Fire on the Farm

One time when I was living on the North Wales farm and before I was married, the Davis family, with whom I lived at the time, were out for the evening. It was late spring and a cold wet day, so I built a wood fire in the furnace and later went to bed. Hours later, I was awakened by the sirens and lights of a fire engine just below my window and then pounding on the door. (It wasn't locked anyway.) They told me that the chimney was on fire.
It seems that come passing motorist out on the pike had seen the sparks coming from the chimney and called the fire company in Lansdale. They put out the fire by firing a pistol with blank cartridges up the chimney. They explained that the sudden concussion was enough to put out fires.
But then when they started to go home is when the fun began. They had pulled the heavy fire truck off the graveled lane and it became mired down in the mud. After much effort, and fancy blessing on the part of the volunteers, I was able to pull them out with my tractor. It was the John Deere with the steel wheels and cleats and was very good in such terrain. I'm sure those men spent the rest of the night cleaning the mud off that truck.
When it was all over the Davis family returned home and were very sorry to have missed the excitement.