Did you know its fire prevention week? Who cares…

Atleast, that is what I would have said before January this year when I did THIS to our house:

And thats only part of it.

What happened was I got a new cookbook and was trying out a new recipe. I put oil in a pan on the stove and put a lid on it.  The irony is that I put the lid onto the pan to prevent a fire. I thought it would keep oil from splattering out of the pan and instead it blew it up!. HAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHA

I turned it on and walked into the living room. It was on under 5 minutes, probably about 3, and I saw out of the corner of my eye a fireball that went off in the kitchen. When I ran in there, the stove and cabinets were engulfed in a flame. BIG BIG flame. The firemen said that what happened was the heat formed condensation inside the pan under the lid and it dripped back down onto the oil and blew up. It was just fortunate that my daughter and husband were at the mall and I was in the living room when it happened, rather then anyone being in the kitchen.

I ran into the kitchen and under the sink and could not find a fire extinguisher and this all was about 8 seconds. The fire was too big to look around further and I just couldnt have my back to it anymore. I ran outside and found a nieghbor at home after three tries at other houses, who grabbed his and came over and put the fire out. By then, it had probably been ablaze for about 3-4 minutes. It had ruined our kitchen, melted the blinds off the walls in the dining room and part laundry room that was three rooms over. We were told for every 30 seconds it doubles in size.

The house filled up with soot in seconds after the fire was out and it went black in there. I was more worried that my pets would die from smoke inhalation. The fire fighters got them out about an hour later, and all 4 of my pets survived. One of them was drooling really badly when we got her, so its a good thing we got her out in time.

The soot, the walls, even upstairs where there was no fire, it was all soot. Even in the master bathroom! Its scary how quickly this happened. The firemen said that if the neighbor hadn’t put it out as quickly as he did, we could have lost several rooms in the townhouse next to us. Luckily, we had renters insurance. That little grease fire cost $20K and had we not had renters, omygosh. Charlotte lost all her new Christmas toys, we lost our mattresses, our couches, our entire kitchen, it was pretty much a disaster. And we were about 3 weeks from leaving the military..so we had to live in a TLF for three weeks, with 4 cats. It SUCKED. And then I had to move in with my IN LAWS till the rest of our stuff was professional restored and sent down to here to alabama.

First lesson

1) Get renters insurance, it saved us

Second lesson

2) after you have a fire, and you buy a home, your home owners is astrominical. Its almost IRONIC. You pay for insurance your whole life, but if you use it, they punish you. Niiiiiiiiiiice.

Third lesson:

3) Grease + Water = big, big fire

Fourth lesson:

4) Always, always know where your fire extinguisher is. Ours was mounted by the back door, which is right off the kitchen. We lived in base housing. I never really looked for it when I moved in so when we needed it, I didn’t know where it was. Another tip is do not put it right next to the stove..that;s probably going to be what is on FIRE, so you wont be able to get to it if you need it. When I sign on my lap top, ill share with you some other photos of my house..it was rough.

To assist in Fire Prevention Week, I wanted to share with you the three “P’s

Prevention

Parents are often a child’s first and main resource for information on fire safety. A 2007 survey by the Michael Cohen Group found that insufficient fire safety curriculum exists for children. UL offers the following guidelines for parents to prevent fires and lead children by example:

1. Limit the use of candles or make sure to position them away from decorations, curtains, bedding, paper, walls and furniture.
2. Unattended cooking is the #1 cause of home fires. Stay in the kitchen when you are frying, grilling, or broiling food. If you leave the kitchen for even a short period time, turn off the stove.
3. Keep matches and lighters out of reach and away from children.

Protection

Working smoke alarms cut the risk of fire-related death in half. A recent survey from the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) found that while 96 percent of households report having a working smoke alarm, no working smoke alarm was present in almost half of reported home fires. UL recommends the following when outfitting your home with a smoke alarm:

1. Invest in both photoelectric and ionization smoke alarms, or in smoke alarms with dual-technology. Using both types of alarm technologies optimizes fire detection.
2. Install alarms on each level of the home to ensure every area of the home is covered. Replace smoke alarms every ten years.
3. Consider outfitting your home with interconnected technology to link all alarms so when one detects smoke, all alarms will sound.

Planning

Because an influx of synthetic materials in the home has effectively reduced the amount of time families have to safely escape a home fire, a regularly practiced plan of escape is key. UL urges the following:

1. Gather with your family to draw a floor plan and map out each member’s route of escape.
2. Pay special attention to children during this process. Consider a Parental Plan B because children may not always wake up to the sound of a smoke alarm.
3. Practice makes perfect – a plan of escape is highly effective in reducing the risk of death and injury if practiced regularly.

For more information on fire and life safety, please visit www.UL.com/newsroom.