Averting a Fire Disaster
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I spent an evening averting a fire disaster. This happened when I moved the kitchen cooking station around and plugged cords into different outlets.
Moving the Breville Oven:
I got it into my head the other day to move the Breville Smart oven over on the counter next to my red microwave. So making food was even more convenient.
Last night I was cooking a spaghetti TV dinner in the microwave and cooking thick slices of bread with butter in the Breville oven.
After I had eaten, I noticed that the lights on both the Breville and the microwave were off.
It was close to 6 p.m., but I rushed outside to see if the maintenance man was still around. I got lucky. He was only about fifty feet away, walking in the other direction. So I yelled at him.
Yes, I had tripped the breakers. Not only that, but I had a small appliance electrical attachment plugged into the wall, with both appliances plugged into it. The side of it was burned, so I had to toss that.
But I managed to avert a fire disaster.
He told me to move the Breville oven to a different spot. The appliance was too powerful to be on the same outlet as the microwave and refrigerator.
An electrician came in and actually installed those safety electrical plugs recently. One in the bathroom and one in the kitchen.
Just before I moved here, the heater caught fire with the former resident and caused quite a bit of damage.
What Happened Years Ago:
I can’t recall if I’ve ever told you this, but years ago, we had just moved into a house. It was winter time and snowing.
Some fool had at some point decided they could replace the light over the kitchen sink, and obviously didn’t do a safe job. I don’t know how they managed to avert a fire disaster at that moment.
So there we were on a Saturday night, having lived there three days. It was snowing, and the kitchen caught fire.
I had told the movers, who were taking their sweet time because their girlfriends kept them occupied, to just put most of the rest of the stuff that would fit into the two-car garage.
It was obvious they weren’t going to get everything in its place with their girlfriends hanging around. And I was tired of dealing with them.
Everything we had was stuffed into that two-car garage, except for the main furniture.
A Winter Fire:
I believe we moved in on Thursday, and the fire started on Saturday night.
I rushed the pets (two cats and three dogs at the time) into my car and drove down the street to park.
The house didn’t burn down. It just burned a big hole in the kitchen ceiling. We averted the fire disaster of having our entire home burn down.
The firefighters got there and didn’t know where the breakers were, and neither did we. They had to wade through that mess of boxes in the garage to find it.
They put out the fire and told us we could stay there, but we couldn’t use the gas heat. So there we were with a hole in the ceiling, with no heat, and snow falling outside.
And if we went to a hotel, we’d have to take five pets with us because I wouldn’t leave them behind.
At least it wasn’t in the bedroom, so we stayed.
We couldn’t get a thing done with the insurance or the people who come in to deal with fire and water damage until Monday. That’s the problem with moving at the onset of a weekend.
Kitchen Emergency at 17:
I had my first kitchen emergency when I was 17 and pregnant. That time, I blew up a gas stove while trying to toast a piece of bread because I didn’t realize you had to light a match.
The blast threw me across the room when I was about 5 months pregnant, and it singed off my eyebrows.
Since then, I have feared gas stoves and don’t want anything to do with one. I know it is trendy to have a gas stove, but I don’t care. And I don’t want one. I managed to partially avert disaster, and I don’t want it to happen again.
Then my second kitchen emergency was an electrical fire due to someone installing a kitchen light who didn’t know what they were doing. And left us, the new homeowners, with the mess it caused.
So I’m very glad, and very lucky, that I averted a fire disaster.
One reason, aside from needing room for my portable washer/dryer, that I chose not to have a stove in my apartment was my fear of stoves, even though the one here was electric.
The memory of being thrown across a room for trying to cook a piece of toast stayed with me.
Constantly Checking the Stove:
I can’t count how many times I’ve gone back home to check whether I turned the stove off in my lifetime. Too many times to count.
I was quite happy not to have that worry anymore. The microwave and Breville oven turn off on their own, so I don’t have to think about them.
Stupidly, I plugged too many electrical appliances into one plug this go-round. But this time I managed to avert a fire disaster.
