Fire At My House Tonight...

No joke. Left with the family to grab some drive thru. About 35 minutes later, got a call from one of my neighbors.

Neighbor: "Hi, [MBM] this is your neighbor. Your house is on fire and the fire department is here." No other details.

Me: :O

*drives home quickly Wife shaking so bad the sound of paper was distracting- even under the circumstances*

*Arrive home to so many fire engines I had to park two houses away*

*Firemen were hammering my front door down with axes and slamming it with door breakers* Lock so damaged my key would not work.

*Learned fire had been contained "mostly" on deck. Still expected fire had spread into back wall of house. Firemen still trying to get in...*

Ultimately, this happened:

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Something caught fire inside the spa. "Mechanical failure" is what the official fireman report will say.

All is well. No real loss as that is what homeowner insurance is supposed to cover. Let's see how much bullshit I have to deal with...

My front "door". Firemen (it took 3 to get it open) complemented me on my installation. Protip: Buy the GOOD 4" screws. :01:

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As long as everyone is O.K. including pets.:)


Insurance: Fire starts when everyone just happens to go out for a short time. This requires further investigation.:lol:

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Originally Posted by bigboab

As long as everyone is O.K. including pets.:)


Insurance: Fire starts when everyone just happens to go out for a short time. This requires further investigation.:lol:

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:sneaky:

And thank you, boab, we are all doing just fine, including the dog (she was quite brave, BTW :dog: ). Got the daughter at ease. She is a natural worrier who had to stay in the car with mom while I helped the firemen. She NEEDED to know everything was OK. The kitchen "OK". The dining room table "OK". Her drawing board "OK"...[continued through the rest of the house]. Then, when I showed my wife and her the pictures she kept wanting to know "HOW" it happened. She and the wife are both sleeping soundly. :happy:

Oh wow, even though no-one was home at the time, thankfully, it must still leave some mental scarring to overcome, hope you all get over it soon and everything gets back to some "normality" soon, best wishes :)

I think maybe there's a valuable lesson in there about running your hot tub in the snow. Mostly, I thought it was absurd, and if I see you doing it again, I'll set another part of your house on fire.

I was going to make it a message about drive thru, but you've been through enough.

Did like, not 1 fireman think about going to the back?

oh snap that's some serious business!1 I hope you're suing those fireman cunts for a new door!

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Originally Posted by megabyteme

No joke. Left with the family to grab some drive thru. About 35 minutes later, got a call from one of my neighbors.

Neighbor: "Hi, [MBM] this is your neighbor. Your house is on fire and the fire department is here." No other details.

Me: :O

Something caught fire inside the spa. "Mechanical failure" is what the official fireman report will say.

All is well. No real loss as that is what homeowner insurance is supposed to cover. Let's see how much bullshit I have to deal with....

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Luckily for you your insurance company has asked me to consult on the matter.So far I've got 3 theories that I'm exploring as to what really led to the fire.
I had a fourth,that given what I know of your life,God does actually have it in for you but on further contemplation I decided that God is already spending all His time fucking up Mary's life and probably doesn't have time left for other stuff.

Anyway to the theories,each equally plausible ....

1.The neighbour couldn't take seeing your fat semi-clothed ass in a hot tub for one more minute and took matters into his/her own hands.
2. Tired of masturbating to her fireman calendar,your wife decided it was time for the real thing.
3. Your dog hates you so much that suicide seemed like a viable option.

I'll update you when my findings are finalized and the insurance company is given some sneaky way to screw you out of what they really owe you.:)

Oh the irony... the massive tub full of water is what almost burns the house down.

Did none of the firemen go around back where the fire was emanating from and see that nothing inside was burning? :blink:

Lucky for you, the neighbor must have seen it as soon as it started. Might want an estimate on damage before going the insurance route. Prob have somewhere around a thousand dollar deductible so weigh that against raised premiums for the next 10 years.

