The Great Fire of 2007

Finally the fire story...I'm only two months behind on this one. Above you will see what you might think is a fine piece of artwork. Though I think it is just as attractive as many of the modern art pieces out there and I could find myself selling it for thousands of dollars, we will be keeping this on top of our stove to remind us of what could have been that dreadful day in November of 2007.

I don't know if I'm just an airhead or if our stove could be designed better, but I only turn on the correct burner about 50% of the time. I think the knobs should be switched around because their locations just don't make sense to me. So, on this particular day, I put a pot of water on the burner, turned the burner on and went to check on the rest of my family who were hanging out in the bathroom for some odd reason. I came back a few minutes later to check on my boiling water and was instead met with a smoky kitchen. I quickly realized what I'd done. I'd turned on the wrong burner (AGAIN!) but this time the wrong burner had a plastic cutting board on it. I must've let out a pretty crazy gasp and then ran to the stove to see the cutting board on fire. I threw it off and went running to open the door to let the smoke out. Hasty, Memory. Maybe putting out the fire would've been a better second step. I didn't exactly have my wits about me. Michael ran in and saved the day by grabbing our 20 lb. bag of baking soda from Costco (okay, not literally!) and pouring it on the burner and on the cutting board (hence the white look inside the rings in the picture). Then he got all doors and windows open and ordered the rest of us outside.

Well, this was a particularly cold and rainy day. I grabbed a couple of blankets, the car keys and both kids and ran out to the car to escape the toxic, potentially fatal fumes (nice going, Memory!). Michael made sure the area was secure (heehee) before letting us back in. What's really cute is that Evan talked for quite a long time afterwards about how he had crawled under the smoke because that's what you're supposed to do when there's a fire. Good job, Evan. Except I never saw him crawling. I'm glad he at least knows what to do for next time. And, the most hysterical thing of all is that 100% of the time (yes, I do mean every single time) that I have turned on the stove since that day, Evan has said, "Mom, did you turn on the wrong burner?" Ha! He'd like to not have to go through that again, I guess. Although he did quite enjoy pretending he was driving the car.

So, we have come to the realization that we need more smoke detectors (we only have one) and a fire extinguisher. We heard that if you are needy, the fire department will give them to you. We're gonna check that out. And I'm planning a fire safety FHE lesson for sometime in the near future. Never can be too careful. And, I'm proud to say that since that day I have not turned on the wrong burner even once. I double-check myself every time. Hooray for me!