Just a friendly word of warning to everyone on here.
Yesterday i got a call to say my parents house was on fire (mum was out dad was in and got out ok)
Turns out he was in the house and smelt smoke, realised it was coming from the integral garage.
He opened the door to be greated with what he describes as total black, obviously smoke...thinking it must be a samll fire he went out side grabbed the hosepipe and came back to try and put it out, by this time its getting worse...
He quickly realised putting it out wasnt happening so rang fire brigade - he had to get onto the floor to be able to breath clean air at this point..
As it happened just at this time a pal of mine (MattB on oople) was driving past on the way home. He stopped seeing the smoke and went into the house finding my dad on the phone lied down on the floor, after checking he was ok Matt tried putting the fire it with the pipe but obviously it just wasnt possible so they both got out quick...
Here's what happened after 30 minutes or so
At the moment the fire brigade arent sure what caused the fire though they suggested it could have been the drying machine or wahing machine - neither of which were running and both were in very good condition i.e. not old and were well looked after (mother cleans the fluff from the dryer weekly) - as i say firmen were not able to say what the exact cause was.
Firman said it does happen and that appliances that are left plugged in can fault and go up in flames.
Apparently Plasma TV's and ladys hair curlers are one of the main causes.
The moral of the story is this:-
Go round yr house and turn everything off at the plug socket (ok fridge/freezer has to stay on) its just not worth the risk of leaving stuff on.
My 4yr old nearly stayed at their house on Sunday night and as the frieman said if the fire had happened at night there would have been very little chance of anyone getting out alive (inhalation of smoke can kill you instantly - when its hot it fuses your lungs together)
Another thought is next door got badly affected by migrating smoke (semi-detached bubgalows) to the point where their house was full of thick black smoke.......and none of their brand new mains suppied smoke alarms went off !!!!!!
In short if there is a fire at home get out as fast as possible, a few seconds can be the difference between being able to get out and not having a choice in the matter.
Finnally thanks to MattB for going in and helping - i owe you a big drink pal
