General Chat

My daughter and her hubby (in London) were woken up in the early hours of Saturday by their smoke alarm going off. Hubby went downstairs to find the kitchen full of acrid smoke and the dishwasher on fire! They phoned the fire brigade, grabbed the kiddies (3 and 11 months), who were still fast asleep, and rushed into the front garden to await the fire brigade. 2 fire engines arrived within minutes and 15 firemen and one firewoman rushed into the house with hoses to put the fire out.

Thank God they had smoke alarms (one downstairs and one upstairs) - it could so easily have ended in tragedy and how frightening that an electrical fault could cause a dishwasher to set alight. They were told that 'white goods' fires are quite common and that tumble dryers in particular are a real fire risk.

So a warning - check your smoke alarms and don't put dishwashers, washing machines etc. on at night, or when you go out.

My daughter spent all day yesterday cleaning the kitchen - everything was blackened and there was a black powdery residue throughout the house. She says she'll never curse the smoke alarm again when it goes off when she burns the toast!

A timely reminder to us all.

Glad to hear they are all safe - they must all be still in shock. Hopefully, the inurance will help out with the costs involved. One TV programme has suggested that repainting helps to get rid of the smoke smell.

Wend , thank God that your family are safe and unhurt , they must be quite shaken by the experiance .

Thankyou DetEcTive and Amanda. Yes, they are certainly a bit shaken up by it, but my daughter is a very positive and upbeat girl. She said to me on the phone last night that cleaning out her kitchen cupboards was a job she'd been putting off, but now she's done it at last! She also loves cleaning, so much so that I call her Mrs. Overall, which seems appropriate as I have quite a few in my tree with that name!

My husband and I shudder when we think what could've happened to a lovely little family. He and my other daughter have gone up there to-day to help out, while I carry on here painting and decorating. Must get off the computer and get on with it! Thanks again. x

can i just remind people with small children or grandchildren who sleep in bunkbeds,
a smoke alarm should be put in every room with a bunkbed, as smokes rises, and can kill before the actually fire gets any were near tht room, i learnt this at me yearly fire check,


glad they got out ok, i didnt even no what my alarm sounded like til the gas man was welding this week n set it off haha x

It's also a lesson to close all the interior doors at night , as fire can sweep through a building so quickly.

Good that they are all safe.

A lucky escape, indeed........
on a slightly different note.........you can test a smoke/fire alarm for real,with a piece of smouldering paper, or burning the toast or burgers.....etc..
you can also push the button........

but what about Co (Carbon Monoxide)detectors?

you press the button, as with the smoke alarms, but that only tests the electronics........NOT its sniffing power.........??

Bob

Thank heavens they are safe Wend.We all really need to remember to make sure our smoke detectors are working.Just a pound or too spent saves lives.
I set fire to one of those hessian shopping bags by leaving it on top of the hob and somehow one of the knobs turned on .My smoke alarm was in the hall 2 rooms away from the kitchen and the kitchen door was shut.I just thought someone was having a very smelly bonfire.When I looked through the glass door into the kitchen I couldn't see a thing .It was real choking smoke .I threw the dog out and then saw the flames on the bag.I somehow managed to chuck it in the sink and turn the tap on it.But I must have only been a minute away form calling the fire brigade.I have never been so frightened.Now have an alarm just outside the kitchen.

Thank goodness your family are safe Wend.They've been through a frightening experience and I hope it's not too long till their home is ship shape once again xxx

I have an awful fear of fire and I never leave tumbler or dishwasher on at night,or when I go out,so you've just confirmed I'm not paranoid.

Good advice here from all members
Mau xx

Also to add we have a stair alarm with guiding light.....

What a horrible thing to happen but thankfully they are all safe.

I know I'm really paranoid about leaving electrical things on when I am not about.

It's ironical that we used to be advised to use washing machines etc on the economy electricity setting overnight yet there are such dangers in doing so

I am glad your daughter and her family are safe and she found a positive side to things, with the clearing of the cupboards.

It's important to test your alarm regularly to make sure the battery is still working, just use something to press the button and test it if you can't reach it. No point it being there if the battery is dead. It will alert you and the family to the sound and you can discuss how to react. It's also important to discuss how you would get out of a burning house especially if it happens at night and there are small children in the house.

Stay safe everyone,

Lizx

Wend, thank goodness your family are safe. Incidents like this make us all sit up and think don't they. Recently my cousin and her family lost everything in a house fire but thankfully the family were all out at the time, it might have been a different story if they were at home.
It must have been very frightening for your daughter and her family.

Cath xx

Good posts - a timely reminder to us all, I think. My hubby, who I shall now refer to in future as 'Spam', which is Uzzi's nickname for him (don't ask!), tested our 3 smoke alarms and the batteries were flat in two of them! He went out to-day and bought new ones. My daughter has her two wired into the electrics, which has got to be the best idea, but a hassle to do.

What's the stair alarm with guiding light, Mau? Haven't heard of that.

