The roof is on fire!

The last six days have been crazy. I am beat down and exhausted from everything. This post will focus on the events from last Thursday. It started like any normal day, but it all changed around noon. It is time to pick up Hannah from school. Meeghan and I are in the parking lot of the school when my car suddenly shuts off and smoke begins to trickle out from the hood. A smoking car always makes me nervous so I decided to grab Meeghan, and the diaper bag, and ran her into the building so someone could watch her. I ran back out to see that the smoke was heavier and darker. I tried to pop the hood, but gave up. I even tried to find my hazards (I clearly was in panic thinking mode).  There was another parent who arrived during this and he stopped to help me. He ran in to get a fire extinguisher while I ran to my phone to call 911. By this point I could see tiny flames hitting the ground and knew the car was on fire. There wasn't much I could do, but make sure people stayed away. Teachers and parents were running to their cars to move them away from my car. Finally, the firefighters arrived and stopped the fire before the entire car was engulfed. The front half to the brunt of the damage. As I watched it burn, I remembered all the stuff that was still in the car. I had the double stroller in the back, Meeghan's coat and some shoes, a few toys, books, and other little things. This was what the car looked like:

See that purple cup? It wasn't damaged. 

Thank goodness no one was hurt, and we actually recovered quite a few items from the car. The stroller has some melted paint, and it smells, but I think we can restore it. I learned a few things from this. One, keep all your important stuff in one spot in case something like this happens. I am glad that I always throw my wallet and phone in the diaper bag while in the car. Two, if you see smoke don't assume that you can easily fix it. It is probably best to call for help immediately. I am also grateful this happened in the parking lot at the school. If I had been on the street, I am not sure what I would have done. The teachers kept Hannah in her classroom while they placed Meeghan in the 2 year old classroom to play. I was able to make phone calls and figure out what to do while the girls were safe and warm in a building. I now have a slight fear about every car I ride in will catch on fire, but I think in time that fear will go away. For now, I am happy that everyone is okay and I hope that insurance moves quickly so we can look for another car.