Verandah fire

[Mike K]

I had a brain fade last week. I put the wood heater fire ashes in a cardboard box on the verandah . 5 hours later it was all on fire . I came home and an old freezer and other stuff was well alight . I picked up the freezer and managed to get it off onto the grass , burnt my face a bit doing that and the acrid smoke too.

I ran to the car and the extinguisher got out some of the fire, then i remembered I had 2 plastic jerry cans full of water . this finally got the fire out . It burnt a big hole in the floor , the bearer was badly burnt too.

I normally have 44 gallon drums of water around the house during summer , but they were not in place as its Winter here .

Scary stuff mike

[Robin Craig]

Dear Mike,

no one I have learned is perfect.

Glad to hear you got it out, narrow escape.

R

[aj.lec]

Sounds like you had a very close call and could have turned out a lot worse
Glad you came out in one piece albeit a bit BBQ'd . In this case "rare" is better than "well done"

[hrpearce]

Glad you saved the house Mike, lucky you came home in time.
Our house lost a wall once years ago when it was rented out. Some mortar fell out of the open fire bricks and caught the wall. We were lucky it had been reining all day and the house was wet giving us time to put the fire out when we arrived after the phone call from the tenants. The hard part was mustering the fire brigade as they weren't used to getting call outs in winter.

[Little Jo]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelly

I burnt my face a bit doing that and the acrid smoke too.


Scary stuff mike

Hi Mike

When I read your story and came to the part where you burnt your face I had a shudder go down my body and immediately thought of my mate Bob Mosley and how easy you can get into trouble dealing with fires. I am so glad it all turned out OK for you, you can easily repair the veranda but we are more important.

Cheers

Tony

[maple_leaf_eh]

I have to admit to doing the same thing years ago. Similar end result, plus the homeowner tore a new one in me.

This topic reminds us all to be alert for fire safety, and having an assortment of extinguishers.

[Chris Collins]

I'm sorry to hear that Mike, hope you heal up quickly! Had a scary experience with fire myself last spring.

Cheers

Chris

[motto (RIP)]

Originally Posted by hrpearce

The hard part was mustering the fire brigade as they weren't used to getting call outs in winter.

House fires through winter are not that unusual in Melbourne. They are mostly caused by poor management of heating appliances. Asphyxiation is another danger. Smoke alarms have saved many lives but 'brain fade' can overcome any built in safety device or system.
You were extremely fortunate Mike.

David

[lynx42]

G'day Mike, or should I say 'Lucky Boy'. Jill had a like episode whilst I was in hospital a few weeks ago. Not as bad or threatening to our home though. Being winter, Jill had the wood heater going at night. She put some firewood on it about 8.00pm and left it over night to warm the house. Next day at about 5.00pm she cleaned the ashes out of the heater and took the cold ash down to where we burn the garden refuge each year and dumped the ash near the heap. It rained that night and next morning she wondered where the smoke was coming from drifting past the house. Missing was one garden refuge heap and it was still raining. It shows that you cannot be too careful where fire is concerned. At least I won't have to burn that one before summer now.

I am glad that your home was ok and you did not suffer too badly.
On the TV, over the past few nights, they have been promoting early clean-up around the home as it looks like a bad fire season coming up this summer.

Regards Rick.