If you don't already PLEASE PLEASE get smoke alarms fitted, and also make sure you close all your doors when you got to bed

[TheQueenOfQuotes]

Because we've just had a horrible scare.
I was sat in the living room about 45 minutes ago reading DS2 a story and giving DS3 a cuddle while DH was warming DS3's milk in the microwave takes about 1 minute in ours (no comments about using microwaves for it please - this isn't the thread - it could have been anything in there).

DH popped into the bathroom (downstairs one at the far end of the kitchen) just as he was coming out I looked up to see smoke pouring into the living room and kitchen full of white smoke.

DH opened the microwave and got the bottle out and switched it off and we opened all the doors and window to let the smoke out. It was a few seconds after that the smoke alarm finally went off. The alarm is tested regularly (actually we've got 2 - one for "smoke" and one for "flame" ie smokeless fire) - and often goes off even if you're frying something or if you leave the oven open for more than about 10 seconds when switched on. Infact it went off this afternoon so we know it works. But it still took several seconds for it to go off in this instance.

In the time it took for us to notice the smoke, and for the alarm to go off the smoke had alrady started going into the lounge/diner and into the hallway. The upstairs smoke alarm didn't go off as because of the shape of our hallway (low at the bottom and then gets "big" once you're half way up the stairs) the smoke (for the time being) was trapped in the downstairs part. A few seconds/minutes? later it probably wouldn't have gone off.

However it made me realise that if that had been at night we may not have heard the downstairs smoke alarm (kitchen is quite a "distance" from our bedroom and you can't really hear anything - DH can't even hear me shouting at the DS's if he's in bed and I'm in the kitchen). If that had happened and the doors had been open the hallway would almost certainly have been completely full of smoke by the time we were alerted to it......and that is our only escape route!

Thankfully this time nothing serious happened (apart from now having a duff microwave and DH a cold dinner with no way of reheating.....any ideas???) but it could have been so much worse.

Thanks for this thread I had got out of the habit of checking our alarms and one of the batteries needed changing.

"The fire went up so quickly that the room was full of smoke before the smoke alarm went off."

it certainly was frightening and the speed the smoke travelled through the downstairs was incredible - thankfully new micrwave seems to be working just fine - and I'm succeeded in settig the alarm in the kitchen several times while cooking dinner (didn't burn it - honest!).

Can only echo. I was the victim of an arson attack some years ago, fortunately I wasn't there at the time as I might have been left trying to climb out of the Velux windows to avoid being killed (less dramatically, the thing prob wouldn't have happened if I'd been there - it was a burglary).

Smoke and carbon (mon, rather than di?)oxide detectors are essential, as is having a fire plan. We don't have enough window locks in this house, and that's what I'm going to remedy in response to this thread.

When we moved into our house it had smoke detectors in every room. I thought this was overkill but now I am really pleased. Costs usa blimmin fortune in 9V batteries though

We also have a CO detector in the lounge.

Glad you are all OK TQOQ.

our cookworks microwave set alight too! omg, you must have been so scared!

My class had a talk about house fires once. Scared th elife out of me, not sure what effect it had on the kids...

Scary stuff, QoQ.

We have smoke alarms attached to the mains (with battery back-up) and so I know they are fine (uber sensitive and pretty annoying). Our house is on 3 storeys and so building regs wise we have to have internal fire doors, so tahnkfully, we are pretty well covered in the event of fire.

when peters house was set alight, the fire alarms didnt get a chance to go off, they melted. what alerted the family is that the fire extigistor by the front door exploded.

thank you for this thread - have got smoke alarms - fitted by the frie service - just bought 2 co2 alarms.

cx

mine were checked along with gas check a few weeks ago.

sorry to hear of your scare QQ

Please don't leave on at night anything electrical
No washing machines
No dishwasher
No tumble dryers

Turn it all off.

Oh, yes, I never leave washing machine going when I am either out or asleep, after a few years ago, my washing machine overheated. Fortunately I was in the house at the time, upstairs, and came down to find the kitchen full of steam, and the washing machine very hot. I switched it off immediately, but if I had left it much longer, I think it may well have caught fire.