quinn222

First off, thank you so much for all your kind words. Also, we are all ok and this could have been, and nearly was, far worse.



I was awakended by the sound of my mother yelling. I rushed out thinking that my father had fallen again. I could see straight across the house that there was a fire. My dad was yelling for water. OMG. They were trying to PUT IT OUT THEMSLEVES. I started screaming GETOUTGETOUTGETOUTGETOUT while running for the phone. Called 911 (are there flames or is it just/YES THERE ARE FLAMES!!!). Ran to my room (Still yelling GETOUTGETOUTGETOUT!!!) Grabbing Dandy, my purse and my pants (in that order) and ran for the garage door. My mother was hesitating and I forced her out. Grabbed the keys, got Dandy, my mother, and Dandy’s bag outside and into my car and then ran back for my father, whom I had to force out of the house with him fighting me all the way. I couldn’t find my uncle and was freaking out but then my dad told me he had gone out the back way. Getting three people 80 years old or older and a cat out of a burning house is no fun.

I put my car down the street and left my mom and Dandy in it. My mom was upset because all she had was her nightie. I kept telling her that there was nothing in there that we couldn’t replace. We got the other car out of the garage and put my dad and uncle in that one. By now the fire dept. (bless them) had arrived. We live close to the fire house. They sent an ambulance and I think six engines and several trucks.

It’s all a bit foggy. I’ll try and remember the details. I know early on I remembered the bottles of oxygen in my parents closet and warned the firemen. I kept going back and forth between my parents trying to keep them calm. Then my sister arrived (I had called her) and my brother-in-law. They live nearby. My sister stayed with my mom and my brother in law talked to the firemen and tried to act as a go-between to my dad. My parents and uncle wouldn’t leave. We were trying to get them to go to my sister’s house. None of us had shoes, my uncle had on a pair of shorts, all my dad had was briefs and my mom had her nightie.

The fire dept. arrived in the nick of time and prevented the entire house from going up. Looking at it in the light of day is frightening and sobering. From what I can tell my father lit a cigiarette. He has oxygen. Yeah. Dumb. The oxygen tube caught fire. It was lying on the floor of the bedroom, which, thank God, is tile. They, my parents, thought they could put it out and were using a bowl of water on it but then a nearby chair caught. It was at that point that I forced them out. The fire dept. arrived and put it out just as the wall was beginning to catch fire.

So, we are very very very lucky. Lots of smoke damage. Water damage only to the dining room table (which is outside my parents room.) Actual fire damage is limited to my parents bedroom. The paint is blistered and scorched, the one wall was actual burn damage and the chair is a total loss. The house stinks of smoke and I can still taste it in my mouth. We’re waiting for the insurance company to call back.

This could have been so much worse. I was terrified, we all were. It was a horrifying and frightening experience but we are so fortunate. Even if the entire house had gone we all got out, including Dandy. Very little in the house was not replaceable.

One of the things that I grabbed when I left was my purse. It had my camera in it.

My hand was shaking so not a great picture!


The Chair in the light of day.