Man and Son Survive Wildfire in Farm Pond

Amazing stories of survival continue to emerge from the
ashes left behind from Friday’s wildfires. 
In Luther the fast-moving flames destroyed dozens of homes and charred
more than 2500 acres.  Part of that
destruction included the home of John Wilson.

“I thought we were OK as long as the fire stayed on that
side,” Wilson
told Fox 25, referring to the other side of the Turner Turnpike.  “Some embers may get over here that could
cause some trouble but we'd be OK.”  Wilson says he wasn’t
worried and no one told him to evacuate. 
“The fire rescue guys were so busy down here trying to control it and
contain it and they were driving by giving indications are you guys all right
but you know they were in a rush and I guess they figured we could see well
enough what was going on.”

Wilson wasn’t worried until his power went out, leaving his rural
home without water from the well.  He
tried to hook up a generator to get some water flowing to protect his home.  “That's as far as the generator got,” Wilson said pointing to
the badly charred remains of a generator near the rubble that was his
home.  “Because in between trying to
watch where the fire was at to see if we needed to take off the generator was
getting hooked up bit by bit but it didn't quite make it and wouldn't have done
much good anyway.”

The
fire moved too fast for Wilson and his son who realized they needed to
leave.  The embers had already caught
part of his lawn on fire and he turned to see a wall of flames, higher than his
house, approaching.  Before they could
get into the car to leave, the fire engulfed the vehicles.  “So there was just
one other place i thought to go was to go get in the pond.”

The farm pond was used to water the Wilson’s horses.  It is just a few yards wide and the water
level shows the tell-tale signs of a hot and dry summer.  “It's not a real big pond, but it was big
enough Friday.”  Wilson and his son waded
in up to their chests.  “There were a few
embers falling on us.”  Wilson says they would duck under the water
to put out those hot embers and had to breathe through their wet shirts to
escape the smoke.

Wilson says the fire
roared like a tornado as it went through is land and over his head.  “When you sat right
here, the roar, it sounded like a train; just a big roar.”  He says it wasn’t long before they had
company in their modest oasis.    “As we sat in the pond, over in that pond
damn here comes a box turtle just heading for the water.  He didn't slow down he just had to get in it
was pretty hot.”

A friend eventually drove through the smoke and called John
and his son on their cell phone.  He used
the sound of his horn to direct them through the smoke to his truck.

The Wilson family emerged
from the fire to find their house leveled and property scorched, but amazingly
their dogs and horses all survived.  He
jokes about the ordeal and says the key to surviving disaster is not letting it
take control.  “You
could get down about it, but it won't put anything back so we're going to keep
looking forward and looking up.”

Wilson says he is lucky
because he has insurance and no one was hurt. 
He says he believes in God and knows if he lost everything it must mean
there is something greater in store for his family.  “My faith lies
strongly in God. He took care of us then, He'll take care of us now. He hasn't
let us down yet.”

Now
John is praying for rain and can’t wait to see the green grass that will follow
after being nurtured by the ashes of his past possessions.    “I hope it rains so we can get some more
water back in the pond and make the grass grow. 
Boy, if it rains we're going to have the greenest grass in Oklahoma
County.  All we need now is a little rain wash the
dust off and settle the ash and we'll be alright.”

Posted: Tuesday, August 7 2012, 09:45 PM CDT