House Fire

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Hello all -

Scary moment this afternoon. I arrived home after work and a neighbor ran over and said that the house next door was on fire.

I had not seen any smoke – and asked what was going on. She said the teenage boy had come home from school, started to cook something – and fell asleep. He woke up and saw the smoke – ran outside and grabbed the hose and tried to put the fire out. I do not know what kind of fire it was (do not use water on a grease fire!!).

He went back outside and saw his other neighbor and ran to him. The man called 911 and would not allow the teenager back in the house. The Fire Department arrived very quickly.

After my neighbor told me about the fire – I grabbed a fire extinguisher from my kitchen and ran to the house. Smoke was billowing out the back door. This is the moment the first firetruck pulled up. One of the Firemen went inside and extinguished the fire quickly. No doubt the smoke damage is severe.

My neighbor’s are are very nice people and just had their world turned upside down. It could have been much worse and they are thankful that their son woke up before it was too late. Smoke damage is severe and not easy to clean up.

But, that incident really got me thinking and I just wanted to share. All these preparations for TEOTWAWKI. What about a house fire – which is much more likely to happen?

I have 3 fire extinguishers – which is probably more than most. I had one in the kitchen at the ready. As I type this – I have no idea where the other 2 are. Once I post this I am on the search. I plan to mount one in the kitchen on the wall so it is always at the ready. I plan to mount one upstairs. Lastly I plan to mount one in the garage.

That is a good start. One other addition I plan to do soon – is to hook up a hose and reel outside – at least 100 hundred feet of hose – “just in case”. In the event of a fire – outside or in – the hose will be able to be turned on and taken to wherever the fire is.

If anyone else has any other suggestions please voice them. I plan to do more research as well.

Take care all -

Rourke

Tags: survival planning

planning | Rourke September 23, 2010

5 Comments to “House Fire”

By Jen B., September 23, 2010 @ 2:33 am

If you’ve had your fire extinguishers long enough to lose track of them, they might need to be recharged. Worth checking.
By Leah, September 23, 2010 @ 3:52 am

You inspired my topic today. I wrote all about protecting your house on the outside and inside. http://whatifitistoday.blogspot.com/2010/09/wildland-fires-and-house-fires-how.html Firefighter’s Handbook on Wildland Firefighting: Strategy, Tactics and Safety by William C. Teie is an excellent book with chapters on wildland fire behavior, fireline safety, fire prevention, fire extinguishment methods, strategy, Incident Command System (ICS) and more. It’s easy to read and very informative. Even my younger grandkids read it and take notes. I provided a couple of links to some good handbooks on protecting your structure and your property from fire. These were written as guidelines for inspectors, but are worth the read. And you can download them, so free is always nice.
Leah
By Rourke, September 23, 2010 @ 12:19 pm

Thanks Leah – will be looking into that info.

Rourke
By Rourke, September 23, 2010 @ 12:20 pm

I found one under the kitchen sink – it was still fully charged. The other was out in my garage already mounted. I mounted it shortly after moving in and 7 years later – just forgot where it was. That’s not good!

Thanks – Rourke
By Justus, September 23, 2010 @ 6:36 pm

Good Post! Don’t forget to put a fire extinguisher in your vehicle.