Thanks be to my smoke detector...

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for it most assuredly saved our kitchen/home.

Around 0330 I was jolted out of a deep sleep by the chirping of a smoke detector. I did a Jesse Owens into the kitchen where black smoke was pouring out of the microwave. I soaked a dish towel and smothered the flames.

It seems that JR had put a bowl of ramen in and had forgotten to add water to it.

We opened the windows. While we are inconvenienced by the now dissipating horrid smell I am not upset about this but rather gratefully relieved that a 9 volt battery saved us.

The moral?

Check your batteries.
 
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About 20 years ago we had an alarm test at work. One of our staff was sitting at her computer like a soup sandwich. She had no idea what the noise was or why it mattered. I was the closest lawyer to her office and I moved with alacrity to get her out - told to quit f-ing around, save her work and get her butt in gear. She did not like my attitude. I was aghast - the alarm was as irritating as it was supposed to be and she had no curiosity. She looked at me like a 2 headed goat and then got in a huff. Should have let her cook.
 
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I quit changing batteries when I figured out I couldn't hear the alarms anyhow.

They make smoke alarms for the Deaf, with impossible to sleep through lights, as well as sound.

We had numerous fires in the apartments, SMOKE ALARMS SAVE LIVES! I've witnessed the results many times! Never lost a tenant to fire in 40 years!

Ivan
 
I don't know why people are making jokes about this. It's a serious post, and I'm glad Rusty came through with nothing more serious than a smelly microwave.

This isn't joking material folks.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syV2LkGpQB0[/ame]
 
My wife and I are in rental house and try to maintain it like is ours. The owner is appreciative of the way we take care of the house.
Last fall we replaced the firearm alarms were the type that had to be twisted and pulled down to replace the battery.
We replaced the existing ones with newer style with battery door on the outside of the alarm.
All went well for about 2weeks when at 4 am the alarm that is on the highest part of the celling went off. Replaced the battery.
2 weeks latter another one went, then a third one. All between 2 and 4 AM.
We replaced the remaining with fresh batteries, so the point is don't use the batteries that come with the unit.
 
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2 years ago we had one fail at 0300, of course it had to be the highest one in our home. I was so mad because it continued to go off and I tossed it into a ditch behind the house. It went off like the battery was low even though I replaced the battery after the unit first failed. I got an idea and retrieved it from the ditch and put in the carport on a timer to keep the squirrels from damaging the under hood wiring in the vehicles. It chirps once every 10 seconds or so and has been in operation ever since!
 
Well, 1st of all, nobody got hurt and the detector did its job. If I remember right, we just changed our clocks back, which is a reminder of changing the smoke detector batteries. I also change the backup battery in my thermostat and my Bose radio.
Good job, Rusty! Glad all's well. This may remind a few of us to change our own batteries in our devices.
 
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