[FONT=Arial][size=3]It ALWAYS happens to the other guy! I never thought it would happen to me!#-o[/size][/FONT]
{No it is NOT an April Fool’s Joke.}
Frank was that your Home? What happen and i hope everyone is ok.
What happened Frank?
Sorry to hear that Frank.
Hope that no one was hurt.
Let us know if there is anything we can do too help.
That is terrible. Good luck.
I truly hope this is an April fool’s day joke…
Sorry to that Frank
I’m hoping that was an April Fools day joke too! If not, any way we can help Frank?
Ok Frank, You now MUST post details, or admit a hoax.
Please.
I hope you and your family are okay. 
Frank, if there is anything you need help with just ask. I can have a crew over there to help clean up and do repairs, just let me know.
Pete
Yo Frank. Tell me your pulling our legs.
But if not then whatever you need.
Jeez, hope everyone is alright.
Let me know what I can do to help.
Sorry to hear about the house, do you need anything?
[FONT=Arial]APRIL FOOLS JOKE? [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]No, I am sorry to say that the pictures are real and that this actually happened.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]First, before explaining what happened I would like to thank all of you who have shown concern and offered to help my wife and I. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]Nick Gromicko is the only one who knows this but I guess I will share this with the rest of you. My wife and I have been married for 29 1/2 years. Four months ago we found out that she is dying. She has been sick and having trouble breathing for a little over two years. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]Last September we took her to a pulmonary specialist {Pulmonologist} at one of the finest hospitals in Boston. At this hospital, they did every conceivable test imaginable and since we could not get the results right away we had a “follow-up appointment” that was scheduled for the following month. During that subsequent appointment the Pulmonologist looked my wife in the eye and said “Mrs. Carrio I would rather tell you that you had Lung Cancer than to tell you what I’m about to tell you. I am sorry to say that you have Pulmonary Fibrosis”.[/FONT]
I had never heard of “Pulmonary Fibrosis” so I asked him for a detailed explanation. The Pulmonologist told us that there is no cure, that it is progressive, and that it is fatal.
What does that have to do with this fire?
My wife was not feeling well so she asked me to cook dinner.
Sometime last year on another thread I explained that there are “six boys” in my family. My brothers and I have always had a strong rivalry as to who is the “grill master” in the family. I absolutely love to cook and barbecue. When it comes to cooking a terrific steak I feel that I am at the top of my game.
So to make a long story short…… My wife asked me to cook dinner and since it was pouring down rain I could not grill the steaks outside. Even though it would not be the same as cooking/grilling outdoors, I decided to heat the cast-iron pans as hot as I could in order to “sear the meat”. {Thank God we have an electric stove. More on that later}
This was Monday night and my wife and I were both in our pajamas. We both like to see the program “24” so I was trying to time the steaks to be ready when the program came on.
Well, I put the steaks on the hot, hot pan and in less than 60 seconds the kitchen smoke alarm went off! Even though it was raining I opened up the front door and the back door of the home hoping to let some of the smoke outside. Four minutes later I “flipped the steaks” in order to sear the other side. Now remember…. the smoke alarms are still going and I’m trying to “air out the house”.
At this point the smoke alarms in the upstairs master bedroom started going off plus the upstairs hallway and guest bedroom alarms also started going off. As you can imagine I was trying to cook while trying to “air the house out” so at this point in time I was starting to become a little irritated. What did I do?
I went upstairs to the master bedroom and disconnected the smoke alarm. Well that did not do anything for the noise level since the rest of alarms were still going off!
I went downstairs and spoke to my wife who was lying on the couch and she was having difficulty breathing so I was going to bring her oxygen to her. Before I did that I decided to go to the downstairs bathroom and wash my hands {Remember I was still cooking and I had just finished handling my tools as I disconnected the fire alarms.}
While I was washing my hands in the downstairs bathroom, I smelled a strong, strong odor of “diesel”. For the life of me I could not figure out where the smell was coming from. Then the light bulb went off in my head! I decided to check the basement!
The door to the basement is in the kitchen. When I opened this door a thick acrid cloud of smoke came rushing / billowing out of the basement! The entire kitchen and half of the first floor instantly filled with smoke! I yelled to my wife that “the house is on fire” and for her to call 911!
I took a deep, deep breath and held it while I attempted to go down into the basement to see how bad the fire was. We have 14 stairs going down into the basement and I made it to the ninth or 10th stair before I had to turn back. During this time I could only see three or four stairs in front of me as the rest of the distance was obscured due to the heavy/thick oily smoke.
