another house fire

[mjbgalt]

i got a call from work from my wife, crying and i could barely understand her. what i DID hear was "fire" and "our house" and i got in my jeep and went as fast as i could go.

when i got there the fireman were packing up and getting ready to go...my heart sank as i walked in my door....everything in the house was coated with soot and grease, the carpet and linoleum are trash, and a lot of our stuff won't be usable again. my cat, a gift from my grandmother, who has since passed away, was caught in the smoke and died of carbon monoxide poisoning...been with me 11 years...

the dog was in a back bedroom and was not hurt but was shaken up...she is just now calming down. my wife and i were both at work but i am glad we were. it seems the dryer caught fire but contained the fire inside itself, so if my neighbor had not seen smoke coming out of my furnace exhaust on an 80 degree day and kicked in the air conditioner and climbed into the smoky house to save the animals....whew...

the cat and dog had kept us up all night the night before...both climbing on us and bugging us in bed, they never do that...maybe they knew something was up...it makes me sad that the cat didn't make it but may have been trying to let us know something bad was going on...

we believe it was defective wiring in the dryer, as the lint trap and tube are always clean and the lint exhaust was not clogged or burnt and showed no signs of heat.

my boss, when i called to tell him what was going on, made a joke about hot dogs and marshmallows and has been a total jerk about everything...may be telling him what i think and leaving this job.

we will be out of the house at least 6 weeks while they clean everything and replace what they can replace...never thought this would be me or how complicated this all would be.

-Matt

[myronman3]

sorry to hear of your loss.  keep in mind it could have burned up the night before and injured or even killed you and your wife. i know it is hard right now but keep your focus and be happy for the blessings you have.   you will be in my prayers.  keep your chin up.

[Hairtrigger]

Sorry to hear about your loss.
Please tell us that you are insured.

[ms]

keep your cool with the boss until you find another job sorry about your house.

[Graybeard]

I'm saddened to hear of your situation Matt but as said I sure hope you unlike my Matt had insurance to cover the losses. From what you say it sounds like yours was contained inside the dryer like my Matt's first one somewhile back was. It's amazing how much smoke that one at his house generated but for the most part other than what was in the dryer at the time nothing else in the house was lost to that one. Yeah it smoked things up pretty badly and required a lot of cleaning of stuff and the walls needed to be repainted but otherwise stuff wasn't lost. I hope you fair as well.

Was water damage in your case confined pretty much to the laundry area since that was the only area burning?

Follow the advice on the boss, don't be too hasty with him. You definitely need the job now even more than ever so don't act in haste. At such times it's hard to know the right words to say and don't assume his lack of tact is intentional but maybe just his inability to properly deal with the situation.

I'm glad no one was injured and that the fire was contained so well in the dryer. No way to compare one event to another really but Matt and Heather that time their dryer caught fire really lost no time in their home and being uninsured at that time as well they had to do all the work themselves while living in there. Man was the smoke smell ugly for the first few days.

Are there needs the GBO community might need to help with?

[quickdtoo]

Sorry to hear this Matt, best wishes for a quick return to normalcy for you and your family, I'm glad no one got hurt, that could have been much worse. Still,  the loss of a beloved pet isn't easy to accept.

Tim

[jh45gun]

Sorry to hear of your losses. The Boss sounds like a real ahole but I guess you have to look at how much time you have on the job if its worth walking away or not. IF the Boss does not own the company where you work then you can look at Bosses come and go so he may not be there long. If you have a lot of time on the job it may not be worth leaving. On the other hand if you can leave with out loosing a lot I would find an other job and tell him to take a long walk off a short pier.

[williamlayton]

PETS! Why do we cherish them so---but we do. Sure hurts too lose them. I feel for you.
The house can be fixed--it might be a blessing in disguise.
The boss----Hummm! Keep your cool. Be patient. Who knows what is going on with him but insensitivity is hard too understand.
I would be one that might give him another chance--if he comes around it might be that he will realize the error of his way. take the high road though---it will do no one any good too be vindictive--your bad reaction will do no good.
Blessings 

[mjbgalt]

well i am at my inlaws, only a few miles from my house, and as comfy as we can get while away from home.
yes we had insurance and it looks like G.E. will be paying for everything, as it appears the dryer was at fault. only 3 months old.

if my wife had not closed the dryer that morning when she did laundry, it would have caused a lot more damage. i usually leave it open to cool off because it was usually so dang hot- perhaps a danger sign i missed? they're always hot...who knows how hot is too hot.

everything is covered in smoke and a greasy black film from melted plastic and detergent. the couches are a loss, as well as all floor coverings. so a lot of things will be new, can't complain about that anyway. we are ok and it could be a lot worse, i am looking at it as an opportunity to get to know my inlaws better, get new stuff for the house, and have a vacation of sorts.

yes, GB...You guys CAN help, thanks for asking. send me all your guns to play with so i can keep my mind busy

-Matt

[mjbgalt]

no water damage...the firemen apparently used some other way to put it out...the hydrant in front of our house did not work when they hooked up to it. good to know that too...now they can fix it in case it happens to someone else.

they sent me $1000 in advance to set us up with clothes and food and such...we lost all our clothes and sheets and everything...all food too. so until we get a few items from the dry cleaners we are living in what we have on now.

the wife said she would like to have a handgun (i had traded the only one we owned) to feel more secure and to shoot for fun, so i found a used CZ .40. anytime you get to buy a new gun on someone else's dime, no complaints from me!

-Matt

[mjbgalt]

we just now got the check for the things we lost. it's been an ordeal but i wanted to let everyone know we are back to normal...or what passes for "normal" at my house lol...

the house got new carpet and paint everywhere and we got new furniture and such. overall kind of neat to get the house patched up nice as new. not a fun process though overall.

we were allowed to live in the house way before we had money to have chairs and food and silverware and other stuff...so i had to pay for a lot of stuff out of my pocket, resulting in us being late on bills and such. finally caught up though, and glad of it.
-Matt

[Heavy C]

That's good to hear and I'm glad ya'll are back in your home.  I hope you have a great 2008!