Oh yes, the fire...

So we were enjoying the beauty of the outdoors in Quebec last Friday night, and thought it was a perfect night for a camp fire and s'more making. I decided to show off my s'more making abilities from all my years at summer camp. We'd just gotten started when it started to pour rain, again! So I stuffed the four marshmellows I was working on and headed up to the main resort building we were staying in.(heaven forbid the 4 marshmellows get wet from the rain, that would have wrecked them and who wants to destroy perfectly roasted marshellows) We gathered around the indoor fire place and decided to light a fire to warm -up, dry off and finish making smores. I offered to make the fire and smores for everyone. I'd seen a fire there the night before and thought it looked so cozy. We got cozy, about 12 of us and everyone enjoyed the smores. Then we heard a roaring sound, I figured it was just a "roaring" fire place. Then we heard Julie "singing?!?!?" She was actually out of breath, running up the stairs yelling, "The chimney is on fire, FIRE...flames are shooting out 5-6 feet!!" I looked up and saw that the chimney flute at the ceiling as glowing orange/red. There was a bad fire in the chimney. I knew that the base fire needed to be put out as soon as possible, We started an asembley line from the bar, with water jugs. I immediately used the few bottles of water near me, right away. We had the fire out in a couple minutes, I looked up and the red glow was gone, I knew the worst was over, the flames had stopped shooting out the top. Just as I was calm and knew it was all okay, that's when everyone else started to panic just a little. I'd asked someone to call the maintenance man asap, one of our group leaders pulled the fire alarm and everyone headed outside in the rain. While I spoke with the maintenance man and informed him that the fire was out, but that a fireman would have to take a look at it, because the chimney had obviously not been cleaned recently or properly. It was admitted to me later, that the chimney sweep had cleaned the upper part of the chimney but not the lower.Plus it was pointed out the smoke detectors didn't work/go off. The smoke was actually a result of the fire being put out, but there was a lot of smoke and someone called 911. I knew that probably wasn't necessary, but they came out in full force, 2 trucks and 10 men,to put out a fire that was already out. Once we realized we were not in harms way and wet from the rain, we headed into the main meeting room, that was even before the firemen all arrived. I was surprised by the over reaction, but later the scene calmed down. I apologized for the fire I didn't intend to start, I said, "I just wanted to mske my friends smores!" By then everyone was able t laugh at the situation, the firemen were not laughing. IT could have been so much worse, I'm so grateful that it was raining and that the roof was wet. It was a "wake-up" call for the resort owners, as the firemen were not impressed that the smoke detectors didn't work and that the chmney had not been properly cleaned.
We weren't allowed to go back to bed for awhile, so out came the game "Taboo", we had two teams, mine team was called "firestarters" those that joined me for smores, and the others, the "smoke-eaters". We ended up having so much fun, laughing so hard and for the first time on the retreat, we forgot that we had cancer.
For the rest of the weekend, the fire jokes were sent my way and we all had fun with it. The fire became a theme of the weekend, and I joked that I "feather" was a part of the phoenix that rose up out of the flames.
Considering my Grandpa Butchart was a fire chief for 30 years, I figure he would have been proud of me for putting out the fire and safetly assessing the situation, but he would not have been impressed that it was because I wanted to make smores. oops!
I was forgiven and I am welcome back at the follow-up retreat in Lake Louise in Alberta in October. Thank-you Geoff and Leslie for still liking me after I almost gave you heart failure.
Needless to say, everyone at the retreat knew who I was after that. I don't know that I've ever been notorious for anything, I have to admit I felt a little like a rebel:)


The Rebellious one,

Feather