I ran back upstairs and told my wife to “get dressed” in some blue jeans and a sweatshirt and I did the same thing. {Remember it was raining outside and we were in our pajamas trying to relax, watch some TV and have a nice dinner.}
In 1999 my wife and I had our home custom built out in the woods and we live on a dirt road. We live in the little town of Chester New Hampshire that is so small it does not even have a “red light”. All we have is a single blinking yellow light!
That also means that we have a “volunteer fire department”. That being said, I was amazed when five minutes later “some guy” comes running up my 440 foot long driveway asking “where is the fire”? It seems that he was one of the volunteer firemen and lives within 3 miles of us.
This brave young man went down to the bottom stair of the basement looked around and radioed… “This house is fully engulfed”! This made my heart sink! Since I had left the basement door open the entire house was filled with smoke! The good part was that this depleted some of the smoke in the basement. When the firemen went down to the basement he did not have any life support systems on so I went down with him. At this point I decided to open the bulkhead doors to “air out the house”.
I had to go back upstairs and take a deep, deep breath and then I ran into and across the basement to open the bulkhead doors. At one point as I fumbled with the lock I did not think I was going to make it.
Needless to say at this point the volunteer firemen was shocked that I would run into the smoke-filled basement and open the bulkhead door. He was in a panic telling me to “get out of the house, get out of the house!”
Luckily, at this time three fire trucks showed up with the rest of the firemen fully “suited up” with full oxygen tanks and everything they needed to “fight the fire”.
Here is what we found out…… the furnace/tank-less boiler was spewing oil on the hot, hot “firebox”. The only problem was that the oil was not igniting! This meant that thick billowing clouds of oil saturated smoke was boiling out of the basement!
I have a friend who worked with explosives who told me the same thing the firemen told me. And that is…. thank God you did not have an open flame or you would have had one hell of an explosion! In essence what we had was a “Fuel Bomb” that was ready to explode at the exposure to the smallest spark or flame.
{Thank God for the electric stove as opposed to a gas stove}
The firemen took a reading of the carbon monoxide in the home. They told me that it was 450 ppm. And explained that this was a “lethal amount/level” and that we could not return into the house until they brought it down to zero. At this point the firemen asked my wife and I how we were feeling.
My wife told the firemen that she had had a constant headache for the last 3 1/2 to 4 weeks but did not say anything to me because “she did not want to complain” and thought that the headaches were due to the pulmonary fibrosis. I was shocked at this!
I explained to the firemen and to my wife that I had had a constant headache for the last 3 1/2 to 4 weeks but I attributed it to my “toothache” and the subsequent oral surgery!
The firemen told us that we were lucky that this happened while we were both awake. They explained that due to the high concentrations of carbon monoxide if this had happened while we were asleep that most likely we would have never awakened!
The moral of the story is…… that I should buy carbon monoxide detectors for every room and if and when the smoke alarms ever go off again not to assume that I know the source of the smoke! Believe me if this ever happens I will check every room in my home starting with the basement!
As to the “damage”…. the house absolutely reeks of fuel oil. I have had to wash every glass, cup, dish, plate, pot, pan, knife fork and spoon that we own. Then comes every, and I mean every article of clothing that we own. Plus all of our sheets, pillows and blankets. Then comes all the curtains, drapes, and accessories.
After this I have to mop all of the floors and wipe down all of the hard surfaces in the entire house.
So…… the bottom line is I will be busy for a the next 2 to 3 weeks!
Once again, I want to thank all of you who expressed a concern! It means a lot to both my wife and I!
PS:
I urge you all to buy a Carbon Monoxide detector.
PPS:
I tried to change the title to My House “Fire” but I could not. Sorry for “The Joke”.
Frank I’m sorry to hear about recent events…but glad to hear you both got through it safely…a couple thoughts I’d like to share…First i think your Wife’s doctor did You both a great disservice with His comments at Her diagnosis…My father died from Pulmonary fibrosis and My Mother from Lung Cancer…neither a thing i would wish on anybody, but i think every case is individual and My mom had it much harder…I have a sister that suffers from some lung issues as well as i do. My younger brother on the other hand, looked big and strong as an ox and went in for some routine surgery a couple years ago…and never left that hospital alive…what I’m trying to say is every day counts…and it is not ours to decide…call the insurance company…get some carbon monoxide detectors…give a prayer of thanks and treat each day as the gift it is…jim
Frank, I’ve very sorry to hear about your wife. As James said, every day is a gift.
You guys just had one heck of an experience, luckily your house didn’t actually catch on fire. Good luck with the clean up.
Frank
Sorry to hear about your Wife, the home can be fixed .And get that darn carbon monoxide detector! I recommend one when i ever see gas , or oil , and even wood heating. People just do not think of it.
A prayer goes out for you and your wife Frank. Life is a gift indeed. You two just received a second chance. Live grateful.
Duke