- Joined
- Mar 7, 2012
- Messages
- 4,099
Today in the spider room ... there was a house fire!
Fortunately, we are safe, and the tarantulas are fine.
Some time after 2 a.m. on Friday night, we heard a loud pop/thud, and our lights briefly dimmed. We didn't hear or smell anything else. Then at 2:35, the neighbor called, because she saw smoke. We told her to call 911. (I don't know why her first instinct was to call us instead of 911.)
I quickly got dressed, and by the time I was outside, there was black smoke billowing out of all attic vents (but no smoke in our unit). I grabbed a handful of important things and threw them in the car, and that's all I had time to do before firefighters arrived (four engines and two ladders).
We live in a duplex with a common attic, and the fire started in the neighbors' side of the attic, probably the result of a short circuit. We're extremely fortunate that the neighbors were awake when it started, because had the firefighters shown up much later, this whole place would have burned. (Attic fires spread quickly with nothing to check them, especially in old wooden buildings like this.)
The firefighters had extinguished the fire by about 3:30, and most of the fire crews were gone by about an hour later, except the marshal who remained on scene for several hours to conduct the investigation.
Both electric meters were pulled. We were at first concerned that we wouldn't be able to get our power turned back on until a building inspector could come out, which wasn't going to happen during a weekend. However, we eventually got approval to turn on our unit's power, since our side did not have any water damage (unlike the neighbors' side), and we're on a separate meter.
It could have been a lot worse! I am glad that we did not have any damage in our unit and did not have to relocate 32 tarantulas to a heated building. (It was 40 degrees outside.)
Fortunately, we are safe, and the tarantulas are fine.
Some time after 2 a.m. on Friday night, we heard a loud pop/thud, and our lights briefly dimmed. We didn't hear or smell anything else. Then at 2:35, the neighbor called, because she saw smoke. We told her to call 911. (I don't know why her first instinct was to call us instead of 911.)
I quickly got dressed, and by the time I was outside, there was black smoke billowing out of all attic vents (but no smoke in our unit). I grabbed a handful of important things and threw them in the car, and that's all I had time to do before firefighters arrived (four engines and two ladders).
We live in a duplex with a common attic, and the fire started in the neighbors' side of the attic, probably the result of a short circuit. We're extremely fortunate that the neighbors were awake when it started, because had the firefighters shown up much later, this whole place would have burned. (Attic fires spread quickly with nothing to check them, especially in old wooden buildings like this.)
The firefighters had extinguished the fire by about 3:30, and most of the fire crews were gone by about an hour later, except the marshal who remained on scene for several hours to conduct the investigation.
Both electric meters were pulled. We were at first concerned that we wouldn't be able to get our power turned back on until a building inspector could come out, which wasn't going to happen during a weekend. However, we eventually got approval to turn on our unit's power, since our side did not have any water damage (unlike the neighbors' side), and we're on a separate meter.
It could have been a lot worse! I am glad that we did not have any damage in our unit and did not have to relocate 32 tarantulas to a heated building. (It was 40 degrees outside.)
it's a ferocious little eater.
