So I set my house on fire...

No I didn't. My DAUGHTER did.

I was checking my mail, had to have been downstairs for maybe 3 minutes, and I hear a sound like water dripping upstairs, and thinking my bf, who was in the shower, had let water onto the floor, I went up to investigate. 4 steps up the stairs the smoke detectors go off, and I’m greeted by flames leaping up towards the ceiling.

Oh shit, grande. Super sized.

SO I turn on the sink and hurl water at it, and it just flairs. So I run for Kay, get the door open and her outside, meantime my bf has run down naked, panicking, and runs out to usher Kay out in his towel, and loses it in the door, coincidentally, and is screaming at me to get out. I don't listen real good because I don't panic. I had left a couple of plastic dish drainers on the stove, and Kay had turned on the knob. This was a plastic fire, it would take the house and the neighbors with it before the fire could arrive, so he's on the phone dialing 911 and I pick up the whole mess and hurl it out the door. It goes out. What's left on the stove has reached the grease underneath the burners, but it has no place to go, so I made sure the burners are off and continue throwing water at it, drizzling so as not to spray it further, and dowse the wall. It's out by the time 911 has our address.

The stove is wrecked the ceiling is gray and the house smells like plastic, but no one was hurt and nothing got damaged so everything is okay.

We waited on the lawn for the fire department. They came and aired out the house, and asked what happened. The fire chief tried to explain to her what she had done and why not to touch the stove and she listened very intently and pointed out a bug on the sidewalk. She didn't understand at all, just that something scary had happened, but not WHY.

I thanked him for trying and told him she probably only comprehended about a quarter of it, and he said he could see that she didn't, he had just hoped that hearing it from him might help us out. And they left.

It had been a good day up until then... I woke up in a good mood, raided eBay,( I just found out I lost all my auctions ) for Rainbow Brite toys for Kay's party.... No firey death... y'know???

But noone was hurt, and barring that i have no stove and only food i have to cook in order to eat and no money to buy something else, everything is okay. I jsut wanted to share.

 

That could have turned into a real tragedy Wenchie. Thank goodness you did remain calm and did what you did, or you could be right, the whole place might have burned. Good job. Glad everyone is safe.

Steve

 

Good ending to a bad situation Wenchie. There definitely IS a time to bolt and let it go, but for something small enough to handle yourself, especially a stove fire that hasn't yet got the kitchen really involved, I'm with you. By the time the FD gets there, about all they can usually do is contain the damage to YOUR stuff, if that.

(sigh) About all you can do for now is make sure nothing flammable is left sitting on the stove. Life will sure be easier when Kay is some years older.

 

Aww Wenchie....feel for you girl! Enough is enough huh?

Wish you lived closer....it may only be Hamburger helper tonight, but you'd be welcome to join us

*hugs*

 

aaaw, Lev that's so sweet! Thanks!

and you're right G.T., I couldnt just leave it I live ina townhome complex and i share both walls with other families, it would have been tragic and massive. I had to get it out.

Now that the "oh shit" has passed, thinking back... when I turned the gas handle to cut the gas from the flame - because explosions are bad - it was already off... meaning Kay may have had nothing to do with it, it might have somehow hit the pilot and gone up, which means it could have happened whenever. Considering that we were about to LEAVE it would have been awful, we would have come home to nothing.

needless to say, it's 1am and neither my daughter or I can sleep, so we're camping out in the basement until we get exhausted. This is where my comp is and all her toys.

 

Children do the darnedest things. Sorry about the stove. Tomorrow will be a better day.

When my son was 10, he lit a pine tree on fire, that I had cut down for firewood. Melted the siding on the side of the garage, got it out before the fire department could get there.

 

Jeez Wenchie.. wtf is up with the good luck mojo and your lack there of..lol
I'm glad to hear that no-one was hurt ! that's the most important thing.

Where the hell is smokey the bear when you need him..

 

Roasting marshmellows over my stove and laughing at me, most likely

 

oh yuck, platicized marshmallows! Really though girl, I'm very sorry to hear about your fire but overjoyed that none of you were hurt. About your stove, is there a freecycle group local to you? You can check at FREECYCLE

It's an organization that is dedicated to giving away items that would otherwise end up in a landfill someplace. Everything here is free (one of the conditions of Freecycle) and quite often there is nothing wrong with the items. I am a co-moderator of our local one and I often see some high-money items like free stoves and fridges in there. Might be worth looking into (may even find those toys you are looking for as well). Good luck, wish I was closer so I could help.

Jack

 

Man, you just seem to have the worst luck!

Might want to also try craigslist.org for a stove. The NY section is HUGE. Your bound to find a decent oven for nothing or next to it.

Rainbow Bright is pretty old school. I remember my sister being it to her back in like the mid eighties. That stuff is probably pretty hard to find, but I'll keep my eyes peeled and if I come across anything, I'll send it on up to you.


-Steve

 

oh, no, my stove is an efficiency stove provided by the apartment complex... I just have to wait until they get off their asses and replace it.

 

WOW...glad to hear noone was hurt, and you didn't loose the house!!

I know it is too late...but for future reference....grease/stove fires are best put out by throwing flour on it (if you have it readily available, ofcourse!!

It really does work...working in the food service industry...I know from experience that the flour trick does work!!


