We had a chimney fire last Thursday evening complete with a 911 call, two trucks with sirens blazing like the fire in our flue, screaming to a halt in front of our house. Luckily we didn’t experience any damage but it was frightening to see foot high flames shooting out of the top of the chimney against the backdrop of a night sky while acrid smoke permeated the house. The firemen checked the walls with a Thermal Imagine, looking for hot spots from the first floor to the attic, to make sure there wasn’t any fire smoldering behind the walls, waiting to explode and devour our home. They emptied the woodstove of the burning logs and then hung around until they were confident the drama was over and left us shaking and scratching our heads.
Two important details of note. The firemen told us there has been an unusual amount of calls for chimney fires this year. One fireman told us that he had his cleaned in December and a month later had a chimney fire. We had our Sweep guy do our annual cleanout in November, but when he came on Friday to clear out the charred remains, he took out five buckets full of blackened soot and buildup. He told us that twelve of his customers had fires this winter. He could only offer assumptions as to why, perhaps the wood isn’t seasoned enough and/or the cold temperatures are slowing the smoke and sparks from carrying up the chimney. He said because we live along the water there is more moisture in the air, probably a contributor to creosote accumulation. For whatever the reason or a combination of all, the conditions were ripe for a fire. Of course, outside chimneys are more susceptible to build-up due to not being insulated from the harsh temperatures cooling them, so they don’t burn as clean. Because of what we’ve been told and experienced, I’m suggesting those of you with chimneys, get a mirror and a flashlight to check out your flue, better to be safe than sorry.
As a solution, we are going to buy the equipment to clean our chimney once a month. Gows Home Hardware sells the brushes and the rods to do the job. A lot rests on being diligent, and this will be a small price to pay for peace of mind. We will also clean the inside stove pipes every two weeks instead of every month; it’s marked on the calendar now so we won’t forget or become complacent. I don’t want to see another fireman in my house unless he’s been invited for a social gathering but I’d like to give a big thank-you to the guys that came to our rescue, Mahone Bay’s finest!
The stress drove my blood sugar as high as Everest and later I didn't sleep well, my mind churning through the what ifs, as my mood stayed blacker than the thin sheet of ash that covered the snowy yard after the chimney erupted like a brick volcano.
Although I don't think we were in any immediate threat of losing everything, I still prepared for the worst, grabbing the pups and their coats, car keys, my rings, both laptop computers and the Baby Magic Doll that was staring at me from a shelf in the living room, her big beautiful eyes seemed to say, “don’t leave me behind!” I stood by the door and looked around and I thought what else should I grab, my mother-in-law's silver tea set? More jewelry? Some of the Blue & White dish collection from the obsessive amounts that hang on the walls and fill the cupboards? I stood dumb founded by indecision, not able to think of a single item I couldn’t live without. I figured I wouldn’t miss anything too terribly but I would mourn the inconvenience of the aftermath of a fire, the insurance claim, purchasing new clothes, finding a place to live in the interim and then a possible rebuild. I’ll bet dollars to donuts our next home wouldn’t look anything like the footprint of our current one.
We live in a moderate sized house filled to the brim with things. Surely we’ve accumulated something worth the trouble to tuck under our arm and flee! Nothing worth dying over obviously, but if time allowed surely I could have come up with something that might have made the loss of everything less of a hardship. I was more worried that I had a hole in the heel of my one sock, thinking great, that’s what I’ll have to live with until we can find some things to wear. I had on clean underwear, my mom would be proud that her constant nagging is still working. Luckily I was wearing my favourite bra, a good bra is worth its weight in gold, and as I looked down at the shirt that I was wearing I figured it wouldn’t be too much of a hardship to have to sleep in it, perhaps even in the car for the first homeless night.
So after the firemen left and the quiet engulfed me, I rewound and played the entire evening in my head, over and over to make sense of it all. I came away from the experience with an interesting view of my life, contemplating what is worthy and finding the list relatively small compared to the size of our possessions. Our homes, our nests and the stuff in them is our mark on this planet...our properties makes us unique and individual....setting us apart from the Jones. But, if none of it really matters why are we buying or building mammoth homes and purchasing stuff to fill them? Why is it so important to have things if we can live without it? Someone once told me “Your house might be nice, but if you ever get cancer it won’t mean a damn thing.” Well maybe it doesn’t mean that much now, if I can turn my back on it within a few heartbeats while making split second decisions on what survives and what doesn’t?
Obviously we give stuff too much credence, way too much effort, and throw too much money at it. Seriously, why couldn’t I have come to this realization in my youth when I was building our nest and dragging home stuff to fill the halls and rooms as if that’s what truly mattered? Starting over today, we’d be minimalists, parked in a bungalow with the bare necessities to exist comfortably. No dusting a bunch of items that serve little purpose but to look at, not having closets and cupboards filled with items that are forgotten; only being surrounding with things that matter. Once again, less seems to be more.
