October 2008 had late summer heat waves. it was extremely hot, dry and the winds were strong. I was working as a 3D modeler as a freelance in a large construction planning firm. after my Bachelor degree in design, things seemed to go well and I was financially stable so I was thinking of moving out of my parent's house.I had a housing unit filled with all the painting I've drawn, models I've built, animations and projects were stacking and even things I've made before I was drafted in 98'.
I remember waking up one afternoon, I can't recall if I was up all night working again on a project or just lazy but I remember that my dad called me. He was downstairs in his car and he asked me on the phone to help him out with the groceries. I remember being upset in bed because it's kind of insulting that every time something must be done I am called. my grandfather was already over 80 years old and he managed the whole deal by himself without asking help. he liked being independent. I got downstairs and dad was still waiting. I picked up the groceries and brought them to the kitchen, it took a few trips, then I ordered them in their place.
Suddenly the power went down. It's quite common and we got used to it. I went to the electrical cabinet to check if this was just us or the whole neighborhood went down. on the way there I've noticed there's a light upstairs. I remember telling my dad there's still light up, paused for a second and said it doesn't look good...
I ran upstairs to inspect, the light was red and dancing, not the usual light we have indoors.
In the end of the hallway in my room was a very large fire. the room was quitely burning and we didn't notice it even that we were just 2 meters below it. I ran to bring water and make sure the dogs stay away, dad ran outside with a garden hose and shot water into the room from the window. we yelled the neighbors to called the fire department because it was dark and we couldn't find our phones. I remember one neighbor asked us what's the number of the fire department... one neighbor came quickly with 3 fire extinguishers. I took them and ran upstairs and emptied them into the flames, where I thought the heart of the fire is under the table. it didn't extinguish. the fire department arrived after about 15 long minutes. one of them took care of the dogs while another escorted me upstairs, took a long breath of the smoke before the team took a large hose and with one large squirt the fire was over.
things were in control, I went down and looked for the dogs, I found only my dog. my sister's dog (she was out of the country on a trip) was missing. I was startled. I thought she came up with me and was barbecue but one of the firefighters told me he noticed her running away not before shitting herself.
I told my parants I'm going after her, she could get hurt. I took my dog and went after her and I've found her in my sister's home about 1 Km away. her neighbor found her and let her in. when I got home everything was quite. My parents said the mayor arrived to see the damage and in the morning a fire investigator for the insurance company will arrive and it is not safe to stay. I couldn't leave everything out for burglars to take so I took one couch and went to sleep outside until we found a way to lock it. My parents went to sleep at my sister's apartment. I remember being so tense that when a mosquito bit me I felt him penetrate the skin and grabbed him by the wings. things you only feel while tense.
In the morning the fire investigator arrived and we went upstairs to examine the damage. I remember he asked me over and over if I smoked in the room or if I set the house on fire on purpose. that was very disturbing, who would do such a thing on purpose? this is crazy
I remember waking up one afternoon, I can't recall if I was up all night working again on a project or just lazy but I remember that my dad called me. He was downstairs in his car and he asked me on the phone to help him out with the groceries. I remember being upset in bed because it's kind of insulting that every time something must be done I am called. my grandfather was already over 80 years old and he managed the whole deal by himself without asking help. he liked being independent. I got downstairs and dad was still waiting. I picked up the groceries and brought them to the kitchen, it took a few trips, then I ordered them in their place.
Suddenly the power went down. It's quite common and we got used to it. I went to the electrical cabinet to check if this was just us or the whole neighborhood went down. on the way there I've noticed there's a light upstairs. I remember telling my dad there's still light up, paused for a second and said it doesn't look good...
I ran upstairs to inspect, the light was red and dancing, not the usual light we have indoors.
In the end of the hallway in my room was a very large fire. the room was quitely burning and we didn't notice it even that we were just 2 meters below it. I ran to bring water and make sure the dogs stay away, dad ran outside with a garden hose and shot water into the room from the window. we yelled the neighbors to called the fire department because it was dark and we couldn't find our phones. I remember one neighbor asked us what's the number of the fire department... one neighbor came quickly with 3 fire extinguishers. I took them and ran upstairs and emptied them into the flames, where I thought the heart of the fire is under the table. it didn't extinguish. the fire department arrived after about 15 long minutes. one of them took care of the dogs while another escorted me upstairs, took a long breath of the smoke before the team took a large hose and with one large squirt the fire was over.
things were in control, I went down and looked for the dogs, I found only my dog. my sister's dog (she was out of the country on a trip) was missing. I was startled. I thought she came up with me and was barbecue but one of the firefighters told me he noticed her running away not before shitting herself.
I told my parants I'm going after her, she could get hurt. I took my dog and went after her and I've found her in my sister's home about 1 Km away. her neighbor found her and let her in. when I got home everything was quite. My parents said the mayor arrived to see the damage and in the morning a fire investigator for the insurance company will arrive and it is not safe to stay. I couldn't leave everything out for burglars to take so I took one couch and went to sleep outside until we found a way to lock it. My parents went to sleep at my sister's apartment. I remember being so tense that when a mosquito bit me I felt him penetrate the skin and grabbed him by the wings. things you only feel while tense.
In the morning the fire investigator arrived and we went upstairs to examine the damage. I remember he asked me over and over if I smoked in the room or if I set the house on fire on purpose. that was very disturbing, who would do such a thing on purpose? this is crazy
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| My study room after the fire |
Eventually we found the guilty. we cynically called it "the electric company". one electric socket was very close to the bin, it heat it up until it ignited and set fire to the whole room (and damaged the whole floor).
while we discovered the fire it was already too late because plastic was already burning and it has a lot of poisonous gases and temperatures over 600 degrees Celsius. I remember the burning wind on my face when I tried to extinguish it. the fire investigator explained that the fire leaves a trace of a cone where the heart of it usually is.in the picture you can see it on the wall, a brighter mark. the room was a mess. apparently the UPS burst into flames also and the equipment was scattered all over the room. the investigator found some signs on the wall with what once was an electric outlet and decided this was it.
strangely my paper recycling bin was unharmed, just a bit toasted so I through in the recycling center.
A friend of mine that works as a fire fighter said that this is everyday for them. at least once a week a home disappears from electric surges. I've lost a lot in the fire but luckily no one was harmed.
these kind of fires are very hard to anticipate so I recommend the following:
1. Keep a backup of all your personal stuff at someone else's place
2. use internet backup for the stuff you can (some movies and documents were in YouTube and Google)
3. don't use a trashcan, use a hanging bag and keep it empty. trashcans are the most flammable thing you have at home.
4. be insured. sometimes it's not cheap but if we weren't covered we would be in the street.
