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Texannie
| Thursday, January 15, 2004 - 10:10 am
Some of ya'll may have been following my prayer request about some friends of mine who's house got on fire at Christmas. First, thanks so much for all the prayers. It really is quite miraculous that they all survived. My friend just sent an email that I thought had some really great info in it for all of us...... The way the report stated the cause was: Source of fire was Christmas tree. Cause: Unknown. So, that means it was the tree that caught fire, but why it caught fire is unknown. Mike and I's theory is that there was a short in the lights, a constant spark in the glass light caused it to melt, so where it was sparking on the tree itself, which caused the fire. I had watered my tree every 3 days. We had the tree less than 2 weeks. So, the tree was not excessively dry or anything. It also could have been faulty wiring in the house, which I don't even want to think about, since I am living in the same type housing only two streets over. Scary. I don't know, Mike says it was just a fluke. I hope so. My mom is right. The damages to our house caused by the heat were amazing! It got up to 1500 degrees in our house...isn't that insane?? There was a point when I was getting my oldest two out of the house that I had to run past the burning tree. The heat that hit my face was so intense. Later at the emergency room, when I went to use the bathroom, I saw that my eyebrows, eyelashes, nose hairs, and the top layer of my head hair were all singed. It was awful. Right now, and don't laugh, I have a section on the top of my head that is just small spikes/stubble from where it was singed off. I had to change the way I part my hair to cover it. LOL My suggestion if your house ever catches fire is to grab whoever is closest to you and get out of the house. Then re-enter through windows to get others. Sleep with doors closed, install smoke detectors in several areas of the house. I promise you this...if you think that you can travel all over your house getting family members out, you may find yourself very sadly mistaken. The smoke and heat travel so fast and can be so intense, that once it hits you, you black out almost immediately. For Mike and I, there was no significant period of time where we thought, "hmmm, it feels like I may black out...". We just fell. Fire is nothing to play around with. It is so important to keep your head straight, remember your fire escape plan, and to not make rash decisions. And don't forget to call 911, or have a neighbor call 911!!! Also, if you live in an apartment/duplex/fourplex...knock on your neighbors' doors to tell them to get out. I know it all seems so obvious now, but when in a fire...it is so hard to remember. The one thing I forgot was to "stay low"...I have heard this every year in school, and now my kids are learning it! But, I forgot when it was most important. So did Mike.
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Calamity
| Thursday, January 15, 2004 - 10:14 am
Oh my goodness Texannie, I am so sorry for your friends but very relieved that everyone got out safely.
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Daydreamer
| Thursday, January 15, 2004 - 10:53 am
Texannie - I am so glad your friend and her family are OK. About 3 years ago a woman I knew and her 3 year old twins were all killed in a fire in their condo. The children were sleeping and the woman went to take a shower. Apparently she had just smoked a cigarette and she thought she put it out. Somehow it fell out of the ashtray and started a fire. She was in the shower with the door closed and when she went to get out of the bathroom, the entire condo was filled with smoke and flames. She couldn't even leave the bathroom. She tried to break out a window but it caused a backdraft and pulled the fire into the bathroom. By the time the police/fire dept. got there, she and her 2 children were dead. The cause of death for the children was smoke inhalation and for the woman it was burns as well as smoke inhalation. What a tragedy. I am still close to her parents and brother and none of them can even talk about it to this day.
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