurance on it. If we purposely would of started a car fire we would of torched our non-working full coverage GMC van. But I am sure they were just doing their job. When they came to the conclusion that it wasn't deliberate they gave us their theory. They believe that the van was backfed through the jumper cables. Basically the batteries in the truck over-charged and the extra energy was fed back through the jumper cables and over heated the van batteries. We wondered if the new power steering pump malfunctioned causing some of the fluid to spark over onto the battery. The damage was done and there was nothing more we could do from it.
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| The firemen look over the van to establish cause for the fire. |
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| No steering where, no dashboard, no seats remain from the blazing inferno. |
I felt bad for not believing in Elizabeth when she told us she seen smoke. We should of looked right away when she said she seen smoke. Brian just came from the outdoors just a few minutes prior. Fire was the last thing that was on our minds or that one would even start. I told her that we should of believed her in knowing what she seen. She looked up at us sadly and said, "I told you I seen smoke."
The climax to our troubles was not yet over with. We look over at the semi which still didn't want to start. We look over at our GMC which wasn't working and we looked over at our charred Plymouth and realize we are totally without transportation. Brian had to cancel his run because the Plymouth was smack dab in front of the truck and we couldn't move the van because of the holiday. We had to wait until January 2nd for the scrap metal place to reopen from the holiday and take the van away. We ended up towing our other van to the shop to readily get that fixed. It was a bad start to a new year.
We tried to comfort our depression by telling each other that the van was only a 7 seater and we would soon need 8 seats but this would not be the way I would want to get rid of the van. I was happy to have my husband home to ring in the new year even if it was in horrible circumstances. Five years later there is still a burned spot in our driveway from where the van caught fire. Little bits of melted scrap metal pieces lie within the gravel of the driveway. When I mow near that spot I cannot help but think of that terrible New Year's Eve Day.
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