The fireman did use a ladder to climb up on the deck first, and had controlled the imminent fire. They did have significant concern that fire had entered the back wall of the house, and were attempting to enter through the front door. I do wish they had smashed my glass slider, because I have been wanting a new one for years. :ermm:

The fire dept. was totally competent. At least fire-wise. Once I arrived, they asked for access to the attic crawl space. It took two of them with my growingly irritated instructions, ( "pull the pins out. Extend the ladder." :dry: ) to figure out the multi-ladder. All in all, really good guys who saved our house.

Insurance update: So far, they seem willing to just take care of things. Promptly. Getting new front door, storm door, lock set, spa,-plus cleaning of carpet and deck (including new stain :w00t: ). Setting up haul away of burnt spa today. Burnt plastic/insulation/fiberglass seriously not win. :no: All said and done, could be around $15k. Our deductible: $500.

Thanks for the well wishes! :happy:

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Originally Posted by Skiz

Oh the irony... the massive tub full of water is what almost burns the house down.

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IKR. It is like having your swimming pool burn to the ground. Totally unexpected.

It's an elevated wooden deck? That must be one sturdy sumbitch to hold a hot tub. Kudos to the builder.

OlegL hasn't posted yet, but I am sure his response will be along the lines of...

Think yourself lucky MBM. I still haven't had sex with a beautiful woman.

Anyway, even though I don't know you, I am glad that no one was hurt. Also, think about this scenario. You might have been at home at the time and tried to deal with it yourself. Who knows what outcome that may have produced, and we could now be mourning the departure of one of our more colourful (colorful) characters or their family members.

At the end of the day, it is just a tub, and as long as you and your family are fine, then these things can be replaced. Also, it doesn't matter how bad the damage is, it can never be as bad as OlegL's sex life.

Also, get an engineers report on the cause of the fire. If the spa is faulty, you can probably recover damages from the company that manufactured or installed it.

So, did you get the marshmallows out?


On a more serious note, you are very lucky that the fire happened when no one was home. Possessions are just possessions and can be replaced, a life can't. I would (if I were you) do something to thank the next door neighbour that alerted the fire brigade, that sort of neighbourhood caring is becoming remarkably rare.

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Originally Posted by TheFoX

You might have been at home at the time and tried to deal with it yourself. Who knows what outcome that may have produced, and we could now be mourning the departure of one of our more colourful (colorful) characters or their family members.

At the end of the day, it is just a tub, and as long as you and your family are fine, then these things can be replaced. Also, it doesn't matter how bad the damage is, it can never be as bad as OlegL's sex life.

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I spent the day orchestrating between the insurance company, the spa store, and contractors doing the clean-up. I was more rattled by the situation today while looking at pictures of the damage than I was during the actual event. After-the-fact, it is quite concerning the various possibilities that could have happened- while everyone was asleep is the worst one.

Unlike inside the house, outside there are no smoke alarms. The blaze would have had to reached the point of waking one of us before we'd even begin to get everyone gathered... As it was, today's clean-up revealed the deck had just started to burn through in a couple of spots. The concern at the time was the possibility of the fire entering the back wall. In fact, it was burning hottest closest to the glass slider. Had that glass shattered, the flames would have been inside the living room. And, coincidentally, our best access out would have been through the living room.

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The limitation for product liability (at least on this sort of thing, from what I understand) is 12 years. Only makes a difference of $500 in all. We will be getting a 15+ year upgrade on our spa. :w00t:

@skiz: The firemen also mentioned how well built our deck is. Undoubtedly, they have to climb some rickety ones. :fear:

@Art: Most interestingly of all, the neighbor who called it in (promptly) truly believes I killed his cat a few months ago. Seriously. While standing in the gathering crowd, he was going on about how I did exactly that. I can only imagine what his warped mind went through before/after calling. :pinch:

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Originally Posted by Artemis

So, did you get the marshmallows out?

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNnAvTTaJjM

Aw, man.

Let's all thank our lord the holey jeebus fries for insurance.

