Robyn FletcherA Blazin Summer DayAudience: Anyone trying to cook and do something else at the same time.
The warm, sunny July day started out just like any other day during the summer of 91. My mother and father had left for work and left my two brothers Donnie 19 and Andre 18 to baby-sit me. We woke up around 9:30 AM, and got dressed to go to the store to pick up the items for lunch. We returned home at 11:15 A. M. I ran off to my room to catch the last 45 min of The Young and the Restless.
Donnie went to the kitchen to begin preparation for lunch. At 11:30 while in the kitchen preparing the hamburger meat, and heating the grease for the tarter tots, Andre asked him to cut his hair. Donnie said, sure go get the stuff ready. While the grease was heating Donnie and Andre went into the bathroom to cut hair. By 11:45 they were done cutting each others hair and Donnie walked into the kitchen, while Andre cleaned up the bathroom. As soon as Donnie placed a handful of tarter tots into the grease it bubbled up and over the pot and on to the stove.
Once on the stove the grease and fire contacted each other, it ignited the stove on fire. From the stove it spread over the linoleum counter top and crawled up the wall above the stove. The fire spread across the ceiling and over to the opposing wall, burning the curtains on the window. It stopped and reversed directions to the adjoining wall on the left. It burnt a small enough hole to go between the wall and the foundation to burn the wires to the dishwasher. While this was happening Donnie had picked up the pot, still on fire, with pot holders, and tried to throw it out the back door, but failed because the gate was locked.
Next he tried to make it to the front door about 100 feet from the back door, but didn’t make it because the pot holders caught on fire and were burning his hands. He dropped the pot, still on fire next to yellow and brown chair in the living room. He then proceed to run out side to get the water house and bring it into the house to put on the pot, but that just made things worse. Andre, hearing all the noise ran out of the bathroom to see what was going on.
He yelled for me to get out of the house, and runs into the kitchen. I didn’t really know what was going on, I too had heard the noise but didn’t pay attention because it was my brother. When Andre yelled for me to leave the house I knew something was wrong. There was nothing that I could do but stand at the door and watch what was going on. While Donnie made several attempt to put the fire out I was laughing to myself, because he was doing weird and stupid things. I wasn’t thinking about calling for help or that someone might seriously be hurt, all I wanted to know was what was happening.
The walls, curtains, and dishwasher were still on fire. He, Andre, grabbed the baking soda and ran into the living room to put out the pot. Meanwhile Donnie took the hose to the kitchen and tried to put the walls out, but that didn’t work. Andre pulled Donnie back and started throwing Baking soda on the walls and the counter until the fire was out. With the fire out, we still had an extremely hot pot on the floor burning a hole in it. Donnie picked up the pot, and took it outside burning his hand even worse.
The only other damage the pot did was scorch the chair. The walls in the kitchen were pitch black and we had no electricity in the front half the house or the basement. Donnie called his girlfriend at work to come and help us clean up the mess. He then called his best-friend to takes him to the doctor to treat his hand. The only damage to the whole house was the kitchen and no power in the front half of the house.
We are lucky because sitting right next to the stove was a can of Pam, and it didn’t exploded like it could make the situation worse. We tried to clean the house up as much as we could, but after everything was done and said we were all laughing. The rest of the summer was spent at what used to be called the Ramada Inn on 87th and 435, while they repainted the whole house and remodeled the kitchen. We were all worried that our parents would be upset, but they surprised us and were happy that no one was seriously hurt. To this day we make jokes about that day and my parents tell my brother A watched pot never boils. I had heard my mother say that time and time before, but I never knew what it meant until that day.
Now looking back on that day I realize that I should be thankful that no one was hurt and that the fire didn’t burn the whole house down. I guess laughing was my way of dealing with all the mixed emotion that I was feeling at the time.Creative Writing
