AIBU to throw out all food when flat 2 floors down had a fire

[MagentaHalfMoon]

I live on the second floor of a converted house (with my main flat door on the first floor and then stairs up to the actual flat). The flat on the ground floor had a fire yesterday, and their kitchen burned down because they left the cooker on. When I came home there was so much smoke in the communal hallway, called 999, they put out the fire. No one got hurt.

I am worried if any smoke could have gotten into my flat, as my flat door is identical to the flat door where all the smoke managed to get out into the communal hallway from the flat with the fire. When I checked the flat after they put the fire out, I couldn't see any smoke, but it smells burnt on the stairs inside the flat. I am tempted to throw out all food except the stuff in the fridge/freezer, but am I overreacting? Could smoke toxins have gotten to my food?

I have got plastic jars with lids for flour, sugar, cereals etc, spices, stuff in the pantry (snacks, baking powder, oils etc). Does it all go out, or AIBU?

I would be more worried about breathing in the smoke particles in your flat rather than them getting on your food.

Personally if I could smell smoke from the fire in the room I would wash my walls, clean carpet/floors and hoover furniture thoroughly. Air as much as possible.

I wouldn't throw food away though. Although I might have a wipe down in all the cupboards. Depends how bad it was.

Surely all your food is packaged up. Perhaps if something was open I might chuck it.

Your food is fine. The sealed food in containers is fine. The fridge food is fine. Your flat isn’t affected. Don’t waste food. Get your anxiety dealt with.

People pay money to have food that is subjected to smoke for hours and hours, like applewood smoked bacon, brisket, pulled pork, kippers and the like. While potentially slightly more carcinogenic than it had been before smoking, it is not calculably so.

Take this energy and transfer it into helping the people whose flat has been burnt out.

After a fire in the flat below some years ago the fire brigade told me to throw away any unopened food. Tins were ok.

We didn't need to throw away sealed food stuffs when we had a kitchen fire so YABU.

For 999 people out of 1000, it wouldn't even cross their mind to google about food safety after a flat two floors away had a fire.

What steps are you taking to try to deal with your anxiety?

YABU

Are you seeking / getting help for your anxieties?

There was a fire in a neighbouring apartment where we lived many years ago, and while the stairwell reeked of smoke, out flat was fine. Wouldn’t have occurred to us to throw anything out. Just don’t eat anything that smells or tastes funny, which is good advice in any circumstances. Hope you feel less anxious soon, OP.

I’d him any food that had been left out like fruit or whatever but no, other than that I’m sure it’s all fine !!

Considering that when people go camping they will sometimes still use a fire to actually cook food on, I think some smoke in a communal hallway will have zero negative effects on food in your kitchen.

Op , I say this gently, but I think the fire has shaken you badly, rather than there is actually anything wrong with your food.
Have you got support IRL?

No, no need to throw your food away, that's very wasteful. smoked kippers and smoked salmon are good. You may just need to wash clothes and fabric in your flat that's all.

Have you never been to a BBQ?

I have never heard the like.

I’d be far more likely to remove my asthmatic self from the apartment for a few days than my grub.

As a fellow chronic anxiety sufferer, this would not occur to me, unless the food smelled of smoke itself. What I would say is that you are no BU to think this, it is a logical train of thought for an anxiety sufferer and is not you being realistic. I understand your thought process but in this instance I think it's fine, so please borrow out logical thoughts to override your own. If the kitchen smells clean, it's clean. Perhaps as others have said, have a deep clean of your flat and air it out well, with all kitchen cupboards opened while you do.

*not you being unrealistic within your own thoughts

@clarebabes Not helpful and incredibly bloody rude!

Whilst I agree the OP seems to be overly anxious about this, I have to take exception to people likening barbecued or smoked food with smoke from a house fire. it's completely different. Burnt food is just that - it's burned from itself, so the only toxins/contamination are from the wood,charcoal, etc., which aren't particularly dangerous in small quantities. In a house fire, the smoke could be highly toxic, especially if it's from plastics or rubbers or oil that was on fire. But, I do agree with others that if there was no significant smell of smoke in the OP's own kitchen and no signs of smoke, i.e. blackening of surfaces etc due to particles in smoke, then their food certainly doesn't need throwing away!