So last night I was getting ready to cook dinner and so I turned the oven on to 450 in order to preheat the oven. My wife went into the kitchen about 5 minutes later and there were flames shooting out of the wall oven.
Thankfully we have a fire extinguisher and were able to put out the fire within a few minutes. There was dust from the fire extinguisher EVERYWHERE! We spent all night cleaning up the kitchen; it is amazing how fine that dust is and how it gets into everything. The end result is a damaged oven, cabinets that need some attention and one big sigh of relief.
Thank God my wife just happened to go into the kitchen or else we would have had an even bigger mess on our hands. My mom just happened to stop by a few minutes earlier to play with my daughter and she was able to get her out of the house for a while so she didn't get all those checmicals in her lungs.
I have been a father now for almost 6 months and it is truly amazing how this event puts everything into perspective. I'm amazed how a few minutes here or there can make a huge difference. If my wife hadn't chosen to go into the kitchen at that moment, and waited five or ten minutes, if my mom hadn't come by to see out daughter, etc...
I just thought I'd share this with everyone. I think it makes everything else seem so small.
Enjoy your day everyone.
Hopefully tonight will be more relaxing and I can get in a nice smoke.
"These moments we're left with, May you always remember, These moments are shared by few"
Jimmy Buffett--"It's been a lovely cruise"
Posts: 926 | Location: Indianapolis | Registered: October 19, 2007
Luckily everything turned out fairly well. You're right though, it sure puts things in perspective. Any idea what caused the fire?
We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare. And in return, dogs give us their all. It's the best deal man has ever made. -M. Acklam
Posts: 1053 | Location: New England | Registered: August 03, 2007
Had a similar scare yesterday when I got home from work. I opened the door and the smell of something burning just about knocked me down. My cat and dog seemed to be OK but kinda panicked. The smell was almost electircal/plastic in nature. I rushed around the house trying to locate the source which seemed to be more prevalent in the kitchen and den area where I entered the house. I checked all the appliances, electrical outlets, light switches and fixtures to see if any were hot...nothing. I then opened the door on the dishwasher and was met with a very strong odor and a little smoke. My wife had run the dishwasher when she had come home for lunch and a plastic lid had fallen on the heating element inside the dishwasher and had melted/burned all over the bottom of the dishwasher. Thank goodness that's all it was!
And I'm glad that you were able to difuse your situation as quickly as you did...it could have been a lot worse!
For the cause, I have a thought. Last week, we had a guy come out and replace the broiler. Who knows...?
I may be suggesting something you already know, but if you can have someone unequivocally pinpoint the cause to the broiler replacement, then you may have some relief there regarding repair of your cabinets and replacement of the stove. In fact, if you're going through your insurance company, they may offer someone to investigate - it could help prevent an insurance premium increase. Just a thought.
We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare. And in return, dogs give us their all. It's the best deal man has ever made. -M. Acklam
Posts: 1053 | Location: New England | Registered: August 03, 2007
Originally posted by ShortFatHokie: ...My wife had run the dishwasher when she had come home for lunch and a plastic lid had fallen on the heating element inside the dishwasher and had melted/burned all over the bottom of the dishwasher. Thank goodness that's all it was!...
We have a house rule, no appliances can be run when we are out, even if we step out for 10 mins.
Posts: 1652 | Location: CT | Registered: November 01, 2007
Originally posted by ShortFatHokie: ...My wife had run the dishwasher when she had come home for lunch and a plastic lid had fallen on the heating element inside the dishwasher and had melted/burned all over the bottom of the dishwasher. Thank goodness that's all it was!...
We have a house rule, no appliances can be run when we are out, even if we step out for 10 mins.
That's a wise idea Steve.
My wife started the dishwasher once and left for work. When I got home there was hot water everywhere. A bone had caught in the drain valve forcing it closed and the timer happened to burn out on the rinse cycle adding water until it overflowed into the kitchen and down into the garage. Probably a few hundred gallons.
Ruined the klitchen floor and some tools in the garage.
If I see fire I call 911 grab the cat and run like hell.
Doc ***** Tobacco is a filthy weed, I like it...
SNOB Member 1033 1/3
Posts: 9532 | Location: New York City | Registered: May 02, 2002
I have the same rule, no appliances on when the house is empty, and I have a smoke detector in the laundry room.
I definately recomend yoiu contact your insurance company if you are making a claim. they should have an investigator if not expert on staff to look at it. Check out the Consumer Product Safety Commission website to see if there have been any problems reported with that type of unit.
Good people sleep at night knowing there are rough men ready to do violence on their behalf
Posts: 1701 | Location: Connecticut | Registered: November 19, 2004
The worst thing in the world is getting that fire extinguisher dust in your eyes and mouth.
"They're not real Cubans. They're Dominicans." Yeah. I'm a little worried. When there's no work, and the people get restless, who do you think they come after?... El Presidente!
Posts: 741 | Location: South Lyon, MI | Registered: February 08, 2007
Sounds like an ordeal, glad to hear that no one was hurt. Sometime I'll tell you all about the time I pre-heated our oven with a bottle of 151 rum in it. 5 years later and my wife still won't let it go.
Posts: 1274 | Location: Canada | Registered: November 15, 2006
Hey I am glad you're alright, the wife, the baby and your mother. We should always take care with these stuff. It could be really dangerous.
I don't know if this is common where you are or not but it is also very important to look out for natural gas, if you have it. Here, a lot of accidents happen because of the natural gas pipes. A lot of families got suffocated while sleeping because of natural gas leakage into the house or because they left the stove burning and the fire went out or things like that. I remember my high school Arabic teacher lost her sister and all the sister's family including 3 children in an accident like that.
______________________________ "Stick to your blue collar RASS, I will smoke Cohibas"- ccsigloIII.
Posts: 2107 | Location: Egypt | Registered: June 14, 2007
