The overpopulated campsite across from ours was swarming with grownups talking, children yelling and running everywhere, and youths off to a side table with endless amounts of food and some card games. The chaos across the dirt road from us was a little annoying, to put it mildly. Quiet hours were not observed, and a general courtesy was unimportant to the group.
My group seemed perfect. It was my parent’s Sunday School group and all the families were familiar with camping and the protocol of how to camp.
A few days of the constant noise from across the way was frustrating, but being the fun loving group of people that we were, we managed to enjoy ourselves. Lots of hiking trips, swimming in the lake, crafts in the big tent, horseback riding, singing around the campfire, Bible stories, canoeing, boardgames, and lots of food.
It was about 6:30 in the evening and the sun would start disappearing soon. One of the campers in the site across from us retired to his tent. After climbing in his sleeping bag, he lit a small tea light candle to keep the mosquitoes away, then tied the tent flap closed.
It was sunny evening with a few clouds and a light breeze. The temperature was in the mid 70s. It seemed like the perfect weather for a walk by the lake to watch the sunset. But that’s when our plans changed.
One of the light gusts of wind caught the tent flap and caught fire. His sleeping bag immediately burst into flames with the tent around him. He safely jumped out of the inferno as the crackling flames jumped from the tent to the trees to other nearby tents.
Within 10 seconds the entire tent and its contents were consumed by the seemingly innocent flame. Screaming children ran around the full campsite while the adults seemed frozen with panic and confusion. The incompetent group eventually fled to the spot and started kicking burning pieces of branches and fabric around, spreading the fire considerably. The group and the fire was out of control. Less than a minute after the fire had started, the dads from my group grabbed pots and buckets filled with water that were near our fire pit and ran to the fire. Another dad from my group ran to the hose while one of the moms ran down to the ranger’s station to get more help. Since my sister and I were the youngest kids in this group, our mom stayed with us and managed to corral the other kids to the other side of our campsite so we were in a safe place and out of the way.
As soon as our dads ran to the rescue, we knew everything was going to be ok. That’s just how life works when you’re in 3rd grade! Their confidence and quick thinking led me to believe everything would be just fine.
The fire was extinguished quickly, thanks to the brave dads in my group and the two rangers that jumped in. These guys had nothing to do with the problem, but got dragged into the solution out of necessity.
4 tents, lots of sleeping bags, a few bushes, and lots of tree branches were destroyed. The man in the tent escaped with just a few minor burns. And there were just a few minor scraps and burns in our group, as well.
The smokey air slowly cleared and the mass panic across the road from us eventually died down. Without so much as a “thank you” from them, they went on with their way of life. Careless, messy, and loud.
Because of this incident, no one in the entire area could have a campfire for the next few days. So we looked pathetic roasting marshmallows over a barbecue that evening to make s’mores. Although we had nothing to do with it, and it was because of our group that the fire was put out, we still had to live with the negative consequences.
Although I was in 3rd grade when this happened, it’s still seared in my mind. But when I was that young, the moral of the story was: don’t play with fire and only go camping with people who know what they’re doing. Now the incident serves as an illustration.
Fire in itself is not bad; it’s beneficial for many important things.
Until it gets out of control.
Then it’s dangerous, vicious, damaging, permanent, and deadly.
Anger in itself is not bad; it’s an indication that something is wrong.
Until it gets out of control.
Then it’s dangerous, vicious, damaging, permanent, and deadly.
Just like that small candle.
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