How King Jo Almost Lost His Job on July 4th

Have I mentioned that our town goes absolutely nuts on the 4th? Firecrackers and fireworks go off non-stop all day, but especially from about 7-12 p.m. People spend hundreds of thousands on fireworks here. Because of the rodeo and the huge town parade and the picnics and the firework show the night before the 4th, this is one of the most fun places to live on the 4th, if you like noise!
However, it can also be extremely dangerous! One piro-neighbor of my parents' shot off a firework that ignited the field that borders my parent's property. My dad's wood shop was just a few feet away from the fire! His shop is huge, and full of expensive tools and untold quantities of lumber he sells and builds with, and it's not insured! If they had lost the shop, King Jo would have been out of a job and my dad would have been hurting badly business-wise!

The firetrucks came immediately and got the 4 ft flames put out immediately. They said that had this occurred just 2 weeks later, when the grass was a bit drier, the shop would have no doubt burned to the ground.


After the fire was put out, the cops and my dad noticed that a portion of the fence was broken near there. From looking at the broken glass and the tire tracks, it appears that someone was driving fast down the alley towards my parent's property, saw the fire and was watching it on the left, and not paying attention, missed the corner and rammed into the fence, busting out their windshield. Since the fence-buster immediately drove off, they have no idea who it was. The screech of the car and the crash into the fence alerted my dad to the fire as he was working in the wood shop at the time. Also, one of my brother's friends, most likely the guy who accidentally started the fire who lives nearby, called him to alert him about the fire too and he woke my mom. All the neighbors came out to watch the firetrucks screaming over to the fire and many people thought the shop itself was on fire due to the amounts of smoke over the shop.
What an exciting 4th of July for my parents! On top of it all, my friend's dog bit my mom's hand during the big 4th of July parade because it got tangled up and got panicked. It bled a lot and freaked us all out but it turned out to be a small puncture. It turns out one of my best friend's kids, Elijah, got bit by a random dog at the parade too!
I got hit by a firework on the 4th, one of those flying spinners that flew towards my friend's house, bounced off her chimney, and straight at me, but I deflected it off my watch when I raised my arm up for protection, which caused my pastor to start calling me Wonder Woman. My watch is no worse for the wear and I'm glad we all made it through the 4th alive this year!