Has anyone had their house burn down?

[Kusoyaro]

I was cooking fries today. I turn around for a few seconds to dip the pirogies in batter and mash some peas when I realize the oil in the wok is on fire. Like an idiot I blow at it; it spreads. I splash water on it; it spreads. I use a towel to do that helicopter whirly thing to make the flames go away and it spreads EVERYWHERE. Like a genius I try reaching into the ceiling-high flames, grabbing the wok, running out and around the kitchen to the back door, somehow opening it, and chucking the mess into the snow. My right arm and half my face catch fire. I'm freaking out, so I begin yelling at my baby bro and sis to call the cops, while inhaling so much smoke that the ambulance guys later tell me my lungs have been burned by the hot smoke. The fire guys get there in 5 minutes, during which I was having a seizure and yelling at everyone on the road to help me out. When the fire guys got on-site and determined what happened, they directed my bro and sis into my neighbors house, where there was a birthday party going on. They're filipino, so there were like ten thousand people in there, which was super awkward, since we were wearing no shoes or socks and our clothes were muddy (from the snow and stuff), smelled strongly of smoke, and my right sleeve was burned into my skin. I phone my folks up (its my parents house) and they come back from a business meeting to the sight of 3 fire trucks, 2 ambulances, a couple of cop cars, and about 200 people standing in our driveway.
So basically, my lungs feel like shit, my throat is bleeding, my right hand is as red a baboons' ass, and my forehead is burned so badly it looks like i quit halfway through a facial peel, so I can't go to work for a while either. And now I'm sitting in a Comfort Inn with shitty net connection watching BSG and checking my facebook every 5 seconds.

I'll post pics of my injuries and my kitchen whenever I get back home and get my camera.

[Masa the Masta]

Jesus...

Wow. That reaaallllllly is insane. I honestly don't know what to say.

Best wishes, I can only hope things turn out well, man. Good luck.

[japanat]

That really sucks. First degree burns, or did you make 2nd? Ignore any well-meaning friends, btw, who tell you to rub butter on the burns, OK? You'll fry up even worse.

My neighbor's grandma forgot to turn off the tempura oil when she went out and burned out their kitchen. Luckily the neighbor saw the flames through a window, or she would have lost the whole house.



And everyone, get a chemical extinguisher for kitchen fires!

[ZaichikArky]

Gah that's horrible! A week ago, I created a HUGE burn mark on my wall when I decided to leave water boiling for 2 hours >_>. I'm lucky cause that part of the kitchen wall is completely in tile, and since it was flame-resistant, it didn't burn the apt down. I'm just stressed cause me and my cat already did tons of damage to my apt and it might end up costing a lot of money to fix it all -_-.

[Chris]

Sorry man. That just sucks.

[Shuft]

I was cooking fries today. I turn around for a few seconds to dip the pirogies in batter and mash some peas when I realize the oil in the wok is on fire. Like an idiot I blow at it; it spreads. I splash water on it; it spreads. I use a towel to do that helicopter whirly thing to make the flames go away and it spreads EVERYWHERE. Like a genius I try reaching into the ceiling-high flames, grabbing the wok, running out and around the kitchen to the back door, somehow opening it, and chucking the mess into the snow....
Don't hate me, but I loled at that.

I hope everything turns out ok (healing burns, insurance covering damages, etc).

After almost burning down my kitchen I keep a fire extinguisher right next to the stove.

[MurphBurger]

And the moral of that story is to keep a fire extinguisher close at hand when you have heat and oil....or be extremely good at barrel rolling


but on a serious note I hope your injuries aren't too bad (yea I know its real bad but let's hope they heal quickly) and at least your house wasn't burned completely toasted

[Kusoyaro]

Thanks guys. Yea, I'm going to Canadian Tire and getting one of those all-in-one fire extinguishers after this is all over. My injuries aren't too serious; some bubbling of the skin on the back of my right hand, and a burnt forehead. My eyebrows are patchy, so I took a week or so off from work. Hopefully I can get a couple of shots of the kitchen before it gets fixed up, too. They'll make for some interesting wall-frames. Speaking of which, the estimated damage, of which I thought would be along the lines of $3-5k, was totaled to $45k. There must've been a fucking Batcave hidden behind the stove, is all I can say.

