A long night

Yesterday afternoon (Monday) there was a large fire. Actually it was a huge fire. A propane gas plant caught fire a little before 4:00 pm. Cody was on duty and his truck was called in to help. In fact 80% of the firemen in town were called in. Cody's truck was the first to actually fight the fire. (The first two trucks were called to start evacuating all homes and businesses within a 1/2 mile radius) I am having trouble getting my thoughts together to type this, so be patient as you read in case I jump around. There were a lot of propane tanks there and then several huge tanks. The truck Cody was on had the mission of trying to stop two 18,000 gallon tanks from exploding. If they exploded, the damage would have destroyed a mile radius. There were hundreds of homes in the area and hundreds of cars driving on the interstate (which was about 1/4 mile from the plant) during 5:00 traffic. Numerous 5 gallon propane tanks (like the ones on your grill) were popping like fireworks in the air. Pieces were found up to 3/4 of a mile away from the plant. The nearby businesses caught on fire as well as several cars in parking lots and various other landscape.

Cody was supposed to get off work at 6:00 pm. He borrowed someone's phone to call me at 6:20 and told me that they were not being released because the rest of the city was in danger. If 80% of the firemen and first responders were at the fire, then the city was left open and they needed the ones coming on duty to help run calls in the city. (They go on medical calls as well as fire calls). He couldn't come home until the fires were completely out.

What do you say when your husband says he has to stay on duty to help save hundreds of lives?
Three trucks pumped water on the two tanks 18,000 gallon tanks for about 8 hours. The big tanks never caught on fire although at one point one side was covered in fire and melted all the paint and warped the metal. They got it out in time. Like I said, if it would have gone off, hundreds of homes, cars, and lives would have been lost, including Cody's.

Cody called me a little before midnight. (I hadn't heard from him since 6:20) and told me he was on his way back to the station and that he was safe, the fires were out, and it was all over. They spent 1 1/2 more hours putting the truck back together. Cody finally came home about 2:30. I fell asleep hugging him tighter than I ever had before.

I don't really know what to say or how to finish this. You know I am a drama queen so you may question some of the details about last night. Read the articles. It was on CNN and lots of other news stations. Sadly, I am completely serious about this and the details.

Cody is a hero.

I held Carley the whole time Cody was gone and I spent lots of time thinking about God's faithfulness. Cody does his job because he feels like God has called him to this work. If you know Cody, you know he is so good at helping people. All I can say is that I saw God's faithfulness last night. Noone was seriously injured. Everyone went home. Honestly, if the story ended differently, I hope I would still say I saw God's faithfulness. My faith is weak and I am not sure how I would react. I hope I never find out.