OT: Fire!

[Sam Chambers]

We dodged a bullet at our house yesterday.

Wednesday night, our 9 year-old stepson decided to put his hand towel over the light fixture in the downstairs bathroom to warm it up so it would dry his hair better. He promptly forgot about the towel, but at least he turned the light off. Until...

Thursday morning, after finishing his morning bathroom duties, he left the bathroom lights on, no noticing that the towel was still up there. About an hour later, while I was upstairs working in my office, the smoke alarms went off. My 14 year-old stepdaughter was still asleep, and the alarms didn't wake her up, so I got her out of bed and out the door. The downstairs bathroom was filled with smoke, and it was spilling out into the rest of the house. I grabbed a fire extinguisher and went back to the bathroom door. It was only them that I saw that the lights were on and something was burning up near the light fixture. I turned off the light and aimed the fire extinguisher, which made quick work of the flames.

The damage was minimal, and contained in the bathroom. We evacuated the smoke by using every portable fan we had, as well as the exhaust fan in the bathroom. Here's a photo of the "scene of the crime" after I removed the light bulb on which the towel was burning:



Lessons learned:

1. Thank You, God for making sure I was home yesterday morning. I don't want to think about what might have happened had I not been here. It's entirely possible that we'd be mourning the loss of a child. The house and all its contents can be replaced, but she can't.

2. We have to watch the little guy much more closely.

3. Because she sleeps so soundly, we can't leave in the morning without making sure our 14 year-ol daughter is out of bed.

4. The alarm company never did call us, nor did they call the fire department. We're switching companies as soon as possible, the heck with their contract.

5. Fire extinguishers are worth their weight in gold, even though they make a colossal mess.

6. We're removing all the light fixtures that have exposed "decorator" bulbs.


Do any of you have any helpful hints about getting rid of the smell?

[Aaron Koehl]

Wow--close call! Thank God it turned out okay.

[Roger Fitzsimonds]

Close call Sam.
I am glad that the damage was not that bad and especially no one was hurt. I would wipe everything in the bathroom down with a baking soda solution and then rinse with clean water after it dries. That should eliminate a lot of the smell.

Roger

[Christopher Pine]

Thank God Indeed! You have pushed me to get a fire extinquisher.. I have been meaning to for some time now! Maybe build a nice cabinet for it on our downnstairs wall! Again Thank God and belssings to you and your family!
Chris Pine

[Dick Parr]

Glad no one was hurt.

[Ken Garlock]

You are a lucky family, maybe an hour later it would have been a different story. Glad it all came out alright.

Regarding the smoke alarms, we have multiple alarms located near the door in each bedroom. They all go off together, one rings, they all ring. However, our alarm company smoke alarm is in the hallway(bedroom end) which connects the bedroom area to the remainder of the house. Perhaps your detector is located incorrectly, or perhaps it is a bad detector. My detector has no battery, it gets its power from the alarm controller. If I were you, I think I would have the alarm company out to test it, for starts.

Now you can load up the washer with all the soiled underwear.

[Dennis Peacock]

Well....it's another miracle...!!!!!!!!!!!

It could have been a LOT worse and since I have 4 kids of my own, I watch stuff like that very closely. I also have 2 dry chem extinguishers in my house and thankfully, I have not had to use a one of them yet.

Glad it was no worse than it already is Sam....