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Thursday, December 21, 2006

Peanut Butter Flambe

You know the old saying "always wear clean underwear because you never know when you might be in an accident?" I would like to add the following line to it: "Always have a clean house because you never know when the fire department will come traipsing through it."

I tossed a bunch of onions and garlic into chicken broth as part of a homemade soup I was making for dinner tonight. The next step was to let the soup boil before adding the rest of the ingredients. Just as I was about to turn the burner on, I heard my two boys calling out from their naps upstairs. My younger son (YS) sounded pretty upset. Seeing as I had 9 cups of chicken broth and a cup of frozen onions in the pot, I figured it would take a while to start boiling, so I had time to run upstairs and bring the boys downstairs. However, both YS and my older son (OS) needed diaper changes.

After wrestling with boys, diapers, and wipes, I headed back down the stairs. I thought I smelled something burning. OS took this opportunity to start horsing around with the dog on the stairs, so that I practically had to leap over him. Sure enough, our living room was quickly filling with smoke which eventually spread throughout our whole house. A quick glance at our ceramic top stove showed that a peanut butter jar that I had left on the stove was on fire as well as the paper from the can of chicken broth. I turned off the stove and yelled at OS and the dog to get out in the backyard while pulling YS's highchair out to the deck and putting him in it. After grabbing my fire extinguisher and aiming it at the fire, I learned that it had apparently had expired. (Based on my experience, I recommend checking periodically so you can find out before you actually need it.) Fortunately the fire had pretty much died out, so pouring cups of water on it did the trick.

I called the non-emergency number of the fire department to ask them if there was anything I should do to get rid of the smoke beyond opening up the windows and doors. Turns out they have giant fans that they use to rid homes of smoke. They showed up a few minutes later and began sucking the smoke out the house with the giant fans. The fire that I thought was out actually wasn't. Although the plastic was no longer on fire, the peanut butter underneath still was.

So here's the part I didn't mention. Today happened to be the one day that my house happened to be an absolutely complete disaster - the type of mess that you would be humiliated for the rest of your life if anyone you ever knew showed up. There were presents, wrapping paper, holiday cards, left out toys, laundry that needed to put away, etc. everywhere when the fireman arrived. Yes, I'm grateful that the fire was so minor and no one was hurt, and the biggest damage was the $2.39 I paid for the basically brand-new jar of peanut butter. At the same time, though I'm still totally embarrassed because
  1. Who puts things on their stove top, particularly while cooking?
  2. My house was a mess.
However, if my house had been clean, then I would have never left the peanut butter out in the first place. Apparently fires caused by leaving random items on the stove aren't unusual. Using my previous logic, my fellow stove-burners probably also have messy houses which cause them to leave the stuff on the stove in the first place, so therefore I should not be the only one with a completely messy house, right? At least that's what I like to tell myself. And after all, my house isn't due to be that messy again for at least another decade.

A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: Even if a kitchen fire has been put out, call the non-emergency number of the fire department to check-in with them.

Labels: , ,

posted by Alex Elliot @ 10:17 PM   5 comments
5 Comments:

  • At 12/22/2006 10:11 AM, Blogger Linus said…

    Since I know that it ended well and no one was hurt - I have to laugh :)

    Don't worry though. A messy house is mandatory this time of year - until I have to clean it up hours before having people over for Christmas eve ;)

     

  • At 12/22/2006 5:09 PM, Blogger ru said…

    all in all, i would have to say kudos on everything you did! the actual starting of the fire aside, it sounds to me like you could definitely pass emergency management training!

     

  • At 12/22/2006 9:08 PM, Anonymous Naomi (Urban Mummy) said…

    Messes at this time of year are to be expected, I think.

    Noted, though, as I didn't even know the fire department HAD a non-emergency number. ALthough it makes sense!

     

  • At 12/25/2006 11:26 PM, Anonymous dr. p said…

    glad the fire is out and no injuries or major damage occurred! my house is a mess too and i don't even have kids. you have a good excuse. happy holidays!

     

  • At 12/26/2006 12:59 PM, Blogger Suzanne said…

    Most important, I am glad that everything is OK. Second, many people leave things on the stove while they cook. This is how Brother in Law melted many platic lids during thanksgiving, although Husband told him 100 times to get them off the stove. Cooking is distracting. Third, I keep habing people over for dinner and forgetting that I meant to vaccum the floor 4 weeks ago. The dust bunnies are as big as Tycho. So don't worry.

     
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Name:Alex Elliot
Home:MA, United States
About Me:Professional Mom of two cats, a dog, an ant farm, and oh yeah...two boys: a 6 year old and a 3 year old. Also found in my house is my husband who is known on this blog as The Big Giraffe.
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