I have the perfect present for your neighbour........ A new cat! :blink:

hope everything is ok

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Originally Posted by Darkkite22

hope everything is ok

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Of course it is not OK. His spa is molten plastic and ashes, as demonstrated in the photo he submitted.

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Originally Posted by Artemis

I have the perfect present for your neighbour........ A new cat! :blink:

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:lol::lol::glagpinch: That one seriously got me, Art. I could do a Schrodinger's box on his porch. :happy:

I was actually thinking of a nice little kitty and a contract promising no further further fatalities for a period of seven years.



*random terminations from facebook updates while driving, and stray shot from clay pidgeon practice notwithstanding...... :blink:

It's funny how we can't really take anything for granted, nor know what could happen tomorrow. Life tends to throw these things at you. Thank goodness you and yours weren't there at the time, and insurance will cover the damages. :)

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Originally Posted by anon

It's funny how we can't really take anything for granted, nor know what could happen tomorrow. Life tends to throw these things at you. Thank goodness you and yours weren't there at the time, and insurance will cover the damages. :)

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True dat. Usually, when I think of homelessness, I don't expect the wife and kids to be coming with me. :no:


@Art: Maybe I should just send a card...

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Glad to hear everyone was ok, I saw this video the other day and it made me take a look at where I keep my batteries.

http://videos.komando.com/watch/4910...rted-this-fire

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Originally Posted by Moonroom

Glad to hear everyone was ok, I saw this video the other day and it made me take a look at where I keep my batteries.

http://videos.komando.com/watch/4910...rted-this-fire

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To be honest, most people change batteries when the old ones have died, and the chance that a battery or two will short is so remote, you are more likely have a lottery win. Actually, you are more likely to have a fire from an acid leak than from a battery short.

Anyway, MBM, did you leave two PP9 batteries next to your spa, shorted? I doubt it.

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Originally Posted by TheFoX

Anyway, MBM, did you leave two PP9 batteries next to your spa, shorted?

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:sneaky:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEVn1tOObnk

It's times like these when one can count his blessings. No one made me watch this:

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So I feel some all-wise entity is looking out for my best interests.

Insurance has come through without much difficulty. The spa store owner has obvious financial troubles, and has been a thorn in the side. Go figure.

You can see from the new deck boards how much damage was caused. The tub itself is quite an upgrade from the one it replaced. Cool stuffs like bluetooth, wifi, and aps to play music and control the spa from wherever without going outside. :w00t:

Ironically, something like this is WAAAAY outside of our current children-raising frugality. Kinda nice to get something back from insurance after all these years of no claims whatsoever. :01:

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The spa seems to have come with two small children. I am assuming illegal immigrants. So far, we are getting more work out of them* than the meager meals we are feeding them, so we have yet to report them. :sly:

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*Believe it or not, Nike has NO problem with child labor. :happy:
If perspective seems off, it is because we rotated the tub 180 degrees before filling it. In retrospect, we probably should have taken the kids out before adding the 42 degree F water. Live and learn. :idunno:

Nice Hot Tub.Nice Backdrop.Nice kids.Nice Deck.As much as we are internet friends,abandon me and get off the computer,fag.

I'm sure its a requirement to keep the kids inside when filling up

Looks like we could be neighbors, but if I recall you're up yonder WAy?

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Originally Posted by Skiz

Looks like we could be neighbors, but if I recall you're up yonder WAy?

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Eastern yonder, to be precise.

Such a fancy humidor to keep my future goods at optimal temperature and humidity.

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Originally Posted by mjmacky

Such a fancy humidor to keep my future goods at optimal temperature and humidity.

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Unfortunately, it will make them harder to get lit.

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Originally Posted by megabyteme

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mjmacky

Such a fancy humidor to keep my future goods at optimal temperature and humidity.

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Unfortunately, it will make them harder to get lit.

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Start 'em on wine coolers, then graduate them to vodka.

As long as it doesn't diminish productivity. Idol needs his shoes.