Grassfire Serves As A Lesson For Kids

By Tak Landrock t.landrock@krdo.comFollow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/taklandrock

EL PASO COUNTY – Most people would panic if they saw a fire just down the street. But one mother thought this would be a good way to show her kids the destruction it can cause. “Our fear out here is the wind; it’s always windy and can push a fire,” says Brandy Raboin.

She, along with her five kids, were homeWednesday afternoon when the fast moving grass fire in Falcon crept closer to her back yard. “I looked out the window and it was really dark, black smoke, ” says Ms. Raboin. “It didn’t look that far from our home and it was right over the hill about a mile away.”

She got in her car with her kids to check it out. “When we popped over the hill we realized it was a lot farther away.” She made sure to keep her distance and to stay out of the way of firefighters.

Her teenage son, David, began snapping pictures; 75 in all. “It was completely covering Highway 24; when the wind shifted it started going north,” says David Raboin. Through the lens of his camera he was able to capture pictures no else could. In one shot, a barn being devoured by flames. “It just engulfed the whole thing.”

Even across the road and in their car the family could feel the intensity of the fire. “We could feel the heat” says Ms. Raboin. While the family says they were never in danger, they worried about their neighbors. “They were getting their stuff ready to leave and I just can’t imagine how they felt.’

She says her kids learned a lesson while they were on spring break. “One little flame and one little spark could destroy so many peoples lives and there properties.” The lesson also taught them what to do if a fire comes close to their home.

“We have taught the kids, the older kids, to evacuate and if we are not here to go to the neighbors,” says Ms. Raboin. She feels those every parent should teach their kids about the dangers of fire, especially in the plains.