Roger

 

yeah that was the plan, but being how often/well i bake... I was uh... out.

Next pay period i'm going to the hardware store up the street and investing in a fire extinguisher

 

We were taught that flour actually spreads the fire because of the dust it leaves in the air. The dust can catch fire and land who knows where. Baking soda is what we were supposed to use to smother grease fires.

 

Wenchie, when you buy your fire extinguisher make sure it is rated for use in the kitchen. A halon extinguisher is probably the best type for use in a kitchen, chemical based fire extinguishers will definetly ruin the stove if the fire doesn't.

 

yeah, i had heard baking soda too, or cat litter/sand (clean) if handy...

Nevery really had to worry about it before, my last apartment was fireproof... But I guess it's good to realize that these things can happen and prevent it - even if you can't sleep the night after because the AC is making a high pitched noise that sounds like your fire alarm and you keep freaking.

 

This sounds like the best idea. You can probably ask around about the different types of fire extinguishers and determine which are best for kitchen, and which are better for electrical stuff, and buy the appropriate types for different places in your house--I myself have three in my apartment because I'm deathly afraid of just the sort of thing that happened to you. I have so much junk in my place and it's all uninsured as of right now, so I'd be up the creek if something like that happened to me, not to mention the clutter of my place means the fire would probably spread before I realized what was happening.

Glad to hear everyone is okay and you had such a calm head about it!

 

A fire extinguisher is a must in any type of home even a so-called "fire-proof" one. The important thing in this situation is obviously...noone got hurt. One good thing that has arisen...if you can call it a good thing...is your intention to get a fire extinguisher. I myself always have had them...even though I never worried much about fire till my oldest daughter came home one night at the age of 16 smelling of cigarettes. Littel piss-pot lol. She is too...ask Abby she`ll concur I`m sure.

 

Halon is great, since is is mess free, but unfurtunately Halon has been banned by the EPA in the States except for "critical" uses such as in aircraft... and the prices are now obscene.

 

Having worked building maintainance for a private university I can tell you that Halon is still used in library sections devoted to old papers, manuscripts and historical works.

 

That no doubt qualifies as a "critical use", since it's the least damaging for what you're trying to protect, and what you're trying to protect can be exceedingly valuable. But you can't buy Halon for home use anymore.

 

All purpose Fire Extinguisher is $15-17 at Ace/Tru Value. 2 for $15 at Costco.

Saves 1% on Renter's or Homeowner's policy.

Seems easy investment. They DO need to be checked or chucked and replace every 2 or 3 yrs.

 

Halon... that rings a bell

i'll google it ...
I think i know it from school. our server room is protected by a Halon system. smothers all fire in 30 seconds after alarm goes, mind you i think it kills you if you are inside (Note the big red abort button we have on wall though..)

off to google i go

edit: i'm wrong,
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) are haloalkanes with both chlorine and fluorine. They were formerly used widely in industry, for example as refrigerants, propellants, and cleaning solvents. Their use has been generally prohibited by the Montreal Protocol, because of effects on the ozone layer (see ozone depletion).

i live in montreal so doubt we use that. but we do have a cool fire system for server room and John Abbott

 

While you can't get halon for home use anymore, there are still some very practical alternatives. Just make sure the extinguisher you get is rated A-B-C. That will take care of any fires you may have in your kitchen. Unless you happen to catch an old volkswagon engine on fire on your stove (as they are made of magnesium and impossible to put out with an A-B-C rated extinguisher). In case that happens, you'll need a class D extiguisher, which is usually a bucket of stuff. I can't say I've ever seen any class D extinguishers for home use, so just for safety, don't park any old volkswagons on your stove.http://forums.majorgeeks.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

 

Now, look at what I went and caused. Just about every fire extinghuisher sold today is an ABC type extinguisher. The one you want will have the word "Kitchen" or "Garage/Kitchen" printed on the box. While your at it buy one for the garage also.

 

have no garage... if my car catches on fire, it just sits in the open lot and burns and we all roast marshmallows because I hate it anyway. I actually keep hoping it will catch fire, but not until I take out full insurance on it and roll it off a cliff....

But thanks for all the suggestions. They're appreciated.

 

That would be your Tarus, I don't blame you.

 

it's not just a bad car - it's possessed by the devil. It completely lacks the will to live, so every time you fix it, immediately something else explodes/breaks/snaps/freezes/jams/burns out.

New Car - $800
Reapirs to car - $3000 and counting
Knowing that the damn thing still isnt fixed, and you have to drive around with the heat on in the summer so it wont overheat? Priceless....

 

Nothing like driving around with the heat on in summer. Yuck.

 

uh, you have no idea. It gets so bad I can barely breathe, and all the windows open does NOT help when it's 87*+ with 75%+ humidity. It's like being slow roasted.

 

This could be a relatively inexpensive problem to solve...as hoses and thermostats are somewhat inexpensive. One thing to remember...when you spend 800 on a "NEW" car you must expect some problems. Unlike me...got talked into a chevy by the ex once(the tow-truck driver was grateful as I put his kids through prep school) for 7800 bucks and regretted it the millisecond the lemon law expired.

 

it's a wiring problem. the whole engine was rewired and ghetto rigged, so the radiator fan does not come on as it's supposed to. they have to redo the whole wiring system to figure out what the heck is the matter. Pain in the arse