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My house almost burned down this morning
The topic headline is not a joke in the slightest, and my house could have burned down if not for me.
It all started this morning when I was getting ready for school when I smelled some smoky substance and I said "Mom, something smells like smoke" and she said something along the lines "We'll see what it is in a minute" (she was getting dressed at this time). All of a sudden, a neighbor came running up to our door and banged on it, my Mom opened it and she told us that thick black smoke was billowing out of our furnace's smoke stack.
We then realized the horrible truth: Our furnace made a mistake (for lack of better terminology) and was seeping oil that would eventually catch fire. My mom quickly ran down the stairs to reset our furnace, while I ran to the phone to dial the Fire Department. Luckily, our local fire department was only five minutes away from our house (we live right near a school, so um... yeah) and they arrived very quickly. I thought it was strange because not one, not two, but four fire trucks (and an ambulance) arrived. Luckily, we got everybody out safe and sound..... however my cat was not there (we have three cats) so I bolted into the house and found where he was and got him out quickly. The reason why I bolted in was that it was an act of love for my cat and I didn't want him to go to the great beyond yet. By some miracle, I made it out with no ill effects with cat in tow.
When our neighbors came to see what all the ruckus was about, I acted as peacekeeper and told everyone we were alright and that the Fire Department would do their job. After about 45 minutes, the firemen came out and told us that they deactivated the furnace and that everything was all right. He said that the smoke in question was carbon monoxide and that if I had called about 15 minutes too late, we would be in the hospital by now.
While we were waiting for the firemen, we hit upon the idea that someone in our oil company must have made a mistake and caused this to happen . The reason why I make this accusation is that about 3 months ago, the oil company had been seen around our street for some time now just making their rounds (as is with oil companies). I believe that the repairman must have made a mistake while fixing our furnace, and when I turned on the shower this morning this whole incident occurred. As of now, we are looking for a new boiler to replace our old one. I'm still a little shaken up by this, but I'll get over it in a week or so.
It all started this morning when I was getting ready for school when I smelled some smoky substance and I said "Mom, something smells like smoke" and she said something along the lines "We'll see what it is in a minute" (she was getting dressed at this time). All of a sudden, a neighbor came running up to our door and banged on it, my Mom opened it and she told us that thick black smoke was billowing out of our furnace's smoke stack.
We then realized the horrible truth: Our furnace made a mistake (for lack of better terminology) and was seeping oil that would eventually catch fire. My mom quickly ran down the stairs to reset our furnace, while I ran to the phone to dial the Fire Department. Luckily, our local fire department was only five minutes away from our house (we live right near a school, so um... yeah) and they arrived very quickly. I thought it was strange because not one, not two, but four fire trucks (and an ambulance) arrived. Luckily, we got everybody out safe and sound..... however my cat was not there (we have three cats) so I bolted into the house and found where he was and got him out quickly. The reason why I bolted in was that it was an act of love for my cat and I didn't want him to go to the great beyond yet. By some miracle, I made it out with no ill effects with cat in tow.
When our neighbors came to see what all the ruckus was about, I acted as peacekeeper and told everyone we were alright and that the Fire Department would do their job. After about 45 minutes, the firemen came out and told us that they deactivated the furnace and that everything was all right. He said that the smoke in question was carbon monoxide and that if I had called about 15 minutes too late, we would be in the hospital by now.
While we were waiting for the firemen, we hit upon the idea that someone in our oil company must have made a mistake and caused this to happen . The reason why I make this accusation is that about 3 months ago, the oil company had been seen around our street for some time now just making their rounds (as is with oil companies). I believe that the repairman must have made a mistake while fixing our furnace, and when I turned on the shower this morning this whole incident occurred. As of now, we are looking for a new boiler to replace our old one. I'm still a little shaken up by this, but I'll get over it in a week or so.
Comments
Still... glad to hear that everything is allright! That's scary stuff. I've always been a little scared by our furnace. Take a peak at the flame someday, and you'll see what I mean.
2) Get insurance policy.
3) Have employee park snowblower in bad place.
4) Profit.
"20.5% Oxygen, 78% nitrogen, hmmm, point zero-two% carbon mono-oxide... No, 0.03% carbon mono-oxide."
Edit: Wow, didn't realize how old this was. Random thread necromancy...WTF...