I heard the trucks screaming down my road this am. I heard it was a fire and 'Oh gosh, we had a fire a couple of years ago, that's bad." Now I find that a person died and another was hospitalized. The fire that we had was an 'inconvenience' compared to this tragedy.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Wow....that's not good. Cannot imagine dealing with that

I've gained a healthy respect (the hard way)for the power of fire & how fast it doubles it's size. The 3 ingredients to make & sustain it (fuel, oxygen, heat) are good to know when trying to start/stop one.

Of all the "real" world issues that scare me, a fire is one of, if not my biggest, concerns. I've dealt with the aftermath of a business burning down, the thought of losing my loved ones/home is unimaginable. My heart goes out to those affected.

Went through the fire about 8 years ago, TWICE! 1st one started by kids with rifles. Had a no burn no firearm rule in effect. I was managing a lodge in the moutains when one of the guest asked me "if I saw the smoke". I told her there is smoke everywhere everyday because of the Idaho fires. She said "oh no the smoke over the hill!" Ran up to the pond and stood on a rock and sure enough I could see flames tips snapping atthe air. RAN to the phone in the cabin (no cell service in that spot) and called 911. Locals were there in 10 minutes and the USFS was there in 30. The USGS hotshot crew from N. CA used the lodge grounds as a staging area since it was so defensible. Captain Cook said if it got out of hand "This is where we are coming because we can defend this and it won't burn". Guests had to go and as did all the neighbors. We had to leave overnight. They let us come back after things were assessed over night. It was a scary few days but the Hotshots were fantastic and the weather cooperated. Had clean up crews working for some time after. Man THAT was a hot filthy job. You never saw more dirty tired individuals at the end of a day. We were lucky. Smelled smoke last night but not sure where it was coming from.

Smoke detectors in a building have proven to save lives in case of a fire ..

Bought my kids house warming gives of Smoke and CO2 detectors when they moved out to their own apartments ..

I remember running to a fire when I was in the fifth grade during Summer break. I wanted to see the excitement. I was standing there watching when the firemen brought the body of a small child out of the home. I can't describe the shame I felt thinking this was exciting to watch when I saw the damage done. I've just stayed out of the way ever since.

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That's gonna leave a mark.

Sometimes people freak out or think I'm lying when I tell them that I have had six fires. It's the truth. Only one produced an injury... only four required emergency response... only five required insurance recompense. Only two were absolutely my fault, although we could argue three as I take responsibility for three.

The most recent one was more than a decade ago, I am DONE having them.

I've learned more than the average person about them and about avoiding REPEATS of them, but I haven't learned nearly enough.

If someone wanted my opinion, especially with regards to guns, gun safes and gun stuff, direct every breath of your energy in to learning about their causes and make 95% of your plan about AVOIDING them and skip the plan to defend your stuff against them, especially with a gun safe. Trying to avoid fire damage with a gun safe is a long shot lottery win that typically has you losing.

The one we had SHOULD have been easy to control. We had a flaming frying pan and a fire extinguisher but some stupid circumstances let it it get out of control. I made one last ditch to smother it with a blanket and put some water on the blanket, but in about one minute, it was 'get out of here, NOW!'. The firemen did say that the effort we put in probably kept the whole house from going up.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Fire codes here (for businesses) are NOTHING to be kept at 18" or closer to the ceilings, so be aware & careful when stuffing your closets & shelves. 2nd DON'T have a chimney fire.

House fires are bad enough. My daughter's house was a total loss. My grandson was in high school and had worked on his car in the garage. The cause of the fire, as near as could be determined, was some oily rags with a little gasoline mixed in.

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Mighty 90's,Trying 4 a 100!

Our kitchen burned in '73 when I was 13. No one home, short behind a wall mounted gas oven. Older brother saw it from down the street, threw a garden hose through a window and pinched the shut off at the meter.
Pretty much contained by the time FD showed but what a mess.
Bros. bedroom was at the other end of the house and a small poster mounted over his door left a pile of ash atop the jamb.

In the apartments my family owned we has 6 or 7 over the years, that requires fire department action. Of those 2 gutted the units. Both of those never spread any further. We also had on fire during construction of the complex that I owned a percentage of. That building burnt to the ground in about 1 hour! But the other half, was only scorched. The fire wall did it's job!

There was a complex a few miles up the road, build about the same time. It had a fire in one unit. The fire walls did their job and the drywall was never breached. But the fire went out the bedroom window and got inside a decorative roof. The proper fire breaks were not in place and the fire spread and took the whole building to the ground. It was 15 degrees below zero F out, Fire hoses froze! Whole fire companies were exhausted in 15 minutes and had to be relieved! one of my fellow deacons from church was the first fire Lieutenant on the scene, he later told me that not one of the required fire stops was in place! They almost had it contained but it spread so fast they were dong good to get everyone (fire fighter and resident) out!

Ivan

Wow sorry to hear about the death. We had a neighbor have a car fire

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Spin The Wheel

Here in the PNW, fires are a way of life. Had breathing problems for a week now. A friend's new husband just made a "Hotshot" crew. Been gone all summer except for one week between TODs.

Here in northern California we're living with constant smoke and threat of some really big and nasty wildland fires. Everybody is on edge with the heat, the dry conditions, the winds, and the stories we hear of people who've lost their homes. Imagine the adrenalin rush I got yesterday afternoon when I got a phone call at work saying there is a fire right across the road from my house and I should get there quick. I ran to my truck and drove as fast as I dared, praying all the way. When I pulled onto my street I had to thread a maze of people standing in the middle of the street with cellphones held high taking pictures. There were police cars parked blocking my driveway and lots of smoke in the air. I jumped out and ran to one of the officers and had what was the first negative experience I've ever had with a law enforcement officer. I approached him and said "Can you tell me what's going on?" He turned to me with a sneer and said "No." My adrenalin rush was going full bore and I got in his face, raised my voice, and said "I live here and I want to know what is going on!" He blinked a couple of times and then said "Ask one of the forest service guys." I saw one of them with a yellow uniform and helmet walking by and ran to him. Told him the same thing - "I live here. Can you tell me what's happening." He was very compassionate. Took me by the arm and said "You're ok. The fire is under control and there is no threat to your home. We're starting to mop up now. If there is ANY concern I will personally knock on your door." I was tremendously relieved but the adrenalin jitters kept me going until later in the evening. Thank God for people who fight fires.

rolomac

I lost my house to a fire in 2011, a wildfire burned 3400 acres here in Bastrop County and burned 1600 buildings. It took 9 days before we could return to find our house was burned to the ground. We rebuilt and life goes on.

Had a house fire in 77. I still think of things that I forgot to claim on the insurance. The firemen did NOT like the ammo and black powder.

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Paul
Salome, AZ

...we have a commercial system as well as some store bought ones. My wife and I were lying in bed in the daytime, reading I think. I have to point out that this was a REALLY wild period in my son's life and were were almost numb to commotion and noise.

My son burst in the room and yelled, "GET THE 'BLANK' OUT OF HERE, THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE!" i was like "WHAAA?" I don't know how we just lay there through that.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

... until it is burning out of control in my house.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

That's like a hot version of the Titanic sinking with the 'waterproof' bulkheads. Except the Titanic went down and the apartments went up.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"