buelito

I was planning for an 8 am bike ride this morning-- on the mountain
bike because of the cold. At 5:20 am I was awakened by my son who
said I had to come outside "and see this". I put on a robe and
slippers and went outside to see one of my neighbor's houses in full
flame. It was on fire. I rushed back inside to get some clothes on
(it was VERY cold) and went back outside. I counted 14 fire trucks,
plus four ambulances and numerous other emergency response
vehicles. A policeman I spoke to later said there were 36 pieces of
equipment here--and they came from Reston, Centerville and Falls
Church (local and two neighboring communities).
Three houses were burning freely... completely devestated. We
stayed outside comforting the home owners and helping where we
could. One of my neighbors was on the constant vigil of the roofs
of the neighboring houses to let the fire department know if any of
the flames jumped across. Some did, but they were quickly
extinguished. The road became a sheet of ice as the water froze...
temperatures were in the lower 20's and the wind was blowing strong.
Windchill was around 0 degrees F. One of the homeowners coame to
our house and was here for about three hours. She is temporarily
housed with friends. Two other families are in a local hotel...
but they have lost almost everything.

We take so much for granted...it makes one think of how lucky we are.

Thankfully no one got hurt...

Three houses are pretty much totalled, and a fourth has major damage
to one of the upstairs rooms.

Cause of the fire is still unconfirmed, although I have heard that
it might have been started by a cigarette butt.

Needless to say, the bike ride was postponed to another day...

train safe-

Marylandnewbie

Wow, some serious damage. Glad to hear you and your family were only spectators. You're right, things like that do help put things in perspective. And it usually prompts us to check fire extinguishers and have the long delayed talk about fire safety with our kids.

chennai

Similarly sobering:

https://www.nbc-2.com/articles/readar...id=6016&z=3&p=

zowie

A bad house fire has got to be about the worst thing that can happen to a person after death and serious illness. Yeah, it's only a thing, and the insurance will pay for at least most of a new one. But what about all your ****? I have collected photos, films, letters and old books that my family has amassed over the six generations since coming to the US. I'd be devastated to lose them. Not to mention sentimental items like bikes thay may only be worth $100 but have over 10,000 miles of memories on them.

But I remind myself, as the original poster wrote, about "putting things into perspective": all the material things in this world are temporary, even if they outlast their owners.

Hope no one was hurt.

Eggplant Jeff

Wow! Were they townhouses? I'm just down the road a bit in Manassas.

Yeah that's really a lousy way to start your Monday... I was thinking I was having a lousy day until I saw this. Like you said, puts everything in perspective.

TRaffic Jammer

Glad to hear everyone is ok.
All I REALLY need hugs me goodnight when I tuck them in, and their mother.

SingingSabre 

That's crazy.

I'm a fire performer. I eat fire and fire dance with staves and poi.

There really is no excuse for not knowing where your fire extenguisher is and not having it charged up. Local universities often have free classes on how to use a fire extenguisher, how to place it in your house (note: not near a stove!), how to keep it charged up, etc. They're worth taking and only require a few hours of a day.

Everyone should look into it.

That said, your neighbors' loss is tremendous. I will send good energies their way.

Eggplant Jeff

Do you mean as in, not close enough to be heated by the stove because you don't want to cause the extinguisher to burst?

I keep one in the kitchen "near" the stove (not THAT close though) because the stove is the place most likely to have a kitchen fire start.

slvoid

Fires are ok, insurance can take care of the home, it's the memories that are lost forever.

TRaffic Jammer

man too lose everything in the house would be hard......
pics of my kids as babies and such... grandparents pictures..... would be terrible.

SingingSabre 

You don't want it near a stove beacuse that's the thing most likely to catch on fire in your kitchen. If your extinguisher is near the stove, a fire on the stove may prevent you from getting to the extinguisher.

Eggplant Jeff

Ahh ok good point.

ItsJustMe

For those who don't want to lose their photos...
get thee to digitizing.

I bought a film scanner and a flatbed scanner several years ago. It took me about 3 years of working a few hours a week, but every negative, slide and print that we have (about 6000) along with originals of important documents (birth certificates, financial papers, original paperwork of genealogy research, etc) are now scanned, and multiple copies are stored at home, at work, and at parent's house. The documents are on an encrypted CD (using open source TrueCrypt so it's not locked to some company's fortunes).

If it's worth not losing, it's worth doing this.

Once done, it takes minimal time to maintain.

eandmwilson

If this is the case I think it is, it was an exterior fire started by a discarded cig butt setting a deck on fire. Considering the homes were fully engulfed by 5:20, an extinguisher doesn't do any good if you are asleep. By the time the fire would have burnt through to set off a dog or smoke alarm, an extinguisher wouldn't have saved the day.

Having said that, keeping an extinguisher in the home is a great idea for those fires you CAN put out.

scottmorrison99

Many local fire departments will teach you how to use an extinguisher and how to develop a family escape plan in case of fire. They may have brochures available on other subjects as well. Such as how to prepare for a major natural disaster. (Now is the time to put together your 72 hour family survival kit. Not when floods/earthquakes/hurricanes make collecting basic necessites impossible.) For 72 hours you may be on your own. Be prepared.

SingingSabre 

That's just horrible. I couldn't imagine that happening...

Smoking'll kill ya, I guess.

ItsJustMe

In an odd coincidence, Sunday night one of our friend's houses burned to the ground. The fire started in the basement, they tried to put it out but it was well under way when they discovered it, and it outpaced the extinguishers they had. Luckily they had the sense to just give up and get out, and had a little time to salvage stuff before the floor started getting warm.
Unfortunately, they live on a gravel dead-end in the maze of weirdly shaped roads in the lakes area here, and the fire department took quite a long time trying to find their house. It's really confusing out there.
Everyone and pets made it out OK, and they're staying in the home of another church member who is in Florida for the winter.