Amy, Mike, or Pam
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion: Archive January 2004:
Amy, Mike, or Pam
I was just wondering. What started the fire? I know the tree caught on fire but i was wondering if it was because of the Christmas lights or something else.
Again, i'm so glad everyone is o.k. Those pictures of the house are scary!
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Patti, from what I understand, the fire marshall took two weeks to do his inspection and make his report. It ended up as just something like "Fire started with Christmas tree," but he didn't go into any more detail than that. We suspect it was faulty lights, since the lights were brand new, and it was the only source of fire for the tree. This is pretty much what Amy told me, but maybe she or Mike can elaborate more about exactly what the fire marshall said.
I have to admit. When I first went into the house I was shocked. It was ten times worse than I expected. I expected a partially burned living room and just a light dusting of smoke soot throughout the house. The one factor I didn't know about with house fires or expect to see was the heat damage from the HOT SMOKE with everything burned and melted up high throughout most of the house. Mike said the fire marshall said the temperature of the hot smoke higher up that went throughout the house was something like 1,000 degrees. ((??)) You can tell from the photo I shot of the window blinds in a bedroom at the opposite end of the house from the tree, that the hot smoke started melting the blinds from about 4-1/2 to 5 feet on up. Mike said that when he jumped through the window in that room, he first crawled as he was supposed to, but for some reason stood up to run to get Seth, and the heat up high just hit him and knocked him out.
One thing I wanted to point out that we learned from this experience with Seth in his room is that sleeping with everyone's bedroom door CLOSED will buy rescuer's time to come in through windows to save you and your family. The closed doors will help to keep alot of the smoke, poisonous chemicals and dangerous heat out. And we should all have smoke alarms throughout the house and in working order. Exiting the house during a fire should be by the nearest window only. These three things could make all the difference in surviving a fire like this.
Wow! The new lights caused the fire! That is very scary!
Sorry it took so long to respond. I've only been getting online about once a day when I can find the time...things are so hectic around here lately.
The way the report stated the cause was: Source of fire was Christmas tree. Cause: Unknown.
So, that means it was the tree that caught fire, but why it caught fire is unknown. Mike and I's theory is that there was a short in the lights, a constant spark in the glass light caused it to melt, so where it was sparking on the tree itself, which caused the fire. I had watered my tree every 3 days. We had the tree less than 2 weeks. So, the tree was not excessively dry or anything. It also could have been faulty wiring in the house, which I don't even want to think about, since I am living in the same type housing only two streets over. Scary. I don't know, Mike says it was just a fluke. I hope so.
My mom is right. The damages to our house caused by the heat were amazing! It got up to 1500 degrees in our house...isn't that insane?? There was a point when I was getting my oldest two out of the house that I had to run past the burning tree. The heat that hit my face was so intense. Later at the emergency room, when I went to use the bathroom, I saw that my eyebrows, eyelashes, nose hairs, and the top layer of my head hair were all singed. It was awful. Right now, and don't laugh, I have a section on the top of my head that is just small spikes/stubble from where it was singed off. I had to change the way I part my hair to cover it. LOL
My suggestion if your house ever catches fire is to grab whoever is closest to you and get out of the house. Then re-enter through windows to get others. Sleep with doors closed, install smoke detectors in several areas of the house. I promise you this...if you think that you can travel all over your house getting family members out, you may find yourself very sadly mistaken. The smoke and heat travel so fast and can be so intense, that once it hits you, you black out almost immediately. For Mike and I, there was no significant period of time where we thought, "hmmm, it feels like I may black out...". We just fell.
Fire is nothing to play around with. It is so important to keep your head straight, remember your fire escape plan, and to not make rash decisions. And don't forget to call 911, or have a neighbor call 911!!! Also, if you live in an apartment/duplex/fourplex...knock on your neighbors' doors to tell them to get out. I know it all seems so obvious now, but when in a fire...it is so hard to remember. The one thing I forgot was to "stay low"...I have heard this every year in school, and now my kids are learning it! But, I forgot when it was most important. So did Mike.
Anyway, hope I haven't bored you all, LOL
It's understandable that you forgot to "stay low and go". When your house is on fire and your baby is inside it, i can imagine that you just PANIC! You just forget everything you are told and rush to get the kids/baby.
BTW, i think we'll be getting an arificial tree next year. I've known that real trees are a fire hazard but actually seeing and hearing your story first hand has made me open my eyes and realize that it DOES happen.
I'm glad you are all doing well.
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