A house fire can start and develop into life threatening chaos in a matter of minutes but what would you save if you had two minutes to grab possessions? In this scenario, the family and pets are safe on the lawn and you have 120 seconds to rescue the things you can’t live without? What would they be? Something to think about.....
Two important details of note. The firemen told us there has been an unusual amount of calls for chimney fires this year. One fireman told us that he had his cleaned in December and a month later had a chimney fire. We had our Sweep guy do our annual cleanout in November, but when he came on Friday to clear out the charred remains, he took out five buckets full of blackened soot and buildup. He told us that twelve of his customers had fires this winter. He could only offer assumptions as to why, perhaps the wood isn’t seasoned enough and/or the cold temperatures are slowing the smoke and sparks from carrying up the chimney. He said because we live along the water there is more moisture in the air, probably a contributor to creosote accumulation. For whatever the reason or a combination of all, the conditions were ripe for a fire. Of course, outside chimneys are more susceptible to build-up due to not being insulated from the harsh temperatures cooling them, so they don’t burn as clean. Because of what we’ve been told and experienced, I’m suggesting those of you with chimneys, get a mirror and a flashlight to check out your flue, better to be safe than sorry.
As a solution, we are going to buy the equipment to clean our chimney once a month. Gows Home Hardware sells the brushes and the rods to do the job. A lot rests on being diligent, and this will be a small price to pay for peace of mind. We will also clean the inside stove pipes every two weeks instead of every month; it’s marked on the calendar now so we won’t forget or become complacent. I don’t want to see another fireman in my house unless he’s been invited for a social gathering but I’d like to give a big thank-you to the guys that came to our rescue, Mahone Bay’s finest!
The stress drove my blood sugar as high as Everest and later I didn't sleep well, my mind churning through the what ifs, as my mood stayed blacker than the thin sheet of ash that covered the snowy yard after the chimney erupted like a brick volcano.
Although I don't think we were in any immediate threat of losing everything, I still prepared for the worst, grabbing the pups and their coats, car keys, my rings, both laptop computers and the Baby Magic Doll that was staring at me from a shelf in the living room, her big beautiful eyes seemed to say, “don’t leave me behind!” I stood by the door and looked around and I thought what else should I grab, my mother-in-law's silver tea set? More jewelry? Some of the Blue & White dish collection from the obsessive amounts that hang on the walls and fill the cupboards? I stood dumb founded by indecision, not able to think of a single item I couldn’t live without. I figured I wouldn’t miss anything too terribly but I would mourn the inconvenience of the aftermath of a fire, the insurance claim, purchasing new clothes, finding a place to live in the interim and then a possible rebuild. I’ll bet dollars to donuts our next home wouldn’t look anything like the footprint of our current one.
We live in a moderate sized house filled to the brim with things. Surely we’ve accumulated something worth the trouble to tuck under our arm and flee! Nothing worth dying over obviously, but if time allowed surely I could have come up with something that might have made the loss of everything less of a hardship. I was more worried that I had a hole in the heel of my one sock, thinking great, that’s what I’ll have to live with until we can find some things to wear. I had on clean underwear, my mom would be proud that her constant nagging is still working. Luckily I was wearing my favourite bra, a good bra is worth its weight in gold, and as I looked down at the shirt that I was wearing I figured it wouldn’t be too much of a hardship to have to sleep in it, perhaps even in the car for the first homeless night.
So after the firemen left and the quiet engulfed me, I rewound and played the entire evening in my head, over and over to make sense of it all. I came away from the experience with an interesting view of my life, contemplating what is worthy and finding the list relatively small compared to the size of our possessions. Our homes, our nests and the stuff in them is our mark on this planet...our properties makes us unique and individual....setting us apart from the Jones. But, if none of it really matters why are we buying or building mammoth homes and purchasing stuff to fill them? Why is it so important to have things if we can live without it? Someone once told me “Your house might be nice, but if you ever get cancer it won’t mean a damn thing.” Well maybe it doesn’t mean that much now, if I can turn my back on it within a few heartbeats while making split second decisions on what survives and what doesn’t?
Obviously we give stuff too much credence, way too much effort, and throw too much money at it. Seriously, why couldn’t I have come to this realization in my youth when I was building our nest and dragging home stuff to fill the halls and rooms as if that’s what truly mattered? Starting over today, we’d be minimalists, parked in a bungalow with the bare necessities to exist comfortably. No dusting a bunch of items that serve little purpose but to look at, not having closets and cupboards filled with items that are forgotten; only being surrounding with things that matter. Once again, less seems to be more.
A house fire can start and develop into life threatening chaos in a matter of minutes but what would you save if you had two minutes to grab possessions? In this scenario, the family and pets are safe on the lawn and you have 120 seconds to rescue the things you can’t live without? What would they be? Something to think about.....
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