He Blew Out the Candles

This has become my new favorite story about Brother Dear.

I've mentioned before that he is a firefighter/EMT. He's had some interesting and horrifying calls in the many years he's been in his department.

He was a little late for a family gathering months ago. His girlfriend said that he'd had a call right before they were due to leave.

"It was a birthday party!" he says just a little too excitedly.

Hmm, wait, what?

A few months prior, a pedestrian had been hit & killed along the highway. He was found off the road in a field. I know that alcohol was involved and I'm not sure if it was a hit & run or not. It was late at night on a rural highway. A very sad story indeed.

Well the victims birthday rolled around a few weeks later and the friends & family decided to throw him a birthday party. At the death site.

I know, right? Creepy.

The party was complete with balloons, luminaries, and birthday cake.

With candles.

Remember where he was found? That's right: a FIELD.

WTF were they thinking?

My brother was first on the scene as it wasn't far from his house. He surveyed the scene, as is his job and made a decision: save the celebration or keep the entire field from going up in flames.

He totally douched the "celebration" with an industrial strength fire extinguisher. "Mushroom cloud" was used to describe the scene.

I can still see the smile on his face.