I don’t cook an awful lot. If I’m tired and don’t have anything planned, I’ll cook a TV dinner,
Nothing terrible happened this time around, aside from burning the safety attachment plugged into the electric outlet. Oh, and tripping the breakers. But I can add this little saga to my life story of averting disaster.
It could now be said that I can’t even cook a TV dinner without causing problems.
Worried about Charlie:
Yesterday evening, I noticed Charlie was limping pretty badly. So I started carrying him outside, inside, to the water and food bowl, and up on the bed.
I gave him a pill the vet gave me for pain. And I even considered sleeping on the couch so he wouldn’t have to deal with the high bed. Even though I have taller doggy steps in the bedroom, it still worries me.
But I knew if I changed up what I normally do, it would just confuse him. Like me, he doesn’t take well to change in his routine.
This morning, I got up, and he was hardly limping at all and didn’t seem to be in pain. So I’ll just keep an eye on him.
BEAUTIFUL PICTURE OF JUVENILE CARDINAL WITH IT’S STILL DARK BEAK !
Goodness – with your lifetime scares in the kitchen, I’m surprised you don’t live on sandwiches and salad! Glad you averted big problems this time. I hope Charlie continues pain-free. I often don’t know what day it is…
I’m sorry you’ve had such cooking scares. It’s great you’ve come up with some ways to cook that don’t involve a big stove. We currently do not have enough outlets in our kitchen and have to be very careful about what we have plugged in and running at the same time. I am like another reader, Diana, regarding pressure cookers. When I was five or six years old, I was in the kitchen when my mom was cooking some beans in the pressure cooker. The lid blew off and beans shot to the ceiling with a huge woosh! I screamed because it sounded like a bomb went off. Amazingly, my mom got another pressure cooker and just kept on cooking with it, but, when I became an adult, I resisted all suggestions to get one. I know they’ve been redesigned and are all the rage now, but I just don’t know if I’ll ever be keen on getting one. I’d like to see one of the new ones in action to make a better decision.
But, as for gas stoves, I’ve had one before and loved it and would love to have one again. A few months ago, when we had a plumber here for a different job, we had him add a gas hookup in the kitchen so when we can afford a gas stove we can hook it up. Our heating furnace is gas, but has an electric ignition and won’t work when there is no electricity. Since we get ice storms in Kentucky that knock out electric power at times, we also have a back-up gas stove that has a battery-powered ignition so it will work during times of no electricity. We had it hooked up by a licensed plumber to make sure it met the proper codes.
Well, that was a close one, Brenda! But it’s not that you’re stupid, for heaven’s sake! It could happen to anyone. How would you know that the two appliances would be too much for the one plug? Really. So don’t be hard on yourself. And don’t worry about not knowing what day it is; seems like I can’t remember what day it is two or three times a week! Like you, I am home most days just doing my own thing so there’s not much variation to keep me clued in. Anyway, the important thing is that you and Charlie are unharmed. And I can see why you wouldn’t want a stove–especially a gas one. The experience you describe when you were pregnant would terrify anyone. It’s so fortunate that you and your baby weren’t hurt worse than your eyebrows being singed.
I wonder what it was that made Charlie limp. Maybe he just had a–I hesitate to say this for fear of trivializing your concern–but maybe he just had a “charlie horse”! I hope it doesn’t recur or if it does it’s nothing serious.
You two take care. Hugs and pats.
So glad you and Charlie are ok. I am also afraid of gas stoves and my husband would never have one. The only trouble with being all electric is when it goes off in the winter there is no way to cook or stay warm.
Enjoyed your story, reminds me of some of the things that have happened in my younger days.
I love reading your Blog..
Marilynn and Hayley
Love reading your blog. Haven’t posted before I don’t think.
Glad everything is OK. Those receptacles are called GFI receptacles. I think they are now a requirement in the kitchen and bathroom.
I give my doggie Dasaquin chewables for his bad back and hips. The vet recommended him to take this daily and it really has helped him a lot.
