Tuesday

**Rockntractor** · 04-19-2011, 12:37 AM

88 °F/49 °F
Chance of T-storms
20% chance of precipitation

TOTD: Saturday night a friend and nieghbor had his house burn down. It was a 100% loss, even their clothes. Their favorite litle dog ran back into the fire minutes after they rescued him, he died as well as a cat with a litter of kittens under the porch.
The Insurance adjuster will be out today and when he finnishes his job I need to give an estimate for removing the debri and cleaning the lot so they can rebuild.

How prepared are you for fire? I checked and my fire extinguisher and it doesn't even work.
This is a sobering wake up call.

**RobJohnson** · 04-19-2011, 03:12 AM

I'm so sorry to hear about the fire.

I had an electrical fire once in my bedroom back in 2004. I had decicded to make a "spur of the moment" trip with my sister and her kids back to NE as the weather was going to be bad, and she had to drive with two yonng kids. I figured I would just fly back or take the train...I woke up early that day, started packing and simply had a strong impulse to go with...I thank God for that impulse, as the firefighters said with the heavy smoke, I would of never made it out of the house alive.

This was a good sized house, 2200 sq ft plus a full basement...total loss on contents. It was so hard putting stuff into that dumpster.

In the bedroom closet, the door was melted, everything was in ashes, except for two things. A picture of my grandfather as a kid, just has some frame damage, and a cardboard box, looked almost untouched...inside was my wood anri nativity scene....I know God saved my life that day.

I'm praying for your friend's family. House fire sucks & so does the loss of pets....how sad. :mad:

**NJCardFan** · 04-19-2011, 05:29 AM

Sorry to hear about your friend. I'd be willing to bet that the dog was trying to rescue the cat. The nobleness of dogs is unmatched in the animal kingdom. That said, how prepared am I? I just installed a fire extinguisher near my kitchen. I put it on the inside door of my basement so it's between the kitchen and the dryer/furnace. I plan on installing 2 more in the basement by the furnace and dryer. I have 2 smoke detectors. One in the basement and one outside the bedrooms. I also have a drawn fire escape plan that hangs on my fridge. I try not to use extension cords much but if I do, they are of high quality and I never, ever, use a lamp cord for anything other than a lamp. I guess I'm as prepared as I'm ever going to be.

Just a side note, when putting in extinguishers, make sure you have the right one for the job. Stay away from water extinguishers as they are only good for class A fires(wood, paper). The one's I'm installing are dry chemical which are good on most fires and if they ever make them, I'd like to have a class K extinguisher which are specifically for grease fires. They aren't cheap or small either.

eagleexpress · 04-19-2011, 06:06 AM

Your friends will be in my prayers

**Zafod** · 04-19-2011, 08:27 AM

Man that totally sucks.

I am a insurance agent now so I have a pretty good policy.

I have 3 fire extinguishers in my home.
One in my bedroom.
One in the kitchen
One in the garage.

Smoke detectors in all rooms.

Fire alarm with first response.

**Rockntractor** · 04-19-2011, 09:14 AM

Originally Posted by Zafod

Man that totally sucks.

I am a insurance agent now so I have a pretty good policy.

I have 3 fire extinguishers in my home.
One in my bedroom.
One in the kitchen
One in the garage.

Smoke detectors in all rooms.

Fire alarm with first response.

Oddly they didn't hear their smoke detectors but the neighbor living on the other side of them did. They did have good fire insurance, thank God!

**Gingersnap** · 04-19-2011, 10:01 AM

It will be in the low 50s today with periods of rain (which we can use).

TOTD: I'm sorry to hear about your friends. I'm probably not very prepared. We have extinguishers and alarms but I mostly rely on my intense paranoia. We have no space heaters and I have pretty much phased out the candles except for ceremonial occasions. I don't do the kind of cooking that results in grease fires. I even have to clean the ovens by hand because I am too nervous about fire to use the self-cleaning option.

**fettpett** · 04-19-2011, 12:51 PM

cold and wet here today

TOTD: we have 2 smoke alarms and a fire extinguisher and under the sink...probably have a hard time getting to it because of all the pop bottles under there, i really need to take those in, could use the money

**lacarnut** · 04-19-2011, 01:27 PM

Sorry to hear that about your friend and their pets. I need to get an extinguisher for my bedroom. Only have one and it in the kitchen at the front of the house. Might as well get a fire alarm for the bedroom while I am at it.

**hoplophobe** · 04-19-2011, 01:38 PM

TOTD: One smoke detector, 2 fire extinguishers and a good insurance policy.

My boss had a neighbor whose house just burned down. They had a party over there sometime before that happened and used the photos he took to figure out replacement value of the items destroyed in the fire.

I need to remember to do that for myself. Not have a party but to take some photos and save them in the "cloud" in case something happens.