Have you or your household members ever had to call 911?

I did for the first time last Saturday night. It was almost 1 AM when I heard a powerful explosion in the street just outside my study window. Running to the front door and out onto the porch, I saw that a pickup truck parked in the next block had its engine compartment and cab fully engulfed in flames. The force of the blast had blown the windows out of the cab, and fire was billowing out of them. There was also an abundance of acrid, choking smoke pouring from all the plastics and synthetics and hydrocarbons that were burning.

I ran back in and phoned 911. The response was almost instantaneous. In less than a minute of my call, three police cruisers were on the street. About two minutes later, the first of three fire trucks arrived. They had the fire out before it ever reached the gas tank of the truck.

If you’ve had to call 911, what was your emergency, and how rapid was the response.