When a grass fire gets dangerously close to home — what would you do?
Today, something quite frightening happened near our home in Brunei.
A child who apparently wasn’t from around our area somehow ended up in a large, empty piece of land covered with long grass. Somehow, a small fire was started, and before anyone realised what was happening, the fire spread across the grass very quickly.
The scary part was that the fire started moving closer and closer towards our homes. There were a lot of trees around, and more importantly, there were many children at home.
Honestly, we were terrified. We didn’t really know what to do, there weren’t many adults around, and we didn’t know exactly when Bomba would arrive. So while waiting, some of us started bringing buckets of water and doing whatever we could to stop the fire from getting closer to our houses and trees.
I understand that in an emergency, everyone reacts differently. Some people may panic, some may not know what to do, and obviously we should not put ourselves in unnecessary danger.
But what really upset me was when one neighbour, instead of helping, stood there with his hands on his hips and told me to stop making noise and just wait for Bomba.
I understand that Bomba is the proper emergency response and we should let the professionals handle the fire. But when the fire is already getting close to your home, and there are children and trees around, it is very difficult to simply stand there and do nothing.
I kept thinking: if this was your house, your children and your family in danger, would you really be able to just stand there and wait?
In that moment, I wasn’t trying to create drama or argue with anyone. I was scared. I was panicking because I was thinking about the safety of the children and our homes.
Thankfully, some wonderful neighbours stepped up. They helped guide Bomba in, helped with the water, and some of us continued using buckets to protect the trees and areas closest to our homes. By the time Bomba arrived, thankfully, the fire had already become smaller.
I’m sharing this not to attack anyone, but because I genuinely want to understand something.
In an emergency, when everyone is already frightened and trying to protect their homes, isn’t it better to stay calm, help where you safely can, or simply stay quiet rather than argue with the people who are panicking?
We were helpless. We were scared. We didn’t know when help would arrive. All we wanted was to protect our families and our homes.
Sometimes, in a crisis, a little empathy and cooperation can make a huge difference.
And honestly, I’m just grateful for the neighbours who chose to help. ❤️
Please be careful with fires, especially around dry grass and empty land. What looks like a small fire can become uncontrollable very quickly.