Sunday, November 11, 2007

Burning Down the House

Last night our fireplace flue malfunctioned, perhaps half an hour after we lit a roaring fire. I was sitting on the couch as SOB adjusted some logs, and all of a sudden I noticed smoke pouring into the room. At first I thought it was just me, but then I started feeling it in my throat. SOB looked at me and realized that he was peering through a haze. Since the fire wasn't going out any time soon if left to its own devices, he ran into the kitchen to get some water. It took several gallons, but he extinguished all of the flames. Meanwhile I started opening the windows. I got some fans from the basement to direct the smoke out of doors.

Now our house smells like someone had a wienie roast in my living room. Good times.

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3 comments:

super des said...

That happens in my house sometimes with the stove. C still doesn't trust my Super Smell Power, so it takes a while for him to notice.

Amy Jo said...

Boys. Don't they know women have a superior sense of smell?

Arizaphale said...

So exactly HOW does a flue malfunction?????? Bird's nest? Downdraught? I mean, it doesn't have overly many moving parts.....:-)
Don't ya hate that 'everything coated with soot' experience. At my 40th birthday we left some candles burning in the front room after everyone had gone. Deep in conversation at 3am, a friend and I looked at each other in alarm and belted through in time to see the candle decorations going up in a spectacular manner. Black marks up the wall. Soot everywhere and the wiener roast smell too. mmmmmm
Thank God we hadn't gone to bed!