Sunday 24 March 2013

Fire, Near Explosions and Happy Easter



In my last post, I explained about electrical work that needed to be done but I can only just manage to explain the gravity of the situation now that time has passed and I am feeling more calm.
As I said before, I had a hot socket in the kitchen and noticed that the wall surrounding it was becoming warm. Without too much ado, I explained the situation to an electrical firm and they told me that provided I didn't use that socket, I should be Ok for a few days before they could come and see what was wrong.
Feeling more confident, I opened the door on the prearranged day, to a young electrician who examined the socket and told me that there was obviously a fault and he turned off the electricity supply to look inside the socket and examine the fuse box. When he reconnected the supply, there was a bang and my gas cooker charged with an electrical current, jumped a few inches straight into a gas pipe which fractured and caught fire.
I yelled to the man to switch off the gas and as he was right by the meter he was able to do so fairly promptly.
The fire petered out, fortunately for my husband and rabbits who were very close by and would have been caught in an explosion if the pipe had been left alight. I also would have been involved in the fire or explosion as I was trying to rescue the rabbits and was yelling at Harry to get out.  However, chemo was making him very drowsy and he didn't grasp the seriousness of the situation. Nor did he see the fire, though he heard the cooker jump.
The electrician called a plumber/gas man to attend immediately to replace the fractured pipe and relight the pilot light of the gas fire/boiler when the gas was reconnected and then the electrician put the kitchen sockets onto a new circuit and assured me that it was now safe. He also brought in some apparatus to test the cooker which turned out fine.
He said that I'd have to have all the  electrical sockets, lighting and wiring in the whole house, tested and that he'd be back to find out what had caused the problem but in the meantime it was all safe.
Although my head told me this was true, in the dark hours of the night, I suffered flashbacks and didn't sleep properly for nearly a week imagining what might have been with the cooker electrocuting anyone, the fire getting out of hand or the back of the house blowing out and wondering if it could all happen again. We were fortunate that we weren't hurt in any way  nor was the house damaged and that we must have had a guardian angel looking out for us!
Can anyone beat this experience? In a way, I hope not.


Easter is almost upon us and I'm not sure if my daughter will be here with the grandsons or not. I'm going to be very busy over the next week or two with electrical work and some plumbing, looking after the girls some of the time as well as all the other things that I have to do. If I can't get another post out before Easter then I hope that you all have a very Happy one and for all those living in Britain, then I hope the freezing weather that we are experiencing again, will turn into Spring. It is long over due.






27 comments:

Sueann said...

Had an electrician working on my main circuit board..he accidently hit the box with the conduit and it immediately started an electrical fire...ended up causing 80,000. dollars worth of damage and we all had to leave everything and move into a hotel for 6 weeks while they repaired our home. Years after, I have fire flash backs and still find things that have been smoke damaged.
So I know what your talking about.
Glad your damage was minimal and no one was hurt.
Hugs
SueAnn

Gail Is This Mutton? said...

How awful and frightening for you Maggie! I hope the nightmares recede. Here's to a peaceful and joyous Easter!

Anonymous said...

Oh yikes, that's a scary story about the electrical. I hope all your 'lecki' is worked out soon (got that from Corrie St.) it's not something to ignore or take for granted. I'm always a stickler for unplugging everything around the house, always have been. It's powerful magic but I'm sorry you've had these problems.

Wishing you a lovely Easter too, not too long to go now.

Hugs, G

Geraldine said...

PS: The "magic" ref. to electrical comes from something my first husband use to say, he was an electrician. :<)

Geraldine said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jayne said...

Hi Maggie. What a narrow escape. Thank goodness no one was hurt and you called someone in so promptly. It sounds very scary indeed, no wonder you've had nightmares. Thankfully all is well. Wishing you a very happy Easter - and here's hoping the weather realises it is meant to be spring!

Also when you get a moment, can you pop over to my blog and watch the little video? You might just have won yourself a book... :-)

Expat mum said...

Good lord. I'm tempted to say he sounds like a bit of a muppet! I hope you didn't have to pay for any of the extra repair work, and I'm very glad no one was injured.

Brian Miller said...

oh wow...how scary...you may remember we had a socket go up a year or so ago and burned up one of our rooms downstairs....glad you escaped with minimal damage...yikes...

Secret Agent Woman said...

That's really frightening. I'm glad it ended without too terribly much damage. My childhood home had an electrical problem that caused the furnace system to overheat and blow up. Burned the house down to the ground. Fortunately, my mother and brother, who were the only two home, were able to get out in time, although they did lose a couple of dogs in the fire.

