frozen in time

Have you ever had one of those moments where you are completely frozen in time and can't move no matter how much you want to? You know you should be doing something, anything to help but you just have not idea what that might be? I had one of those moments yesterday. Let me back up a little bit.



My parents (my dad really) have been looking for an older Jeep to buy and fix up. They found one that fit the bill last week and my dad brought it home yesterday. Tommy and I decided that we would go check it out. My dad wanted me to take some pictures before he started any work and I was happy to oblige. I was really excited when we got there and saw that the Jeep was white. I have always wanted a Jeep especially a white one. Perhaps it is because of the movie Clueless. Anyway, I took a few pictures then we ate some dinner. Afterwards, Tommy and my dad went out to look under the hood to see if they could get it started. My mom and I walked around the yard looking at her flowers and once again looking for interesting insects for me to take pictures of. We didn't find anything. We headed back to the front of the house to see what the guys were up to. As we got to the driveway we heard the sound of the Jeep starting. We looked at each other in surprise. Wow, that didn't take long, I thought to myself.



Then it happened. It all happened so fast. I saw flames shoot out from underneath the hood and the next thing I knew my dad was on fire. ON FIRE. Oh, my gosh, my dad is on FIRE. His head was flaming as was his torso. I stood there on the sidewalk watching in horror not having a clue what to do. I had the D40 around my neck and part of me wanted to snap a picture, but I thought that was disturbing to take a picture of my dad burning. All I could think was that the Jeep was going to blow up with my husband still in it. You see Tommy was sitting in the driver's seat turning the key while my dad was under the hood putting gas in the carburetor. Tommy said he had no idea what was going on. He just heard my dad yell and knew something wasn't right. I hear my mom yell, "Roll on ground, Jay. Roll on the ground!!!!" I snapped back to reality and remembered, Stop. Drop. And Roll. My dad ran across the driveway and rolled on the ground. I remained right where I was motionless and about ready to throw up in my mom's flower bed. Tommy jumped out of the Jeep and my mom ran to get the hose to put out the flames under the hood. My dad, no longer flaming, yelled "You don't use water." He ran into the garage and got a tarp or something. The flames were out. Except for the ones that were now in the driveway. Tommy went over to stomp them out then his shoes caught fire. He said it wasn't but that's all I saw from the spot I was stuck to. On the sidewalk.



My dad went inside and my mom followed. I stood there for what seemed like forever then I just started to shake. What the heck had just happened? My dad's head was on fire. What? It was like something from a movie. I made sure Tommy was okay. My mom came back out and I asked how he was. She said that he was in the shower. "What should we do?", she asked. I just stood there and said I have no idea. I have seen that safety video at work so many times, yet I could not remember any of it. You never think you might actually have to use that information, right? We agreed that he needed to go to the ER. We went inside to see how he was. He said that he was fine and didn't need to go anywhere. He got some clean clothes and then came back out to the kitchen. I could see singed hair on the back of his head and his cheek was already peeling. He took a drink and I noticed his hand trembling. He looked at me and asked if I got pictures. I just kind of chuckled and told him that I didn't because I really didn't know what to do at the time. He laughed and sat down at the table. He started to put on his shoes. I knew he realized he needed to go to the ER.



He told us what had happened. When the engine started it backfired and the gas he was pouring in caught fire. It startled him so he jumped back and the gas in the cup he was holding spilled. This caused a chain reaction of fire. He chuckled and said that is why you don't use a whole gas can. As he smiled I could tell his cheek was already causing him pain as the skin pulled. He finished putting on his shoes and he and my mom left for the ER. They came back a little while later. The ER doctor had told him that he was very lucky and it looked to be just a superficial burn. They want him to follow up with his doctor on Monday. They gave him a salve to put on his face, ears and hands. Remarkably his shirt showed no signs of burn marks. It smelled horribly of gasoline, but no marks. Luckily he was able to put the fire out so quickly before caused any more damage to his skin.



Looking back, part of me wished I had taken a picture. I realize that sounds sick, but if you could see what I saw you would know that Someone had their hands on my father yesterday. Wow. Thank you God. I did get one picture as the flame flickered out under the hood. If you look closely to the bottom right of the photo you can see the flames in the driveway as well and you can see the reflection on my mom's car. Crazy. So, this is my moment where time froze and I had no idea what to do, what's yours?


My dad is doing okay today. My mom reports that his face looks dirty from burnt skin and his right ear has a blister on it the size of a grape. He has been sitting inside most of the day, but doesn't seem to be in much pain. As for the Jeep, it is resting inside the garage waiting for another day to be worked on...