Smoke Alarms DO work

Keith Molden · Aug 22, 2011

yesterday while I was not at home, the wife was going to boil some water to scald tomatoes. She inadvertantly turned on the wrong burner. Burner was under a skillet with bacon drippings in it. Grand daughter wanted her outside for a minute (you know how those minutes go). Long story short she heard the smoke alarm going off and found the skilllet on fire, grabbed the fire extinguisher that hangs on the wall in the laundry room & saved the house. No damage only to the range hood that I wanted to replace anyway. Quite a bit of cleanup from the extinguisher as it's a 10 pounder and she emptied it. Said she wanted to make sure it was out. I kinda think she got a little shook. Sure beats losing everything and building a new home. We've never needed a fire extinguisher or smoke alarm till now, but sure am glad they were there when she needed them. Guys, if you don't have them in your home, please get them, best insurance you'll ever have. Keith

Bob in SD · Aug 22, 2011

Glad it worked out!

Gun guru · Aug 22, 2011

10 years ago my wife was boiling ravoli and the water/olive oil boiled over and a fire erupted on the stove top. I grabbed a fire extinguisher and put out the fire on the stove. We ordered out for pizza that night. A fire extinguisher can save your life, and your house.

Lesformore · Aug 22, 2011

Not only do you have to have them, you have to make sure they are working. Test the smoke detector at least once a month and replace the battery once a year. The fire extinguisher should be checked by fire extinguisher companies who are capable of refilling them.

buickanddeere · Aug 22, 2011

Good to know you are not in denial like some folk.
Some people seem to think they never require any safety, backup, reserves etc. As nothing bad is ever going to happen to them.

Fullers Farmalls · Aug 22, 2011

In one of my brighter moments.... I turned a stove on at my house I rent for college. Without checking the broiler pan under the stove. Well a plastic colander was in there and caught fire. I got to it before any damage occurred to anything but shock me a bit and the girlfriend was not happy. And thank goodness for the extinguisher or else I'd be out a stove and maybe more.

Fullers Farmalls · Aug 22, 2011

In one of my brighter moments.... I turned a stove on at my house I rent for college. Without checking the broiler pan under the stove. Well a plastic colander was in there and caught fire. I got to it before any damage occurred to anything but shock me a bit and the girlfriend was not happy. And thank goodness for the extinguisher or else I'd be out a stove and maybe more.

rustred · Aug 22, 2011

very cheap investment
very easy to install

Billy Shafer · Aug 22, 2011

I installed them when my wife started to get worse and her memory started slipping. I did however remove the one in the hall with a baseball bat. Went off one morning as I was heading for the porcelin God. With a hear the grass grow hangover.

oldtanker · Aug 22, 2011

Heck I'm still trying to teach my wife that the smoke alarm isn't an oven timer......

Rick

kruser · Aug 22, 2011

GOOD REMINDER!

I'm only allowed to cook outside!

Mike (WA) · Aug 22, 2011

Well, actually, they CAN be an oven timer.

We used to get cut and wrapped lamb from my sister. Were broiling chops in the oven one night, and the smoke alarm in the hall went off. She jerked the chops out from under the broiler, and I turned off the alarm. They looked about right, so we ate 'em- and they were perfect!

So after that, we started the chops, turned them, then waited for the alarm to tell us when they were done. Always worked perfectly. Had it been left to our judgment, we'd have left them on too long- but the alarm gave us perfect medium rare chops, every time.

Technology is your friend.

oldtanker · Aug 22, 2011

Well it's worse than that here......I feel like a god.....I get burnt offerings 3 times a day!

Rick

ShadetreeRet · Aug 22, 2011

Back in the spring I had the grill going one afternoon, my daughter stepped out to check on how things were progressing, suddenly she said, "The smoke alarm's going off!" Ran inside and found nothing amiss. Kind of a head scratcher for a few minutes, then I figured the a/c must have caused enough draft down the hall to have pulled some smoke through/around the window near the grill. Now my house is reasonably tight, with storm windows, but that must have been the problem, because couple weeks later, same thing happened. I decided to relocate the grill.

Anonymous-0 · Aug 22, 2011

As a firefighter/parametic I would also add that carbon monoxide alarms work. Like any insurance, probably never need it, but it is good to have it the day you need it.

fixerupper · Aug 22, 2011

This reminds me to go check the battery. A carbon monoxide alarm is also a good investment to have especially if you have an attached garage. We had a little absent mindedness happen in our house a few years ago where a car was running in our attached garage with the door closed. It hadn't been running for long when I found the mistake and the carbon monoxide alarm hadn't gone off yet when I drove the car out and went to town. When I got home the alarm was screaming. I had to unplug it to reset it. Jim

souNdguy · Aug 23, 2011

keep a large pot lid near the stove for easy access. it's super easy to snuff a grease fire by choking / starving it, vs hosing the area down with dry chemical.. etc.

still.. glad nothing burned!

soundguy

Ken Macfarlane · Aug 23, 2011

Exactly what I say to folks who think medicare is a waste.

elmersooner · Aug 23, 2011

baking soda also works okay on grease fires. I have seen a few times how a smoke alarm has saved a life and home as a volunteer firefighter. unfortunately have seen what happens without them as well. I have one in every room in my house pretty cheap investment of 9 volt batteries. carbon monoxide detectors are great as well. Now does everyone have an extinguisher on their tractor--and have you had it checked lately?

JML755 · Aug 23, 2011

Keith, ah it was bacon grease! That explains it. Our smoke alarms will go off at the slightest hint of overcooked bacon or anything else for that matter. But...... many times I've had a backdraft when starting a fire in our fireplace fill up the family room and darn near the whole 1st floor with smoke that you can see rolling along the ceiling. Eyes are burning and everything, but the smoke alarm just sits there while smoke FROM BURNING WOOD wafts over it. Doesn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling. Must be something in the cooking oil or bacon grease that they're sensitive to.

Smoke Alarms DO work

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