Nearly just burnt the house down

[firestarter2023]

Just did the dumbest thing ever. Left some incense unattended and burnt the food waste bin. House stinks and there's black stuff everywhere.

I'm lucky the whole house didn't burn down.
Aibu to say I'm the stupidest person ever 😭

Hi @firestarter2023 thank god you caught it on time! No you're not stupid, honestly we all do stupid things xx

I just can't believe I did it. I'd thrown an out of date egg in the food waste and after it burnt I realised the egg had boiled in the heat! 😰

Oh OP accidents happen, just take it as a lesson learnt and be thankful nothing worse happened!

I let some chicken stock including the chicken carcass burn dry while we went out for dinner.

The smell was the WORST. We could smell it from way down the street on the way home. It was foul and the whole house stank for ages.

it's easily done. Always put them in a bowl of water before disposing of them or matches. Could have been worse.

Is your smoke alarm working ok? I'm surprised it didn't go off.

I can even smell it in the garden.

Waiting for DH to come home and see the state of it all

Oh god don't worry. I once accidentally set a palm tree alight overnight. Could have been a lot worse but the melting plastic pot stunk to high heaven

We all make mistakes and the first few you might get away with xx

@tescocreditcard good point. It didn't go off! Will have to sort that tonight.

I wasn't even throwing it away. I left it in a dangerous place. 1000% my own fault 😰

Incense smells like smelly students! Buy a block air freshener for safety.

Fire and water , the home owners enemies . Take extreme care with both .

Until this afternoon, I loved incense. But I can assure you @thatsn0tmyname I will probably never light one again

The window is destroyed - melted the frame and the glass has cracked.

What the actual fuck 😰

Check the batteries in your smoke alarm.

Bloody hell, you really were very lucky.

This just reminded me I didn’t put new batteries in the smoke alarm - thank you.

bicarb, vinegar and zoflora in a few dishes will get rid of the smell quickly

Easily done. Don’t beat yourself up about it.

If you take the batteries out of the smoke alarm because the beeping is getting on your nerves leave the smoke alarm open as a reminder that you still have to put batteries in.

They are literally lifesavers.

Well at least you didn't do what my neighbour did - put food under the grill and then toddle off for a nap. Cue lots of smoke pouring out their back door. Ended up with my DH hammering on their front door to get their attention.
We've all done dumb things, OP. I've re-warmed my dinner in the microwave - and forgotten to remove my cutlery from the plate. Luckily for me the loud bangs got my attention before the whole thing exploded!

I keep thinking how bad it could have been. And looking at the damage. It could've been so much worse, all for a careless mistake

Probably not what you want to hear, and is pretty obvious, but incense burners, candles = increased fire risk.

Every time you add a naked flame you are increasing the risk of a fire.

I know people every time I go round they have got 5 or more candles on the go.

There is a potential price to pay for that.

Be careful with the zoflora it’s flammable.

Learn from it. Don't minimise it.
You got away with it this time. Make sure it never ever happens again.

I put a vegetable delivery box on top of a low lit gas hob on the way out one day. There was a big fire in the kitchen only put out by some hero neighbours. I also nearly killed my dog which was awful. The house was full of smoke and had to be redecorated - it definitely made me more careful!

We've all done it, or similar. Just take it as a lesson and be more careful. Everyone is fine, the damage is minor.

Absolutely.