Ghana Serve Now

FOSO ON FIRE!!!

Right in front of E. Doggett's apartment

Another view.....to the right and over the wall is his apartment

Dear Family and Friends,

I forgot to write about transfers. Elder Nakedi is staying to put the bullet through my brain :) I'm happy about it, he's a great guy and the weather here is so nice. Elder Cowan was sent to Green Hill! I was pretty jealous, honestly. He called the other day to ask about some investigators in the area book because they just put 4 elders in the area so he and his comp are starting over in the new area, on the Green Hill side. He will enjoy that place so much! He told me that A, my convert from a year and 4 months ago, has sent her mission papers in! She has such a powerful testimony; she'll be fantastic at spreading the restored gospel.

Have you ever been inside a Hollywood movie? Have you ever had a diesel tanker truck explode in front of your apartment? I have. Just before 10AM on Friday we were finishing companion study when we heard a small collision outside. We went out to see what was up and saw one semi- trailer pulling away from another at a 90 degree angle. The second truck, a diesel tanker, was on the road and the first was backing up towards the road. Something on the bed of the first truck punched a hole in the side of the tanker, and fuel was spewing out and pouring across the road into the gutter. You know that scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark? Yeah it was just like that. The puncture was on the other side from us, and I could see a mist of gas billowing over the tank.

We all went out of the compound to get a better look. We went down one side of the road and the other elders went the other way to buy food. When we saw the other side of the truck we found people scrambling with buckets to catch the fuel. Free gas! One guy was trying to plug the hole with a big rag.

Something under the truck must have sparked, because suddenly flames crawled out and shot up the side of the tanker. At once everyone, including us, scattered like ants. I turned on a dime and bolted down the street, finding it very hard to run in my bath sandals. Elder Nakedi toppled over some tables as he fled, losing his missionary handbook (with his card, money, etc.) and his sandals. I could feel the rapidly growing heat pressing behind me as I ran. The few cars left on the road were slamming it in reverse, including another big semi which sputtered and coughed as the driver tried to get her moving, haha. It was like the beginning of War of the Worlds. People were closing up shop and evacuating their goods like mad. As the fire grew, there were two, maybe three explosions. Everyone ducked and ran again when they hit. It was like that scene from the Dark Knight where the Joker tries to assassinate Commissioner Gordon. I imagine one explosion was the truck

's own fuel tank, but for the others I don’t’ know. It might have been the trailer tank itself because when all was said and done it was crinkled and warped up. When the trailer first ignited I thought the whole sucker would blow at once. Luckily it was not so.

After taking pics and videos (which are sick by the way...) we saw smoke coming from the west side of our apartment compound. I found my companion (which was hard because he really blended in with the crowd, haha) and we dashed to the house and hopped the east wall. By this time the truck was enveloped in flames from bumper to bumper. I was not so surprised, but rather impressed with how fast it went up. Huge mushroom clouds of nasty black smoke billowed skyward; it looked so ominously beautiful. Fire is incredibly powerful.

We saw that behind the houses on the other side of the west wall, the fire was raging. The fuel that had run out of the tanker went in to the gutter at the north end, and had followed the gutter in its course around the corner, which ran west behind those houses. Needless to say, the gutters were also on fire. Some shops on the corner and a few wooden structures next to the gutter lit up. People in the cement brick shops on that corner broke holes in the back walls to escape and pull out their possessions, as the fire was searing the front sides.

My comp and I began filling buckets of water from the apartment and handing them over that western wall. A man hopped the east wall and came running to us screaming that we should run away. Elder Nakedi told him, "Fire is fire, we have to help these people!" Another man hopped the wall to help us with the water, and we took a small break to go inside and pray for rain (the rain came later that night after all was done to wash the excess fuel away). After a while the buckets weren't coming back, so I hopped the western wall to help people evacuate their stuff. Then we ran to where the wooden shops were burning and found a man dumping water on an electrical fire. I yelled at him, "You don't put WATER on an ELECTRICAL FIRE!" That whole shop was full of generators. Not anymore. It was intense! I felt like I was in Ladder 49!

By this time the Ghana National Fire Service had definitely arrived. They came about 30 minutes after the ignition, a drive which normally takes over an hour. Their trucks sent water and foam cascading into the flames, but it was futile, all it did was push the fire around. You can't stop a raging diesel fire.

After some time the fire came down a bit and crowds of onlookers had gathered in the streets and in front of our apartment to watch. They all cheered as more fire trucks arrived. People were going thru the crowds selling ice cream and stuff, haha. It just became a big spectator's event. Some kids came into our compound and began roaming around collecting scrap metal to sell to the Muslim scrap guys. Other kids were doing gymnastics on our lawn... random I know. Elder Nakedi was absolutely filthy, so we changed into street clothes so we could help with anything possible. We helped a seamstress carry all her cloth away which had been tossed onto our lawn through the window and over the wall.

Some members and missionaries called to see if we were okay. Even the facilities manager arrived, he was really worried when he heard about it.

From start to finish, the truck burned for 4 1/2 hours. From 10AM to 2:30PM. During the whole escapade I never really felt scared. I was concerned and realized the severity and reality of the situation, but for some reason I didn't feel like I was in danger. I guess that's because I have the missionary mantle over me. I'm sure that like King Mosiah in the Book of Mormon, my parents' faith and trust in the Lord has kept me safe. I remained very calm during it all, even my comp was surprised. I guess that's how I react in an emergency situation.

All things considered it’s miraculous that nobody was killed or even injured during the accident. Not one. It's a testimony to me of how well the Lord watches over those who trust him, namely the Ghanaian people. It was an extremely potentially volatile situation that literally turned out the best way possible. I thought those guys who were doused in diesel from stealing it would have been toast; but it was not so. In any other [third world] country, a riot would have broken out in the streets with people ransacking shops and tipping cars. Because Ghanaians are so peaceful, meek, and non-confrontational everything remained in relative order. I'm so thankful to my Father in Heaven that we, and everyone else, were protected.

"And their torment is as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flames are UNQUENCHABLE, and whose smoke ascendeth up forever and ever..." (Mosiah3:27) Haha, what I'm saying is that the torments of hell is really a raging diesel fire inside your soul.

Needless to say, we didn't get anything done on Friday.

Love,

Elder Doggett