Comments on: Better Safe Than Sorry

By: Lynda Dusen

Lynda Dusen — Fri, 09 May 2008 02:33:08 +0000

On my birthday three years ago, my childhood baby sitter’s house burned down. Thankfully she was at church when it happened. The community rallied around her and she now had a mobile home where her house once was. I’ll never forget driving toward my house after my birthday dinner. My dad saw the smoke first and at one point we thought it might be their house. As we got closer we figured out whose house it was. I’ve never been that close to a burning structure and don’t want to again.
I am thankful you were unharmed and don’t ever hesitate to call the fire/police departments. That what they are there for.

By: Jocelyn

Jocelyn — Tue, 06 May 2008 01:57:47 +0000

Hmmm…No fire stories here, but my sister had an interesting situation once. She was running a day care back when this happened. She was opening a box with a pair of scissors cut herself pretty badly. She didn’t have a car to take the daycare kids with her, but she needed medical help. She called the hospital and they said they would sned someone over. Within 5 minutes she hears all these sirens and such, and doesn’t a cop car, an ambulance, and two fire trucks stop in front of her house with lights flashing. She tells it like this, “I walked down my driveway to meet them and said ‘All I needed was a little help with this booboo.’” I always find that part quite funny. Anyway, I am really glad to hear that God kept your family safe from fire. And thanks for the tip that smelling something burning counts as an emergency. I won’t hesitate to call to keep my family safe.
XOXO
Joce

By: Rindy Walton

Rindy Walton — Fri, 02 May 2008 03:24:35 +0000

I am so glad all is ok!

The night before I went into labor with Tim, as I was going to bed, the light from the moon was at the right angle to catch the smoke coming from the seams of the stainless steel chimney. There was a fire in the wood furnace and had I not seen it right then, I would have been sound asleep and the house burned down! I never used it again!!

By: Carissa

Carissa — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:12:36 +0000

That’s scary! I’m glad that you and your family are okay. The Lord was definetely watching out for you!
Chad and I once attended a seminar on fire safety at the Holiday Inn. We couldn’t believe how many everyday things starts fires. It was especially frightening to watch the “fast burning” fires on video and how a couple lost their home in 10 minutes!!
We wanted to buy all their company’s fire safety equipment, but couldn’t afford it. We work with what we have and trust God for the rest!! Praise God you were all unharmed.

By: Heather

Heather — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 21:43:33 +0000

Kristen,

I am reminded of the house fire we had when I was a child. I guess we actually had three. Two from a plugged up chimney and one “real” one from faulty electrical in the bathroom. I remember my mom home alone with us kids, as my dad was out of town working and she did not know what to do with the smell. We did not see any fire at the time. She called the local fire department. Same story as you with lots of trucks and men. There was a small fire in the attic from wires. It reminds me to always look above for guidance and help. Even when we don’t know what to do, He gives us the answer. Our fire started above and it reminds me that we had to look up to find the problem and solution—help from the Lord. Thanks for reminding me of that and glad to hear all is well with you, your family and your house! God Bless, Heather

By: Amy T.

Amy T. — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 20:00:45 +0000

Kristin,
Your story reminded me of when I was a little girl & the pipe to our wood stove in the livingroom fell off & the flames were shooting toward the ceiling. My grandmother sat in a rocking chair with my baby brother & refused to leave the house. Her response was “I’m not taking this baby out in the cold!” There were firemen going in & out of the house, all the windows & doors were open and she just sat there & rocked him throughout all the chaos. My mom, sister & I were frantic but she was as calm as can be. Too bad your kids missed all the excitement! I’m glad your family is safe.

By: Sherrie Staines

Sherrie Staines — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:57:01 +0000

May 10, 2000 it is almost the anniversay of our fire.There was a major lightening storm and a huge “close by” strike. A few minutes later Nathaniel came downstairs and said ” I know that I over react sometimes….but I think that I smell smoke.” I had him climb into bed with me and Greg went to look around. Neither of us smelled anything and the alarms weren’t going off. In 2 seconds Greg called that there was smoke filling the upstairs. Cade stood petrified at the steps and was unable to move, Quinn was sleeping soundly. If Nathaniel had not awakened we would have lost all 3 to smoke inhalation. We rounded everyone up called 911 and started to head out the back door. I remembered from school that you should touch the door first before opening it and sure enough the door was hot~ we headed out the kitchen door. We drove next door to Greg’s sister’s house. It was FOREVER (20 minutes) before we heard the fire alarm go off in town~ they had been hit by lightening too and the automatic alarm was knocked out, someone had to go ring it by hand. We were blessed in that the fire didn’t start until the firemen opened the door, but then it was a backdraft fire that took off. If we had opened the door originally we would have lost the whole house. We did lose the complete back room and that was enough to keep us living at my sister-in law’s for 2 weeks! God was with us the whole way, and we are still tearful and grateful every time we think about it!

By: Trish Prozik

Trish Prozik — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:42:02 +0000

Hey what a coincidence!! Our dryer started on fire last week! Nice huh? Peter decided to do some handy work which later int he week led to a flame coming out the back of the dryer! I can laugh now but it was very scary! Glad you are all safe and sound! Cant wait to see you all in a couple weeks!!!

By: Webb Dickson

Webb Dickson — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:14:52 +0000

Kristin, you are indeed lucky! I think your luck stemmed from the fact that the dryer shut down before a major fire developed. Each year there are over 12,000 dryer related fires in this country alone resulting in hundreds of injuries and millions of dollars in damages. It is very important to ensure your dryer and vent are cleaned on a yearly basis to prevent this sort of thing from happening.