I give Charlie the same type chews. Plus he takes daily liver supplements the vet put him on. He was doing really well with his back but maybe he stepped wrong or something happened. He’s much better today.
Since I’ve retired I’m always forgetting what day it is so don’t feel bad.
My fear is lightening. It struck my cable line going into the house one time. I’t didn’t
starta fire, don’t know how it didn’t. But it ruined everything cable related. TV, computer and cable box. So now every time we have a storm with lightening i’m scared to death! Glad everything worked out for you.
When we’re children, we’re scared of monsters. When we grow up, we’re afraid of lightning and fire and gas stoves, etc.
Enjoyed the story, and I’m glad you’re okay. !
Yes, me and Charlie boy are fine. He had no idea anything was going on.
When I moved in my house, I had a gas stove with an electric pilot. I bought an electric stove and had my Dad put in an electrical plug in bc I heard way too many stories about gas explosions-no thanks. Thank God your baby and you were ok-scary!
One Easter, I decided to make Chinese food instead of a big ham dinner. Well I put the oil in a big pan and forgot about it on the burner bc I was talking to my daughter. Just when I realized it, the oil ignited into fire and shot right up! A neighbor was walking by and knew what to do. She put baking soda on the fire and it quickly rose up almost to my ceiling! Then quickly put the cover on it! My daughter saw it and quickly scooped up the twins and had her other 2 kids close by and was pregnant for her 5th, walking outside fast. I had frozen chicken fingers that I baked instead, but still made stir fried rice, beef and broccoli, and beef and chicken teriyaki. Just not crab rangoon bc of the frying thing. Now it’s healthier baking them. Lol. That is the Easter that is remembered the most! Only ham dinners since then.
For quite awhile I wouldn’t fry anything til my oldest granddaughter was sleeping over and wanted chicken fingers. She helped me get over that fear of frying!
It is suppose to be my Dad put in an electrical outlet. Stupid phone has a mind of its own! ?
Stays with you, doesn’t it? I would check and recheck even the electric stove burners before I’d leave. Then I’d still worry that I had missed one.
Glad you’re safe
Thank you. Sometimes I’m just an idiot.
So glad you are okay. When my sister and I were three and four our mother let us play in the kitchen by the stove. She had a pressure cooker that exploded. We were okay but it blew the cabinets full of dishes and glasses off the wall. I have never used a pressure cooker although I have a degree in home economics. In 1976 when we had more interest I canning the district agent asked me to check the pressure on canners the public brought it. I told I could not do that and the reason why. I love my gas oven.
All I have to do is smell that gas when you turn a gas stove on and all of the memories come back.
Glad to hear You and Charlie are safe..
Thanks Sonny. I’ve thought of you every time the weather is on about the hurricane.
Wow, you certainly did dodge a bullet there, Brenda – so glad you and Charlie are safe!
I know. Somehow kitchens and me don’t mix well. When my kids were young, I was in the kitchen all the time. Frying chicken. Making food in the crockpot and freezing it. Now that I’m older, I’m so glad I don’t have to worry about whether I’ve turned the stove off when I’m out somewhere. I’m much more forgetful now.
We are out in the middle of nowhere with no gas, so my stove is electric. It has a special line just for it.
I’ve lived in apartments where the landlords just ran extension cords along the floorboards to increase the number of plugs. So dangerous. No so much for me–at that time in my life all I did was work, so I was almost never home.
That does sound scary. I can’t believe they do that.
Funny, as I am reading your story, my husband is talking to an electrician about adding another outlet in the kitchen. It seems that sometimes when I turn the small TV in our kitchen & the microwave on, I trip the breaker. You are not the only one!!
Well, that’s good to know I’m not alone.
Thank God the safety switch cut of the outlet! That is definitely a disaster diverted! I can see why you do not want a gas stove after your experience of being thrown across the room, that must have been incredibly scary!
Happy to hear that Charlie is feeling better! I hope the two of you have a great day!
I just wish I had a little more common sense in the kitchen.