We inherited a pretty large brush pile that separated our ginormous front yard from our equally ginormous back yard. And when I say pretty large brush pile, I mean huge. Like 20 ft wide by 30 ft long.

Over the past month we have been doing some landscaping, brush trimming and stick picking up. So we have slowly been adding to our already large brush pile. And this past weekend my dad brought over his chainsaw and we he did some major cutting of low hanging branches. And we continued to add to said brush pile.

So on Saturday afternoon, with burn permit procured, we decided it was time to have a bonfire.

Before we lit a match we thought it might be a good idea to run 2 hoses to the pile and spray down the grass around it as well as the tree line that the brush pile abuts to. We also thought it would be a good idea to fill an old trash can with a lot of water that we could dump over in case things got a little out of control.

It's a good thing we were so smart and prepared for this. Because we each lit a piece of newspaper and threw it into the pile.

And then I ran up to my car to get the camera to document our bonfire. And when I came back, the 2 little pieces of newspaper had created this.

And in less than 5 minutes time the enormous pile of brush burned down to this.

And within about 10 minutes time there was pretty much nothing left.

Except me in a lawn chair. With a beer. And a garden hose to spray down the embers.

And this is what happened to the trash can I told you about before.

Can you tell where the water line was on this?

I know this looks pretty cool and like it was a lot of fun. But it wasn't. And we will never burn anything of this scale again. Ever.

I was sure the neighbors were going to call 911. Erik almost called it himself. I would've called but I was busy just about crapping my pants when I got back with the camera and saw the monster we had created.

Thank goodness we were prepared with hoses and a bucket of water. Erik used the bucket to hide behind so that he could keep spraying down the grass around the pile so that it didn't spread to the rest of our lawn. And I used another hose on the other side to do the same thing once the fire died down a little. Because that mother was hot.

So, kids, always be prepared if you are going to start a fire in your yard. Have hoses turned on and cell phones handy. And care less about taking pictures and more about being there with a hose to control it (lesson learned).

And if your burn permit tells you not to burn any piles over 10 ft in size, be sure to listen.

Next time we have a fire I want to be able to roast marshmallows over it. I would've needed a really long stick for this one (that's what she said).