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| (not Louie's but the same idea) |
Louie
had a very nice wooden ice shack he built with windows and even runners on the
bottom. It was well insulated and really warm due to the kerosene
heater he kept in it. He had an ATV he would hook up to the
tongue of the shack and off he would go, looking like a train in the
semi- darkness of early morning.
Finally
he talked me into going out with him on the ice. I would sit in the
shed and bounce across the uneven surface as we headed for the old
Whiting Road roadbed, where he used to like to fish. I'll admit it
was fun but ice fishing is just not my thing. He did teach me well
though and I appreciated it.
One
early morning he went down to the shack on the lake and lit the
kerosene heater to get it warm. He then went up to his garage to
drive the ATV down to hitch up. He started across the
lake and on the way, unbeknownst to him, the shack caught on fire. He
was enjoying his trip across the lake not knowing inside his shed was a fireball probably lighting up the lake. He came to the fishing
spot and as luck would have it the shack was well insulated enough
the fire had gone out on it's own, probably from lack of oxygen. His corn broom for sweeping snow
away from the ice holes was nothing but a handle and about six inches of
sweeper. None of his fishing poles had line, all being burned out. He
was a lucky guy! Lesson
learned. I don't think he ever lit the heater ahead of time again.
Ken
Dillenburg