Off-topic-Public Service message of the day

[Betsy]

I dunno...maybe it belongs in the Darwin Award forum.

I wish I had photos but the firemen wouldn't let me back in the house until they were done.

The good news is me and all my pets are okay and my house is still standing/liveable.

The bad news...my deck.

This evening I was barbequeing some dinner. Before starting, I lit the grill on high to burn off the crap on it from last time (it's a Weber Gas Grill) and went back inside to finish my prep.

I start smelling smoke and it is also coming into the house. This smoke didn't smell like grease burning off. The brown dog outside starts barking at about the same time.

I go outside and there was smoke pouring out from under my deck which is about 4 inches above a stone foundation (I just discovered the stone tonight ). Turns out, I hadn't emptied the grease catcher below the grill for some time; it caught fire and started to bubble over dripping, flaming grease in between the slats in the deck.

I grab a hose and start dumping water. No biggie, I thought, "It's out now". I continue to cook.

20 minutes later, I smell smoke again. I call the VFD.

I knew I was sunk when they grabbed the chain saw. The bad (good?) news is they found smoldering up against the house which I thought would be out and wouldn't have discovered unless I called them. Of course, I need a new deck now...they literally cut about a 6x4 foot hole through it. The good news is I discovered a beautiful stone patio under it that I didn't know existed.

They told me that had I thought it was out, about 3am or so, the house probably would burned down.

So my message...be careful with the grill, don't leave it unattended and most importantly:

Even if you think you got the fire out, call the fire department and ask them to come and make sure.

And thank the fire department, especially if they are volunteers!

Betsy

[PJ]

Wow... glad you (and your pets) are ok... I know that was scary for you... are you doing ok really? PJ

[Betsy]

Thanks PJ...Me and my brood are just fine... and the house is fine. In fact, it doesn't even smell like smoke :p thanks to the good work of the firefighters (*sigh---no cute women on the squad tonight*). I'm mostly shaken up that I didn't call the firedept right away. I should know better working in the news business and covering hundreds of stories that reinforce the concept of "shit happens..." everyoday.

This could have been one of those stories for my co-workers tomorrow.

I'm grateful that those life lessons made me call the FD to be sure the fire was out by calling in the experts.

Betsy

[PJ]

Betsy... I think you are right about this... shit does happen, no matter how much we try to prepare... very existential, eh? - I do not have many fears left, but a fire is one I still have... I have 4 cats, what would I do?, how would I find them to get them out of the apt? (They all have hiding places... in the closet, under the bed, on top of the kitchen counters,and probably places I do not even know about) So, it is one of my fears... of course, I will probably go in the big one (earthquake) as I live on the Hayward fault here in Berkeley... I am not as afraid of that but I probably should be... - anyway, glad you made it thru this trying time.. talk to you again sometime... PJ

[beach]

betsy sorry to hear about your deck ,, glad to hear everyones ok, my week was no better , terri took the pick-up out on sunday morn and got cut off buy a drunk driver, terris in pain my truck is distroyed ,she went through an elect,pole... so it must be the week.. oh yea made it to TX.... glad to see your alright.......... beach

[Andi]

Well, I feel bad for you about your porch burning down. I'll spare you a lecture about keeping an eye on your grill when it's running since I'm sure you've already got that foremost in your mind now ;) But I will take this opportunity to stress that it is especially important with charcoal grills. They may look like they're out, but that doesn't always mean they ARE out. Anyway, I'm glad for you that you came through it unharmed :D , other than the loss of the patio. :(

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Betsy
"The good news is I discovered a beautiful stone patio under it that I didn't know existed."

So, will you just clear away that wood patio & use the stone one?

Andi

[Jules]

Glad to hear your o.k. Besty!! Good to know it was only your deck and not the house!!
Must of had your angel looking over you. Hope your paying her hoilday pay!! I've been in some very frightfull house fires myself.
When I was ten years old, on the early morning of the third of July, Fireworks from the golf course behind my parents house shot over and hit the awning above our pato. I woke up, to the sound of banging in the roof at 200am, and found the pato and our kitchen ablaze, I woke everybody up and got them out in time! It took a year to rebuild our house. Back then we didn't have fire alarms, only me.

Then just this year in the winter, the heater caught fire down in the basement of my apartment, I woke up to find black smoke from the heater ducts filling my room! Yes, in both times I called Fire deparment. I then had to go with out heat for a while in the coldest winter New England has ever had Brrrrrrrrrr!

Yes I'm moving, in with my new girlfriend so things are getting better.

Like andy said, Watch your fires, or at least your grease drippings.

Maybe you will like the stone patio better:D

[Sunshine1]

Dear Betsy,

Glad to hear that things turned out for the best and that you and your animals are OK! A stone patio underneath ? I wonder how old it is? Maybe, it was from the orginal structure of the building?

Take Care,

Aimee