Fire Whistle Prayers

Longer than I can remember,
each time there is a fire whistle
I have stopped my lessons
for a moment of silence.
I tell my kids
"If your family prays,
use this time to pray for the people in trouble
and the helpers.
If your family doesn't pray,
you can think happy thoughts."

There are only two times I can remember
when I have not stopped and prayed
at the sound of the fire whistle.
One was in the fall of 1993
when Den and I
were at Luke's second grade parent-teacher conference
with Miss Hanak.
"So... what is Luke like in class?"
"He reminds me of my dog.
He looks at me with those big eyes
and tries hard to do what I ask."
Oklahoma's siren blared.
We continued to talk.
After the conference,
Den and I went for a few groceries
and ran into a friend.
"What's going on up on the mountain?
All kinds of fire engines are up there."
We found out
when we were greeted at our mailbox
by a fireman.
The leaves that Den had burned a few days ago,
the spot that just that morning
had frost on the ashes,
had rekindled in the bluster of fall winds.
Fire had burned through the forest,
around the house
and almost to the barn
but the only casualty
was the outhouse
and its license plate collection.
I was chagrined.
It was the only time in years
that I hadn't prayed
and it was our property.

I thought of that day this past Monday
as Penfield's fire whistle sounded.
Deep in windy playground conversation with the fifth grade teacher,
I did not stop to pray.
A short time later as we re-entered the school,
my class smelled smoke
and the siren went off a second time.
We stopped then
for a moment of silence.
I was curious where the fire was.
"Right up the valley.
Caledonia.
A fire is burning up to the ridges
and the fire plane has been called."

When I went home that night
I was primed to tell Den about the Caledonia fire.
"So... how was your day?" I began.
"Eventful...."
"Forest fire?" I teased.
Den's eyes widened.
"How did you know?"

The second fire whistle,
the one we had prayed for,
was the Caledonia fire.
The first fire whistle,
the one I ignored
for the second time in my life,
was our property.
Again.

I am still shaking my head,
thankful for the minimal damage
but a bit weirded out.

Epilogue:
In Den's defense,
once again the fire had been out for two days
and he had checked it
multiple times each day.
He would never burn on a windy day.
Our new rule is
"Only burn when there is snow on the ground."
Two companies' brush trucks were needed to put out the fire,
but five companies,
Rockton,
Brady,
Oklahoma,
Grampian,
Penfield,
and the DCNR showed up,
just to be safe.
The fire was contained on our acreage.
One tanker sunk in our soggy yard.
Den has a blister on his thumb.