Salmon with a side of a fire...extinguisher.

Eight years ago when Jarrett and I were getting certified to become adoptive parents, one of the items we needed for the home was a fire extinguisher... not just one but two.  I never thought we'd use them.  Seriously, I figured they would just collect dust (like the picture below).  Tonight I learned why families should have a fire extinguisher near by.

Last Thursday I went to the doctor and from my blood test the doctor could tell I haven't been taking the best care of myself.  Seriously laying around for 9 months was great for baby, not too good for mom's health.  Not to mention all the medication I was taking... my liver is not happy about it.  The doctor told me to start eating better (no surprise) and to get back into an exercise routine.

So I thought I'd get started this weekend by making salmon.  Our dear friends make an amazing salmon on the grill so I texted Sonya to ask her for the recipe.  I was so proud of myself as I'm not the most experienced (nor qualified) at making fish... other than fish sticks.  But things were going well.  Madelyn was sleeping in her bouncer next to me, while the other three kiddos were playing Legos and Dad was working in the office.  I had the rice cooking, the spinach sauteing, the fish was on the grill and I was cutting up fruit for a fruit salad.  All was well until I walked to the back door to go and check on the fish.  I looked out back to see our grill on fire.  ON FIRE!  And I'm not exaggerating  Literally the flames were shooting out above the grill to the top of our 6 foot fence separating our house from the neighbor's house.  

I ran outside and without really thinking what I was doing I turned all the burners off.  I then tried to walk (more like run) around the grill, while dodging the flames to turn off the LP gas tank.  My hope was that it would not only to kill the fire but also keep the tank from exploding.  I thought the fire would go out right away but it didn't and the flames continued to shoot up higher and higher.

I ran back to the house and shouted for Jarrett inside "THE GRILL IS ON FIRE!" and ran back outside to try and get it out.  Thankfully Jarrett came running out and shut the lid to the grill thinking cutting the oxygen would kill the fire.  It didn't.  

I saw that our salmon (expensive might I add) was still on the grill and while black and charred like a log on a campfire, I wanted to save what we could and asked Jarrett to save it.  He opened the grill, reached in with our metal spatula and pulled it off the fire.  We set it on the paver block and as Jarrett noticed the thermometer on the grill read 800 degrees (and possibly more- as 800 is as high as it goes).

Jarrett then shouted for me to run and get the fire extinguisher.  He ran and go the one in the garage while I got the one in the kitchen.  I was so scared that the tank was going to explode and I wasn't sure if we should even use that type of extinguisher on this type of fire.  At work we are required to go through Fire Safety Training which outlines what type of extinguisher you need for each type of fire.  As the flames continued to shoot up and smoke billow toward our neighbor's house I replayed what I had learned in training over in my mind.  I asked Jarrett if we should call the firemen.  Seriously I was afraid our house (less than 4 feet away) was going to catch on fire.  

At the same time, Jarrett pulled the plug on the extinguisher, stood about 8 feet away and fired.  A huge powder fog filled the air and shot toward the grill.  Immediately the flames disappeared and was instead replaced with rolling smoke.  It smelled like a huge camp fire mixed with the smell that fills the air after a huge building fire.  While I was thankful the flames were out, the smoke was so much that I'm sure it filled the backyards of those houses on our side of the street.  

By this point I was shaking, overcome with fear and my nerves shot.  Jarrett, thankfully stayed calm, went back in the house and got water to pour on the smoke.  I guess those years as a boy scout really did come to pay off.  He poured water on it and the smoke disappeared.  With each passing second the emotions and fears changed from emergency response mode, to reflective mode... what in the world had I almost done?  I could have started my house on fire?  OR even worse hurt my family (or others) very badly if the LP tank would have exploded.  As the reality set in and those fears crept into my mind, I felt worse and worse.  

Jarrett noticed my shaking and told me to calm down, that everything was okay (well not the grill) but that it wasn't worth getting so worked up over. 

I walked into our house with our blackened salmon (don't some restaurants charge a lot of money for that?) and put it on the counter to see if I could salvage it.  I cut off the outer layers and determined it was gonna work.  

Twenty minutes later we sat down for dinner and everyone decided our grilled (somewhat charred) salmon was good.  Meanwhile my heart, mind and worries were still racing through the images of what could have happened.

  Tonight, as I get ready for bed, I'm thanking God above for watching out for us and for not letting anything worse happen.  It really was a good reminder to me of just how quickly things can go from being good to very very scary.  

Thank you God for protecting us and watching out for us and for keeping my family safe.  

And from now on, I think I'll let Jarrett do the grilling... and I'll save the blackened salmon for when I eat out at a restaurant... or at our good friend's house. 

Until next time,

Angie

PS:  To end on a happier, lighter note... Madelyn turned 11 weeks yesterday.  How can she be so old already?

She continues to grow... smile continuously... and melt our hearts...