Public service announcement - check your fire alarm batteries
 

My sister-in-law's house burned down yesterday. Luckily, all four members of her family and their dog were outside at the time, so nobody was hurt, but they lost everything but the clothes they were wearing - even their car (which used to be me and my wife's car until we sold it to them about a year and a half ago).

The fireman said the entire first floor was gone in 2 minutes. They think it was an electrical issue with the hood over the stove. It was old (1950s era). It was either that or an extension cord. The details in the article are all wrong, of course. There was no propane tank explosion (they think the explosion was a tank of wasp spray).

Essex home destroyed by fire - WFSB Channel 3

Anyhow, make sure your loved ones are protected. These fires can engulf a house incredibly fast.

That sucks, man. Best wishes to your sister and her family. I'm glad everyone is safe.

Glad everyone is safe.

(doesn't stop me hating bloody smoke alarms though - horrible bloody things, especially when the batteries fail and the honk all the time just to let you know)

Thank goodness everyone is safe, best wishes to your sister-in-law and her family.

Change those batteries and it won't make that annoying honking sound! :p

Make sure you have fire extinguishers too and know how to find them in the dark. I had a kitchen fire and was able to put out the fire and save my house, -20k in damages. People don't think about this stuff but it happens.

Wow, terrible.

EDIT: I missed the line about the wasp spray, only saw the propane line in the linked story.

There wasn't a propane tank in the house. The news report was wrong. They did have one outside in the yard, but it was not in the fire and didn't burst.

Scary stuff, glad everyone is alright.

I hope you checked your batteries, Kodos.

I'd hate for you to die in a fire.

Sorry to hear that Kodos.

So, I went to change out my batteries in the only smoke detector in my place...........and broke it. Thanks man. ;)

Glad everyone is okay!

..

The batteries are a pain in the ass to put in and get out. It takes two AA batteries and the thing you put the batteries in, slides in and out of the detector. Well, it doesn't quite slide out far enough to get a grip on the batteries. Apparently, this detector doesn't like it when you use something to wedge in there to pop the batteries in or out. Good thing I'm not home, as smoke detectors are useless when no one is home. :)