Once Upon a Time...Fire! Fire! Fire!

One autumn a couple of friends and I built a really cool fort out in the bush behind my friend Bro-Biz's house. It was constructed entirely of old dry tree branches. The bigger branches were bent over until they formed a dome shape. Once the dome was built we wove in more and more branches until it became solid. When the fort was finished there was plenty of room for three inside to play drinking cards or whatever. When the weather got colder we added a layer of hay to the outside for insulation.

Soon after the fort was built Bro-Biz moved to BC.

One winter night when we had nothing better to do MuskySlayer and I decided to go check in on the fort. When we arrived we found the fort in good condition and went inside. It was pretty dark inside so we had to use lighters in order to see. MuskySlayer had the bright idea of lighting a couple of strands of hay. As he was putting his lighter to the hay I said, "I don't know if you want to do that." He went ahead anyway. The first little flame worked its way up the piece of hay to where it met another little piece and another and another. Until it was clear that we had more flame than needed. MuskySlayer, always thinking, blew on the flame. I know he was thinking he could blow it out but all he really succeeded in doing was to spread the flames even more. When it became clear that we had lost control of the fire we made a hasty exit from the fort. When we got outside we saw what looked like a nice little campfire about 20 inches high coming out of the center of the roof. MuskySlayer tried the obligatory couple of quick smacks with his hand to try and smother the flames but that had no effect.

At this point we realized that we had to do something. So what do you do when you realize you've unleashed a fire in a wooded area of town? You Run! We bolted through the bush to where the car was and got the hell out of there. We figured the best thing we could do was to head up to the Husky and wait things out over a couple of plates of fries and gravy. After a couple of hours we headed back. Not right up to the fort of course. We figured we'd just drive by and if the fire department was there we would know that things had indeed gotten out of hand. Much to our relief there was nothing out of the ordinary. No fire trucks, no burning woods, no police. It seems we got off lucky this time.

A while later Bro-Biz called from BC to tell me some news. He said that some homeless guy had been living in the fort and that he'd burned it down. There was nothing left but a burnt out circle where the fort had been. To which I replied, "Wow! Some homeless dude burned down the fort? That's crazy!"

Good Times. Gooood Tiiimes.