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Last week a boy at my school and his little sister were killed in a house fire. If you live in Baltimore, you might have seen this article in the Sun paper. The thing is, they DID have smoke alarms but they didn't go off. They were awoken by their dog.
Please test your smoke alarms regularly and make sure you have an escape plan. This could happen to anybody.
I guess the reason I'm posting this is because it's hard to think about all the people out there going about their lives not knowing this happened. I guess this happens all the time but it doesn't feel like it.
On Thursday we had the weirdest school day... The halls were completely silent except for the sound of people crying. It affected everybody. I don't know what school on Monday is going to be like but it's going to be weird. (On Thursday we found out that he was in critical condition but he didn't die until this morning).
Please keep his family in your prayers, especially his mom & dad and his two older sisters.
quote:Originally posted by breyerchic04: Not to seem insensitive but that reaction sort of suprises me. How big is your high school?
Really? In my freshman year, a girl in one of my classes shot herself, and it had a pretty similar effect - and I went to the largest independent school in the U.S.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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We had two fatal wrecks, and one that the boy is still in a coma, more than 5 years later. There was also at least one ilness death, and a two teachers died. For each of those the school was a bit quieter but not much, yes it was talked about. In the wreck that affected me the most (we'd been in 4-H together for ten years) the principal came over the PA to talk about it, and said he knew Dillon well but pronounced his last name entirely wrong.
I think I once saw someone cry because of that sort of tragedy. This is in a school of just under two thousand.
Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004
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Oh, my smoke alarm system works. I successfully tested it by burning a bagel in the oven last week. MINT!!! I loved THAT happening. Not. First off - that sound is SO annoying it's just silly. Secondly - the smell of burnt anything not meant to be burnt is not so nice lingering in the air. That is all.
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We had a girl die of complications of pneumonia (she had cystic fibrosis) when I was in 8th grade. It was a girl I had been friends with since Brownies. She was very sweet. It was the end of a long, long hospital stay, and the halls were still subdued (not THAT quiet, but more than usual) and I spent two days in the room they set up for grief counseling, and know there were an awful lot of other kids in there (though most did not stay as long as me), and they were not just there to skip class.
(Her name was Bridget, BTW, one of the reasons we chose that name for my daughter.)
A similar effect occurred when a girl was killed in a crosswalk by a drunk driver when I was in 11th grade in a bigger school, and I know the reaction was even more profound when one of my sister's friends was killed in an accidental shooting at a party.
It would not seem abnormal to me that in a smaller, close-knit school, the reaction would be that widespread, especially for such an unexpected death.
As for our smoke detectors, checked every three months, batteries replaced every six. We have emergency drills with our kids, and I am very proud to say that a year and a half ago when we had a fire in the oven and the house filled with smoke, my then-two-year-old knew just how to "get low and go."
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I just noticed my smoke alarm says it won't work when the power's out. So it's ok that we've never replaced the batteries, but it's a pretty freaky thought. Like lightning can't do both?
Posts: 2283 | Registered: Dec 2003
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Yeah, our house has a good half a dozen scattered around. I didn't trust the ones that were here when I moved (and they didn't have carbon monoxide alarms) so I bought three new ones. I never bothered to remove the old ones, and one day my husband managed to set off every single one in the first floor and basement because he left a cast-iron griddle on the heat too long. So I guess we're a bit over-protected, but that's better than under.
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I probably could, but then I'd have to make an effort to not drip fod on the burners. I don't cook much.
Posts: 2283 | Registered: Dec 2003
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We bought an ex-government house which has ex-government, mains-wired, ultra sensitive smoke alarms.
On one hand, I'm happy - they can't run out of battery, I know they work. On the other - they're oldish alarms, and they don't distinguish between smoke and steam. We have our shower too hot - and it's alarm central (and no way of turning them off!).
(Don't even talk to me about trying to cook high heat food inside...)
But, on the whole I like the occasional annoyance better than house fires!
(Plus, we bought a BBQ so we can now cook all the smoky stuff outside. And we now take lukewarm showers.)
Posts: 4393 | Registered: Aug 2003
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I set off a smoke alarm with a hot shower once - my baby daughter was asleep in her room and I wanted to hear her if she cried.
We saw a piece on our news about kids sleeping through alarms so one night around 11:30 we had just finished painting so we decided to give it a try. There was an alarm mounted to the 6 inch piece of wall between both bedrooms. The doors were open, the kids had been asleep for about 3 hours. We pushed that button and had the alarm go off for as long as we could stand it and they slept right through it. The dog got agitated and started running room to room until he noticed us standing there. Scary though. I just pray in a real fire they'll wake up. Time for some practice runs in our new house I think.....
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It is also advisable to have a carbon monoxide (CO) detector for at least every floor of your house, and perhaps for every room, particularly in rooms where combustion often occurs (next to a wood/gas fireplace, in the kitchen or in the garage, etc.)
Carbon monoxide is an odorless, invisible gas that is very deadly. At low levels, it makes people sleepy and groggy, perhaps even gives them a headache. Basically, just poopy enough to make someone want to go take a nap and recover, but unfortunately, the levels typically rise the point where one never wakes up.
It happened to my sister and her boyfriend. They were enjoying an evening next to the fireplace, and, unbeknownst to them, the flume closed. They must have fallen asleep under the influence of the gas. The truly horrible thing is, they may have been woken by some sirens from nearby, but have been so influenced by the gas that they couldn't bring themselves to get out of the room. My sister was 24, Kevin was 25.
Smoke detectors do not have built in CO detectors, and even if they did, it wouldn't work that well since smoke rises and CO sinks (heavier than the surrounding breathable air). Multnomah County ReportPosts: 1099 | Registered: Apr 2005
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In fact, Tara, if I may make a request: Would you mind editing the title to reflect that folks should have working smoke alarms and CO detectors? It's your thread, so you're free to ignore this request, but I find it to be an important topic. Thanks!
Posts: 1099 | Registered: Apr 2005
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One day when I was home alone (17 at the time) all the smoke alarms went off and woke me up. I got pissed off and went around the house taking them off the ceiling. It turned out it was the one in my room that caused it. So I smashed it. Not once did I think there was a fire.
Posts: 1287 | Registered: Apr 2006
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Thanks for your responses guys. It's good to know that people care and are making their own houses safer.
While you're doing that, drive safely, spend time with your family and friends, tell them you love them as much as possible, and don't take them for granted. Posts: 930 | Registered: Dec 2006
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