Don't Let This Happen To You
By kelly60
@kelly60 (4546)
United States
March 12, 2007 8:17pm CST
You can never be too careful when it comes to safety. I know from experience. Fifteen years ago, someone removed the batteries from our smoke alarm because something spilled in the bottom of the oven while we were cooking dinner. Nobody remembered to put them back in before we went to bed. We lost two children in our fire.
Now most newer homes are required to have smoke alarms wired directly wired into them, but those built before these building codes went into effect still don't. To anyone reading this, please make sure you always keep fresh batteries in your smoke alarms. Be sure to inspect all electrical cords regularly for any signs of damage too. Take every precaution. You can never be too careful.
I can’t stress enough how important it is to be sure that all children, regardless of age know what to do in the event of a fire. Show them how to get out of the house through every possible exit. I couldn’t get up the stairs, but my preschoolers were within a few feet of an upstairs window.
If a fire starts, be sure to get everyone out as quickly as possible and don't go back into the house for ANYTHING. Call 911 from somewhere else if you can. Don’t risk your life by going back inside to do it. It isn't anything like it is in the movies. You can't see a thing. The smoke chokes you, you can't breath, you can't see, you can't talk, you can't move.
5 responses
@villageanne (8553)
• United States
13 Mar 07
Oh NO, my heart goes out to you. I am so sorry for your loss. I am in tears for your loss and your pain. Are you a member of gather? I own a group on gather called "be prepared" We help people be prepared for all of the natural and manmade disasters including fires. I would love for you to tell your story to our readers. Gather is an online board like mylot. It pays with points and you trade them in for gift certificates. I started this group to help others. Many do not feel the need to prepare for such things till it is too late. You may have the power to make them understand. I feel that it is very important to prepare for things like having a smoke detector at every bedroom, and in kitchen, and on every floor. I know they dont tell us to have this many but I had a neighbor who lost 5 kids in housefire and I am a firm believer that you can not be too careful.
Again, I am so sorry for your loss and thank you for telling your story to help others.
1 person likes this
@villageanne (8553)
• United States
2 May 07
I am sending you an invitation right now in your mylot email.
@coolseeds (3919)
• United States
19 Mar 07
I am sorry to hear about such a terrible incident and glad everyone got out safe.
It is a great idea but some times it is impossible.
I have a the smoke detector turned off in my kitchen. I have a 10 foot ceiling in my living room & the kitchen is 8. There is also an arch so it isn't completely open into the living room and causes the air to recirculate through the kitchen.
The kitchen is very small. So EVERY time I cook the heat sets it off. Nothing I can do to leave it on. Sometimes you can't have a smoke detector in every room.
My house is small. So this isn't much of a problem. I have 4 smoke detectors throughout the house. I also have 4 fire extinguishers.
You can never be too safe when it comes to your health and home.
@kelly60 (4546)
• United States
19 Mar 07
First, let me repeat that everyone did not get out safe... I lost two children in the fire. One was almost two years old and the other was almost three years old.
Second, It is not impossible to have smoke alarms in a room just because the ceilings are high. Every one of my smoke alarms is mounted on a wall, not on a ceiling.
Safety is very important, and it is important to have smoke detectors. I don't know where the 4 you have are located so they may be enough for your house. I don't have one in my kitchen either, but I do have one in the hall just outside of the kitchen. If a fire were to start in the kitchen area, this one would go off.
My main concern is that anyone who was sleeping would be awakened as quickly as possible. Once a fire starts it spreads quickly so you don't have much time to get out. Every second counts, so the sooner the alarm goes off the better. That's why it is better to have more alarms covering more area.
@hcromer (2709)
• United States
13 Mar 07
I live with a couple of smokers and our oven smokes a lot so we take the batteries out of our smoke detector quite often and forget to put them back. I know it's a horrible habit, maybe they should make a permanent supply of electricity to smoke detectors in addition to batteries. Then it would work with the electricity on or off.
1 person likes this
