I ran upstairs and grabbed the first big container that I could and started filling it with water. I checked on the dog, he was still outside doing okay. I saw the cat, inside again, and scooped him up and put him in the least smoky room and locked him in. Stupid cat. The container was now full, I started walking down the steps, spill it a little bit and then threw it on the coals.
Again, another stupid thing to do, being that close to the fire the water instantly turned to steam and steam is hot! It hurt, no burns but I feel stupid about being so close. I handed the container to the Broha, he filled it up and added more to the fire until it was out. I was outside breathing fresh air again and pulling the hose back threw the window.
At that point, all the windows in the house were open, the fans were going, the fire was out and that was when the stupid heat pump kicked on. Perfect, just suck up and blow the smoke around the house for me. I hit the off button on the thermostat but for some reason, it took 3 minutes for it to stop running. Why does it do that? I have no idea.
I said hi to Teach, and we played a little. I think Teach was either stressed by this or sensed my stress because he was doing his welcome home greeting. We played a little and then Husband got home. He was of course at work this entire time because when shit gets weird or weird weather happens he has to be at work. During all of this madness, running around, I called his work three times. The first time I gave up before I could talk to him. The second time I called I was able to talk to him, and the third time after the fire was pretty much out I called back and his work told me they didn't know where he went. That was when he called me on his cell and said that he was on the way home. By then the house looked more like a misty morning, I let Teach and started to get ready for work.
As I left for work Husband took over. He worked on reattaching the pipe, cleaned the stove, cleaned the area around the stove, put a creosol log on the fire, checked all the joints connections, started to rewash some clothes that were in the basement, and got new fire extinguishers. Then like a champ, he went back to work.
Due to the chemicals that were used in the attempts to put out the fire, the house felt like it had a film over it. Mostly in the living room where the vent from the basement/stove is connected. Once I returned from work I swept the floors, and then mopped everything. The mopping was overdue anyway, but that was like an hour and a half to get it all done. The next night I dusted, wiped down the couches, and countertops. It made things feel a bit better but the house still smelled like smoke.
If the other day's excitement wasn’t enough, we got to enjoy another house clearing in the morning. This time, it was way less dramatic, but still a pain. The wood stove’s door doesn’t always latch the best. If it wasn't checked before walking away it can sometimes open up just a crack. However, a crack was all that was needed to slowly fill the house, yet again with smoke. This slow-moving smoke wasn’t noticed for two reasons. Broha added the last wood to the fire before he went to bed and our smoke alarm didn’t have its batteries. They had been taken out previously because of bacon being cooked or something. Well, it is now 4:45 in the morning and Husband got up and was as angry as a bear. He was the first one to realize the house was filling with smoke.
We assumed the drill, opened all the doors, opened all the windows, all the fans were on, it seems like every light was on in the house. Huabdn woke up Broha and told him what he did wrong. When Broha comes upstairs he apologized for trying to kill us. By this time I was back in bed and told him it was his turn to try and kill us all.
Husband finished getting ready for work and shut all the doors and windows and heads out. I opened a few things back up and laid down for a few more minutes before getting ready for work.
Now, I realize that after reading the last two posts it looked like our house would have no business with a fire. I would like to make it clear that we were not at risk of burning down our house. Also, even though there was smoke in the house I don’t think we were at risk of causing any real issue only because the fire was going to burn out and was nowhere as bad as yesterday’s smoke. We also would be paying way more attention to the stove door and more importantly the smoke detectors.
I cannot wait until we can get a house with an external wood stove. Both of these problems would be negated. Or at least that is what I tell myself.
Any thoughts? If so please leave a comment below.
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