Rosaria Williams said...

Oh My!
You were lucky nobody got hurt.

Mimi said...

Oh Maggie, that was avery scary experience. Fair play to you for being so quick to shout at the electrician to turn off the gas, otherwise it could have been very nasty. Poor Harry must have had a terrible fright, and of course you too.
I hope you're sleeping ok again.
Your guardian angel was right by your side, for sure, so ask him/her to help you now to put it behind you.
Happy Easter Maggie, to you and the family.

Eddie Bluelights said...

Gosh, Maggie, even though we talked through this on the phone I am still amazed this did not escalate into something very serious. Good job you had the presence of mind to get the electrician to turn off the gas at mains. It would have taken the whole rear wall of the property out. Very surprised that the gas in the pipes did not explode either. For the cooker to actually jump like that there must have been a lot of energy there. Thank God you, Harry and the rabbits are OK.

Hilary said...

Yikes! Maggie, you've certainly had more than your share of trials lately. What a relief that nobody was hurt and that damage was minimal due to your quick thinking. I'm sorry for your troubles. Hugs to you.

Jackie said...

Oh my goodness!
First of all, let me say that I am so glad that you and Harry and your beloved pets are all safe.
Next, I hope that all is repaired and well at your home.
That experience would have left me with uncomfortable feelings, too, my friend.
Feel a comforting hug from me to you, please...
Love,
Jackie

Celia said...

Terrifying Maggie, wonderful that you are all safe. It would keep me awake too. It may take awhile for the angst to go away. Sending you virtual hugs.

Ayak said...

A very frightening experience Maggie and I'm so glad it wasn't more serious.

Wishing you and Harry and your family a very happy Easter xx

Rose said...

Oh dear, Maggie, I am glad you are all safe--what a terrifying experience! Good thing you had the presence of mind to tell the electrician to turn off the gas right away. I can understand your sleeplessness for awhile; hopefully, you won't have any other problems as the work is finished.

Wishing you a Happy--and peaceful--Easter!

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness. What a scare. Have a lovely and safe Easter.

Jeni said...

Holy Rip, Maggie! Nothing like scaring the living daylights out of your readers! But then too, nothing like having the living daylights scared out of yourself too? I can relate to your fears big time as my dear son managed 22 years ago this coming April to catch the upstairs of my house on fire! I was relatively calm about it at that time, but often have thought back about that night and how things could have been so much different with really bad consequences. And also, two months ago, I had the big fright when my car caught fire while I was driving it! Okay it was totaled by the insurance company, no one was hurt except for the poor jeep, but I still think about that event and what would I have done had I had the kids in the car with me when that happened! Just thankful for myself things worked out the way they did and thankful for you and Harry that neither of you -or the rabbits -were injured. And now -have a Happy Easter, don't eat too much (ha ha to listening to that advice if you are like me) and don't overwork yourself in the process either! Peace!

Wisewebwoman said...

OMG I was flabbergasted just reading about your misadventure, how awful for you. Flashbacks indeed, you were a hairsbreadth away from some serious injury and destruction.

Glad you are well and hoping you can sleep now.

Happy Renewal, Rebirth and Restoration!

XO
WWW

Suburbia said...

Gosh Maggie what a shock? I'm so glad you were all OK, if a little traumatised. I do hope your daughter managed to come up to see you and that you have managed to get a little peace at Easter time.

x

Maria said...

Hope you had a happy Easter notwithstanding the almost disaster, Maggie. You've got a guardian angel watching over you for sure. Gas is extremely dangerous. People use gas bottles here for cooking and they are like bombs ready to go off. Glad you're all okay.

Akelamalu said...

OMG what an awful experience! Hope you get it all sorted and feel a lot safet Maggie.

Thud said...

A cold Easter somehow fits in with the rebirth theme...bloody miserable though!

Wendy said...

Spring is very late here too. Cold and dreary.

I am so thankful you and Harry and your pets are all safe! You really must have a guardian angel looking out for you!!

Scary - I don't blame you for not sleeping. I would be the same, worrying in the night.....

Happy Easter to you, my friend and hope all your work gets done quickly and properly.
Hugs

Sally Wessely said...

Goodness! This must have been so very scary. I can understand why you have been having flashbacks. I'm glad it turned out the way it did.

Clare Dunn said...

I'm so glad you're all ok.

xoxoxo, cd