All the family are fine now thanks, after their nervewracking experience. One amusing thing - while they were sitting outside waiting for the fire brigade, the little one was grizzling a bit because he'd been woken up and his 3 yr old sister stroked his face and said 'Don't worry, Fireman Sam is on his way'. For her, it was all a big adventure, especially as they all sat in one of the fire engines while everything was being dealt with.

Wend x

ah Wend the 3 yr old sounds soo cute :O) glad the family are well.

Years ago when my son was very small,he walked with me past our fire station in town.Two of the firemen asked him if he wanted to sit up top,of course he said yes and they even gave him a helmet to wear.....he was ecstatic,but sadly I didn't have a camera....

The smoke alarm we have lights a pathway upstairs when it sounds the alarm,think we bought it at B&Q

Mau x

Thanks Mau, that sounds really good. Being a bit jokey here, but can't resist it - don't think my daughter was expecting 15 Fireman Sams in her tiny kitchen in the middle of the night! She even managed to spot the good-looking ones amidst the crisis! Like mother, like daughter ha ha!

Hi Wend,

Just seen your post and I am glad your Daughter and family are safe.
We do have smoke alarms and do not leave tumble dryer or dishwasher or at night but I have gone out in the day and left them on.
I wont be doing it again.

Your Grandaughter sounds a caring little big Sister.

Teresa

I agree, Teresa, we won't either. I do wonder about all the other electrical appliances etc. we do leave on all the time though. For instance, we leave computers, TVs, DVDs etc. unplugged and fridges, freezers etc. - they have to be on all the time.

What scares me most though is what the firemen told my daughter - that when you're asleep and you breath in smoke from a fire, you are unlikely to wake up.

Smoke alarms are SO important.

Wend x

Sorry, meant computers etc. 'plugged in'

Our local firestation is/was in the middle of Norwich and I often took my son past there and was invited in if he hung back watching the men at work on their engine, the doors were left open in those days. He sat in an engine and tried the helmet etc etc all a big thrill for a little lad. Later on I took other children that I childminded past and they too got to look at the engines close up etc Sadly that old firestation is being closed down and moved out of the city now so some places are further from the base and the old houses in the city centre will be more at risk for the time it wil take for engines to get back in to them should they catch fire.

When my son was about 5 or 6 he was sleeping in my kingsize bed as we were having work done on the house and his room wasn't finished. I put the electric blanket on to warm the bed as we didn't have central heating at the time and started to prepare his bath. Son jumped in and started playing with toys in the bath and then I smelled smoke( before the alarm had time to activate) and went into my room, folded back the duvet and there was a scorched area on the duvet cover and the sheet below right where the wiring went into the blanket. It wasn't an old blanket either. I quickly pulled out the plug and took all the bedding off, and there was a hole in the mattress about the size of a 50p piece. No flames and no more smoke but wasn't sure if the mattress was on fire inside so I rang the firestation and asked if they could send someone round to check it was safe and wouldn't smoulder and burn later on. They said they had to send the engine and crew as a 'shout' and couldn't just send a man with a van lol Had to say not to put the siren on down the street as the neighbour had a new baby but as son sat in bath there was a ring at the door and before he could get out, several firemen clomped up the stairs (no carpet due to work being done) They said as they passed him 'Hope you haven't used all the water' My lad was so excited! Firemen, in our house! They checked the mattress and said it was fine so I found clean bedding and remade the bed and all was ok. Claimed on the insurance and got some money towards more bedding but in honesty I patched the duvet and mattress and it was fine, just turned the mattress so the repair was at the bottom

Just shows how easy it is for accidents to happen tho.

Take care everyone and do check your escape route from the house. Most double glazing put in has to have a way of opening the window wide enough for people to get out from upstairs safely, rather than breaking it open so if you lock your windows, make sure you have all the keys to hand although the safety exit window shouldn't have a lock anyway.

Lizx

I don't believe it! They rang the insurance company yesterday who told them that they should get in touch with the dishwasher manufacturer, as it was their responsibility. They did that and an appointment was arranged to-day for the xxxpoint engineer to come and inspect the dishwasher, which had been put out the front by the firemen in its burnt out state. It was 2 years old, but out of guarantee.

An hour before he was due, my daughter went outside and it had gone! The engineer arrived and said it had obviously been stolen and she should get in touch with xxxpoint. This she did and they told her that, as there was now no proof, there was nothing they could do. She told them the fire service had a fire report, but they said it would cost them £94 to obtain it and they weren't prepared to do that. When she pointed out to them that they could've all died she got no sympathy whatsoever. The engineer also saw the state of the kitchen, which she's cleaned to the best of her ability, but the ceiling is still black, and she showed him a photo of the burnt-out dishwasher.

She's lost her sense of humour!

Thats disgraceful Wend.
I hope if your daughter gets back to the insurance company they will be able to help her sort things out. Perhaps if she sends the photo it would help. I can't believe someone would steal a burnt out dishwasher, the mind boggles!!
****oint should get a flea in their ear.

Cath xx