[stsparky]

Ask the doctor to help you prevent keloids.

[Kusoyaro]

My burns are not bad enough to cause such scars, thankfully.
We were in the middle of a renovation, too.

[Radiance]

Out of curiosity, did you have a lid for the wok? For some reason thats always my first reaction when I start a fire. I mean, I don't do it too often, but i'll freely admit to having burned cereal. (No, I refuse to explain how... Just know it was extremely stupid.) Anyhow... yeah, cut off the oxygen to a fire and it can't burn anymore.

[Injuryprone]

My house burned down in the Cedar Fire down in southern Cali 4 years ago and almost went down in this years fire.

[akitaka]

Two words.

Salt and Sugar.

Puts out grease-fires in a snap. Any decent cook will tell you this.

Sorry about your accident, but bravo on trying to cook a good meal :-)

[knivesc]

Speaking of which, the estimated damage, of which I thought would be along the lines of $3-5k, was totaled to $45k. There must've been a fucking Batcave hidden behind the stove, is all I can say.

That is CRAZY. Sorry to hear the news. Good luck with everything : (

[Your Mom]

And I cry when I burn myself with the iron. D:
This does not sound like a fun adventure.
Hope you heal up quickly.

[Dead Sexy Vocab]

Sorry to hear it. That sucks so much.

(Mini rant: Even after skipping two classes just to study for a Chemistry test, I still leave alot of questions unanswered, all of them worth 4 marks each)

[Trinadad]

Oh my, heal up quick!

I've had an oil fire before, which luckily only burnt the walls and ceiling, and I also burned down our balcony many years back, but those don't seem to come close to that. Hope you get better. :)

[Everdarke]

Oh my, heal up quick!

I've had an oil fire before, which luckily only burnt the walls and ceiling, and I also burned down our balcony many years back, but those don't seem to come close to that. Hope you get better. :)
Oil fire huh? I hope you remembered to put it out with a lot of water!

[Trinadad]

Oil fire huh? I hope you remembered to put it out with a lot of water!

Oh did I ever. T_T

[Kusoyaro]

Thank you all.
It turns out that there was damage on the upper floor, where the fire had burned through a bit of the ceiling and damaged a bit of the rafters, as well as melting the glass behind the stove and somehow causing the fusebox to overload, which in turn fried my desktop, the tv in the basement, and the tv and stereo in the living room. The soot damaged everything on the upper floors, and somehow the fire/smoke caused the fusebox to break, which was why the alarms never sounded.
Also, insurance companies are horrible. And I was gonna take some pics, but when I went home, they took every single electronic thing they could find. I have a bet going that I'll never see my cellphone or watches again.

[harper]

When I was 14, I had insomnia one night and didn't get to sleep around 7am (this was in early July). I woke up around 1:30pm when I heard my dog scratching at the door. When I opened up the door, there was smoke everywhere and I could see flames in the kitchen. I got the dog and got out of the house. I was the only one home at the time and the neighbors called the fire department. The house wasn't completely destroyed, but we were out of there for the rest of the summer while they rebuilt the kitchen and attic.

[RoxFontaine]

Whoa. Sorry to hear that, Man. I hope for a full and speedy recovery for you. I have never had a home fire myself, but a friend of mine when I was very young did. His mother was away, their power was out and they had candles lit in the house so they wouldn't be afraid. One tipped over and the entire house burned down. His sister died in that fire.

[Kusoyaro]

harper, how'd the fire start? was it just a blowout in the fusebox or some sort of electrical thing?
roxfontaine, wow, that is harsh. i remember back when there was that huge blackout on the eastern seaboard, a lot of people died because they lit candles too close to curtains or left their homes unattended. someone on my road left their baby inside and went out for a smoke, the garbage caught fire. it was easy to put out, but the baby died of smoke inhalation.