House caught fire this morning. Lucky to be alive

Our granddaughter woke us up at 6 am because of the smoke, we found the front porch engulfed almost, tried water from the sink, that helped, then tried the water hose, of all things, it was broken, and could not get water out of it. I slammed it against the porch and it broke a little so water sort of came out, enough to stop the immediate flames, then the fire department came and they finished the job, had to pretty much dismantle the floor of the porch with chainsaws and such. They used FLIR technology (Forward Looking InfraRed imager) to see the hot spots which they used their water hoses to put out.

If our granddaughter ( 9 months old) had not started crying because of the smoke, our whole house would have gone up. As it is, the fire was limited to the porch. It seems it was started by a cigarette smoldering in a plastic bucket.

I couldn't believe I was not able to get the stupid hose to work. Will have to fix that problem today, new hose and such. Also it is a wakeup call to get fire extinguishers which we had 10 years ago but none today.

What a morning! The porch is in ruins right now but that was the extent of it.

I'm glad you and your loved ones were unharmed, and your house is mostly intact.

Originally posted by ChessPraxis
I'm glad you and your loved ones were unharmed, and your house is mostly intact.

We are all shook up for sure. I got smoke in my lungs from trying put out the fire, was up close and personal with the flames.

Originally posted by sonhouse
We are all shook up for sure. I got smoke in my lungs from trying put out the fire, was up close and personal with the flames.

What was the cause?

Originally posted by Tygert
What was the cause?

My son is a smoker, and his gf, they had put out a cigarette in a planter with flammable stuff inside, it smoldered all night and caught fire 14 hours later.

I hate tobacco myself, but now the new rule, no smoking, period. You want to smoke do it away from the house.

Originally posted by sonhouse
My son is a smoker, and his gf, they had put out a cigarette in a planter with flammable stuff inside, it smoldered all night and caught fire 14 hours later.

I hate tobacco myself, but now the new rule, no smoking, period. You want to smoke do it away from the house.

Here in Cape Town all the vegetation is something called "Fynbos". It means "fine bush" and it is full of oil, so we have fires on the mountains behind our houses all the time. In 2008, before we moved here, we came on holiday and there was a huge fire behind our house. We almost had to pack our bags and evacuate. Luckily this province's government is organised and they managed to put it out. There are huge fires al the time.

Oh I see I've gone a bit off topic. What I meant to say is that almost all of them are caused by cigarette butts.

I'm glad you and yours are safe.

Originally posted by MontyMoose
I'm glad you and yours are safe.

Me too. People die in shack fires here in summer.

Originally posted by Tygert
Me too. People die in shack fires here in summer.

Thanks everyone, our house is 130 years old, a victorian, the wood would have gone up like tinder if the flames had reached the house proper.

I just couldn't believe the frigging water hose was so jammed it wouldn't open up. Later I tried to unscrew the sprayer end and it was jammed so tight, two people with a big vice grip and a very large channel lock pliers would not free the two parts. It had clearly been run over by a car, but it wasn't even that old, I had just bought the hose and sprayer a few months earlier and had taken pains to keep the hose out of the way of the cars in the driveway.

The best laid plans of mice and men....

Originally posted by sonhouse
Our granddaughter woke us up at 6 am because of the smoke, we found the front porch engulfed almost, tried water from the sink, that helped, then tried the water hose, of all things, it was broken, and could not get water out of it. I slammed it against the porch and it broke a little so water sort of came out, enough to stop the immediate flames, then the ...[text shortened]... ut none today.

What a morning! The porch is in ruins right now but that was the extent of it.

Wow, glad everyone is okay!
Kelly

Originally posted by sonhouse
Thanks everyone, our house is 130 years old, a victorian, the wood would have gone up like tinder if the flames had reached the house proper.

I just couldn't believe the frigging water hose was so jammed it wouldn't open up. Later I tried to unscrew the sprayer end and it was jammed so tight, two people with a big vice grip and a very large channel lock ...[text shortened]... the hose out of the way of the cars in the driveway.

The best laid plans of mice and men....

You and your family are fortunate indeed.

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
You and your family are fortunate indeed.

As far as the garden hose goes, I wanted to save the hose, I got the best one I could find, it cost 40 bucks, so the next day I cut out the sprayer with a dremel moto tool. I have my MD you know. Master of Dremel🙂

Glad all are "OK". This thread had me going through our home checking all the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors (all were in working order).

Originally posted by Great Big Stees
Glad all are "OK". This thread had me going through our home checking all the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors (all were in working order).

Yes, it was a wake up call for sure. It was traumatic to be caught out without a working water hose.

Funny thing is, a few decades ago when we lived in Venice Beach, a total stranger comes charging up to the house screaming, YOUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE.

Sure enough, the roof was burning merrily away. It seems on analysis our fireplace chimney should have had a screen to prevent large pieces from the fire from leaving the chimney but when we looked close, the screen was on the roof somehow, not sure how that would have happened but with a fire in the fireplace, large embers came up and out the chimney and onto the wood shingle roofs starting them alight.

So I had a hose but the dam thing was so short it barely went past the eaves of the roof and I didn't even have a ladder, so there I am dangling on a piece of the porch with a hose stretched to its limit and I had to squeeze the end with my thumb to make a squirt of water to reach the chimney area but I finally did and had the fire put out by the time the fire department arrived.

That was another wake up call and we got a good ladder and fire extinguishers and longer hoses but here we are, another century, having forgotten the lesson of 1980.

Hope that makes a lesson to be learned for everyone here!

Originally posted by sonhouse
Yes, it was a wake up call for sure. It was traumatic to be caught out without a working water hose.

Funny thing is, a few decades ago when we lived in Venice Beach, a total stranger comes charging up to the house screaming, YOUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE.

Sure enough, the roof was burning merrily away. It seems on analysis our fireplace chimney should have ha ...[text shortened]... ving forgotten the lesson of 1980.

Hope that makes a lesson to be learned for everyone here!

Will Fire Insurance cover most of the replacement and repair?

P.S. Pittsburgh's struggling against the Vikings in London.