Monday, May 27, 2024

What Would You Grab?

     My internal clock wakes me up at the same time every day, which means I rarely ever sleep in. When Saturdays roll around I  am up at my regular time while the others grab an hour or two of extra sleep.
    And so it happened that I was once again up early. I headed to the living room and my favorite chair, grabbed my laptop and got to work in the peaceful quietness.
    The sun came up, extra bright it seemed. The amount of dust motes dancing in the streams of light coming in through the window seemed extraordinarily heavy. I didn't pay much attention to them though as I focused on my task at hand.
    Before long Sharon came down the stairs. She poked her head into the living room. "Why does it smell like burnt honey nut cheerios?" she asked.
    It was then that I noted. The dust motes weren't dust motes at all, instead the air was filled with smoke and I had been so focused on my project I never even noticed, and without a sense of smell I didn't have that to alert me either.
    With the furnace off for the season, and nothing happening on the stove in the kitchen I knew there was something a bit scarier happening. I ran up the stairs to wake LV. He immediately smelled the smoke and said it's definitely something electrical. He flew down to the basement and shut off the power at the breaker box and then called for help.
    We tried to locate the source of the smoke, but couldn't. 
    We gathered up all our important papers and then surveyed the rest of the house helplessly. Should we start running things outside? Should we assume since the power is off now everything is okay? At what point will the smoke turn to flames? And why in the world is it taking so long for help to arrive?!
    When it finally did they clumped throughout the house looking at all the electrical outlets. They found several that needed to be replaced, but none that looked like they were the source of the smoke.
    Finally they turned the power back on and then we noticed. The one living room light was completely brown, Further investigation revealed charred bits in the ceiling behind the light.
    They removed it and we got it replaced. 
    The panicked helpless feeling though before we knew what was causing the smoke was awful. And other than important papers we still can't answer the question of what we would grab first if the house was on fire.
    Do you know what you would grab?

13 comments:

  1. So thankful all is well!

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  2. Praise God everyone is safe. God bless. 💛

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  3. That must have been very frightening for you.

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  4. I am thankful all of you are safe and there was no fire!

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  5. So glad you're all safe! I would grab my dog, purse, meds and my walker! LOL

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  6. That was a scary time, and I'm so happy that none of you got hurt! I would take my phone, chargers, laptop, purse (with all ID). Our important papers are in a fireproof safe.
    Blessings!

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  7. First, happy to hear that the repair was a simple one and that you and your home are safe. Second, I feel at a loss as to what I'd grab and run: computer, phone, purse, meds, important papers, water. Our province was in a state of wildfires all summer last year. We've had some rain this year, but authorities warn that people should have some kind of emergency kit and plan in place.

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  8. I'm so happy to hear that everyone is okay and that your home is now safe. Probaby we would grab our dog, medications and important papers. Then the photos of our family that can't be replaced. Other than that, everything can be replaced.
    How scary for you all. Thank goodness Sharon woke up and alerted all of you.
    Blessings and hugs,
    Betsy

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  9. Praise God that all is now well💖

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  10. Glad to hear that everything is okay now. As someone who lives in a fire prone area and is a volunteer firefighter... this link might help with ideas of what to take. https://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/plan-prepare/before-and-during-a-fire/leave-early/what-to-take-with-you
    Hope you have a lovely week

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  11. Heavens, that sounds scary! I'd make sure my husband was aware and the cat was safe. My 2 children if they happened to be visiting - they're both in their 20s. After the humans and cat, I'd grab the metal lockbox with important papers, a couple of scrapbooks, and some boxes of actual family photos I keep intending to scan; and any phones/laptops we could take.

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  12. I have all our important paperwork (land, house, cars) and personal items (birth certs, marriage licence, passports) in a file bin. After family, it's the first thing (plus my purse) that I'd hustle out.

    So very glad you're all safe and the house didn't burn. Praise God!

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  13. Our papers are also in a metal box, so I'd probably make sure Hubby is awake - he's deaf as a post - grab my purse, the wedding pictures and the sterling. Kids are all grown and flown, and right now we don't have any pets.

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Thank you so much for taking time to comment. I love hearing your thoughts.