General Chat

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

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

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.

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.....

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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!