try this one on for size..... (kitchen bursts into flames)

[PassPort]

So earlier this evening, or last night rather we had a little mishap at the Cantrell household. About 9:30pm or so I heard the sound of glass shattering in the kitchen. My wife heard the same noise and also came to check out the action. We both figured one of the cats up to no good as usual.

Well there we stood, on opposite sides of the kitchen looking at the stove as golden liquid gushed onto the stove and burst into flames. Nicole called 911 in hysterics and I, like some sort of flying space ninja, swiftly fled to the front yard, only to return moments later with the garden hose turned on full sound. By the time the fire department got to our house I had the fire out and had managed to do my part in worsening our drought by turning my kitchen into a 3" deep wading pool. What was I supposed to do, evacuate like 911 said to? With over 100 geckos in the basement, I think not!

Apparently what had happened was an unopened handle of rum that was above our stove mysteriously exploded (high cooking temps maybe? the stove hadn't been on in hours though....) and ignited when it hit the pilots. To add insult to injury, after the fire was out I went to open the stove and the bloody thing electrocuted me! It was all a freak accident, but what can you do?

We've spent the last 4 hours cleaning up the flood. There was no actual property damage either! The only damage was a crispy hand towel and a half melted fan.

Well, that's enough action for one day.

 

[Kazska]

Wow :shock: what an ordeal! Glad you're ok and nothing much was damaged! and yes I think you did the right thing, I don't think I could just leave it if I knew my pets were inside only thing I'd would have worried was trying to put a liquid based fire out with water......... but at least it worked! Hope everythings ok now anyway and your little geckos are all well and good :biggrin:

xxxXXX

 

[Hilde]

On the serious side, I'm really glad you're okay, and it didn't get worse, that could have mushroomed into a real disaster.
Now for the comic relief comment - what a waste of rum. That'll learn ya not to drink it all

 

[Riverside Reptiles]

Wow, that's scary stuff! Glad to hear eveything ended up being ok though. That's quite a stroke of luck (both bad and good) to have in one night.

 

[PassPort]

everything's fine now. the water did more damage than the fire. I'm just glad we're all fine. the insurance guy is coming later today to inspect the damage...... we'll see what happens then.

 

[oli]

damn Kid that's crazy! I'd say it's awesome that you were home and took the situation into your own hands and saved the day! I'd be a little suspicious of those cats knocking the rum over, but crazier things have happened like the bottle just shattering And I fully agree with Hilde! Who does that? Who leaves a bottle of rum with rum in it?! I bet if it were Tequilla it would've been empty!

 

[PassPort]

I do love me some tequila.......

The bottle was in a cabinet, about 7 feet off the ground, and the temperature inside the cabinet even immediately after the fire was still in the 80's (the fire only burned for maybe 2 minutes tops, and was about 3 feet below the cabinet). So no clue how or why it broke. It actually exploded, since there was glass and rum all over the inside of the cabinet.

 

[PassPort]

The insurance adjuster came out today, they appraised the damage at over $4k, but since it's an old house "the damaged property was already depreciated" and they won't cover the carpet in the hall that was ruined, but they will cover the pad under the carpet (does that make sense to anyone?) so they're only going to cut us a check for $1,700........

Don't you just love insurance companies?

 

[cliff_f]

That is a crazy deal. Glad to hear everyone is ok.

That carpet deal dosnt make any sence at all. You can probably get the pad for free its the carpet that is going to cost you.

 

[PassPort]

so here's the worst part yet:
I went to check on my eggs that I cook a bit cooler, 68-74F, that I keep on a shelf under the staircase right outside the gecko room and found a horrible surprise. Some stray water had drained from the kitchen directly into my Sterilte bin I kept the deli cups in. They'd been sitting in about 3" of water, so the vermiculite was nice and boggy. I've dried the eggs off and I hope some will still hatch. Total damage (assuming none will hatch) is: 5 ciliatus, 2 sarasinorum and 4 agricolae (including eggs that were about 3 weeks from hatching and another pair that was laid on Sunday night). Luckily no water made it into the actual gecko room where all of the animals and the rest of the eggs are. Still a huge bummer about it all though.... too bad my insurance won't cover gecko eggs!