Burning Down the House | A Photoset

The big burn…in pictures {a.k.a. showing off some pics of the fire that I took while using some cool new settings on my phone cam}. Enjoy!

The birds were ready for a show. {Sorry, I can’t help myself. Just thought these blackbirds looked cool…and very ominous…sitting in this barren tree on a fall morning}

Crews from the West Des Moines Fire Department brought out all their heavy equipment for running pre-burn fire drills throughout the house. They even shut down Army Post Road for the morning…this operation was legit!

Some of us bystanders chose to watch from prime roadside seats…

…while others chose to get up close and personal to the activities. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew was soon gearing up for action…

…as the blaze was finally started with a stack of dry pallets in the garage. Don’t try this at home, folks. That is, of course, unless you plan on burning your house down as well…

We watched in awe at how quickly the inferno began to spread {yep…that’s Missy with the camcorder }.

And once the shingles caught, it was game over for our lovely pinkish house at 645 Army Post. I’m sure you could see the thick black smoke for miles!

Surprisingly, the rest of the house didn’t take long to go; the firefighters kept busy by soakingthe surrounding property to keep any stray blazes from springing up. However, they then turned their attention {and hoses} to the smoldering remnants…and made sure to give it a good dousing! Soon, all that was left standing was our lonely chimney stack.