Heartbreak In S.E. Mesa

I had just finished my dinner at one of the Valley's finest dining establishments tonight (those who know me will recognize this as Chipotle...... Mmmmmmmm) when I saw a thick column of black smoke rising from the neighborhood to the east. I headed that way and got to the location on South Longspur about the same time as the first fire trucks.











It seems a family's van had caught fire either in the driveway or in the garage and had then been pushed into the drive.












When I pulled up the van was fully engulfed in the driveway and the Fire Dept. was just rolling out the hoses.










In quick order they were both hosing the van and house and shortly thereafter laid a protective foam layer on the neighboring house. By that time the flames from the van had ignited the eaves right above it and the flames were drawn up under the roof tiles.











Before long the roof was ablaze with flames shooting into the night sky.









There was a unit positioned on the cross street just to the north with a ladder or lift from which the firefighters had an overhead view of the fire. I think they had to wait until the roof fire was under a bit more control as I didn't see any spray from the overhead position until the flames had been subdued.


Here are some more shots:



The old saying is true that says, "If you set a house afire people will gather to watch it burn."














A view from down the block to the South.










At one point the smoke really thickened at ground level and you couldn't even see the men working the blaze.



































Those of you who are inclined to pray might intercede on behalf of this family. I'm sure they'd appreciate it.

Thankfully, to my knowlege, and that of the officer I spoke to at the scene, no one was injured in the blaze.