Hebrews 10:24

Calvary The Brook - Grand Terrace California

From the journal of our Director, we get a glimpse at a recent near - tragedy. Although, we will let him explain it in his own words. 12/22/2010 I am a lightning rod, it would seem, for the inevitable problem, the “Master of Disaster” so to speak. Sometimes my life resembles an “I Love Lucy” episode. But some of these things are not so funny when they are happening to you. Today is a case in point. I will not soon forget it. I am continuing to try to get the trailer ready for the ministry so that we can begin to do things in the community. I have made some good progress, but it still feels as though there is much to do. We have endured nearly a week of rain and it appears as though there is a leak in the roof of the trailer, so with more rain forecast for the rest of the week, I thought I would bring the trailer under the carport to afford it some protection until the rain is over. There are already two places inside where the carpet is wet and the lights in the top of the back have filled with water. It is quite a trick fitting the trailer into the carport. I have only about six inches of clearance on either side and my side-view mirrors are not really large enough to give me good vision on the trailer. It took about fifteen minutes this time to back the trailer in. Once I had backed the trailer in, I decided to check out the lights. The right rear light on the trailer has been on steady as though the brake was on. It worked for a short period but quit when I put on the rest of the lights. I was thinking that perhaps it is simply a swapped wire. Brian told me he would check it out, but there is no telling when He will get around to it and I have a little time today, so I decided to look into it myself. Having isolated the running lights and the left turn signal, I

Trailer Fire (12/22/10) 

was only left with two wires, so I decided to swap them to see if this would correct my problem. When I switched them I heard a pop. Great, I thought, I have blown a fuse. Not thinking that this might be something more serious, I continued to work. Very quickly however, I discovered just how serious it was. Smoke began to billow from the back of my Jeep Grand Cherokee. I quickly reached over and disconnected the lights. This did not help as the Jeep had now filled entirely with smoke. Realizing at that point the ignition and lights were on, I ran to the driver’s side of the car and turned off the ignition and lights. I ran around to the back and opened the hatch and thick black smoke poured out of the Jeep. Panic began to wrap its ugly little fingers around my heart as it became clear this was more serious than a short. Despite the fact that the wiring was disconnected, and the ignition was off, smoke rose with greater intensity from behind the panel in the driver’s side rear of the Jeep. The panel is screwed and clipped on. As I looked a little more closely, I could see light coming from the speaker vent on the panel. The car was not just smoking. It was on fire! Quickly in my head, I thought about getting a screwdriver to remove the panel, but just as quickly dismissed it since I thought the car would be beyond my ability to extinguish the fire at that point. I reached with my hands and pulled with all of my might to dislodge the panel. It was open just enough I figured to put out the fire. Looking around I spotted a towel on the floor next to the panel. I shoved it in the crack between the wall and the panel hoping to smother the fire. I didn’t work. I almost caught the towel on fire instead. Without thinking clearly I ran into the house, knocking over the dogs who were waiting excitedly at the door and running to the cabinet for a large cup. I found an old 40oz 7-11 cup which I filled with water and ran back out to the jeep. The smoke was coming out from the car heavier and

darker by the time I arrived. I pulled on the panel and splashed the water up on the fire. I might as well have blown on it. Nothing! The fire was growing brighter. At this point my options were racing through my mind. Should I try to pull the car and trailer out into the middle of the street and let them burn? Mind you, I have only about four inches of clearance on either side of the Jeep and I wasn’t sure if my nerves were steady enough to pull out without getting the trailer caught. Should I get away? After all the fire was burning just on the other side from my fuel fill-up. Visions of my car exploding, me dying, and my house burning to the ground – all three days before Christmas were becoming very real to me. I could not afford to let the car burn so I headed for the hose. I turned it on and raced back to the car and shoved it between the panel and blasted it into the space. The fire was finally extinguished and, after waiting to see that it was truly out, I collapsed on the couch in the living room. My hands were shaking. It could have been so bad. About an hour later I was cleaning up and noticed a shiny object on the ground about three feet away from the car. It was my wedding ring. I have no idea how or when it had come off. Fortunately, the damage to the car was not severe and I escaped injury. God must have been looking out for me. I hate to think what would have happened if this had occurred on the freeway. The car would have burned to the ground at a minimum. I called Jeanette and relayed the whole situation to her. Jeanette said I am no longer allowed to work on the electrical on the trailer. I will not fight her on this one. (end) We were blessed that no one was injured. It could have been so much worse. Please keep Ripples in your prayers. It is our heart to reach out to children for God. If you would like to help out our ministry, please contact the Calvary the Brook office and let them know it is for Ripples.