The crackling groans of a house fire as it builds a life of its own are an unforgettable sound. An occasional timber crashes to the cellar feeding the leaping flames even further. Firemen can race around to pump tanker trucks of water onto the blaze but living in the country has its infrequent costs. There are no fire hydrants to hook up to and 500 gallons of water or even two or three times that is no match for the beast with a 30 minute head start. The house was fully engulfed and the orange hot streaks of fire had already broken through the roof of the large attached barn by the time any hose sprayed the first drop. All the volunteers could do was to contain the blaze to the house and attached structures. Other nearby out buildings could only be sprayed down with water to keep the inten
