One experience that me and my family would have rather been without this Christmas was waking up to find the living room of the cabin on fire. It was 3 AM the day after Christmas, and 3-4 hours after we had all gone to sleep, that I woke up to the sound of my Mother yelling desperately. It was my first instinct that she may have somehow injured herself, so I quickly rushed up to see what was going on and how I could help.
Instead, I quickly felt the harsh smell of something burned, and as I got down the stairs to the cabin's living room entered a field of smog so thick one could hardly see. Coughing, I located my parents, who had already done wonder to put out most of the fire by throwing thick carpets over the burning corner table and sofa. (The fire had started in a table in the corner of the room, and spread to half of the sofa next to it.
Realizing that there was still something burning in the sofa's interiors, we quickly decided that we ought to get everything closeby outside into the snow. So with the cabin having a decent ly sized door in the living room, my dad and I quickly opened it and grabbed onto whatever parts of the sofa looked safe and moved it outside. The table and the items close to it - including a Bose stereo center and base which also seemed totalled - was more challenging to move without getting burned. But we were so determined to get anything that seemed likely to still be a cause for further reignition outside that we got it all out as well without catching too many burns.
Only then did everything seem and feel safe. I still spent the next hour or so coughing up and sneezing out ashes and smog. It was quite scary and uncomfortable to see just how much crap I had inhaled, and how visible it was in the form of pitch black spit as if I had been eating nothing but licorice. After all, most people sustain injuries and death from what they inhale, not from getting burned. So I was quite obsessed with getting everything that I could out of the system.
So there we were, at 4 AM with the cabin smelling like a bonfire and ashes in every corner of the living room covering most if not all of the Christmas decoration. Too pumped by the whole event to go to bed, we spent most of the remainder of the night cleaning up and trying to restore a more habitable condition. Amazingly, there were hardly any damages aside from the furnitures that caught fire and the decoration, pillows, speakers etc that had been close by. The cabin itself was in Meat perfect shape with no markings on the wall and only some minor damages to the floor.
But of course most important : all 4 of us + dog were okey. Just shocked.
The most annoying thing perhaps is that we still don't know what caused it all to begin with. We always have a strict routine of checking that all lights and candles are turned off and blown out before going to bed. And we are also cautious about how we place different decorations and candles in order to minimize the risk of fires. Of course, errors can still be made. Perhaps there was a Christmas - themed candle on the table that we overlooked which burned down and into the table while we were asleep? We really don't know. It was also a bit worrisome that the smoke detectors only went on a few minutes after we had already woken up and come to action. It is hard to tell how much worse it would have been had we been 3-5 minutes later.
Anyways as I said, we're now just happy that it all turned out as well as it did. However, it was a powerful remimder of how little it takes to cause significant damage and danger. So I hope you all take good care of yourself,are mindful of what Christmas decoration you use and where you place them, as well as make sure to take a tour around the house before going to bed to see to that every candle is sufficiently blown out. I know I will be even more mindful even though I'm positive that I've been both careful and had good routines already. But seeing how it can still go bad only makes one more humble.
Damn!!! That’s some crazy stuff!! Glad to hear everyone acted quickly and everyone is safe. Would be nice to know exactly what caused the fire… could leave you feeling a bit worried to go to sleep. Again happy to hear everyone is OK
Thanks! We learned now what caused it, did another short post explaining it and some thoughts here https://peakd.com/blog/@fredrikaa/christmas-fire-cause-identified-short-circuits-are-no-joke
Glad to hear a near catastrophe / tragedy was avoided.
Wishing better for 2022!
Stay safe.
Thanks, in the end it turned out as well as one could have hoped for. But did ruin some of the plans for the next days.
Really scary and stressful and it would bother me not to know how it started too.
so happy you are all fine. Whew.
Thanks! We learned now what caused it, did another short post explaining it and some thoughts here https://peakd.com/blog/@fredrikaa/christmas-fire-cause-identified-short-circuits-are-no-joke
Maybe a proper check of all the electricals in the room might help you find the cause. It is good that you are all safe, a fire in a wood cabin is a disaster.
It turned out to be something electric, as I explained in my latest post below. What I found interesting was that it wasn't connected to the electricity socket. Only standing on the table...
https://peakd.com/blog/@fredrikaa/christmas-fire-cause-identified-short-circuits-are-no-joke
I am glad you have found the issue
Thankful that the situation was addressed before it got out of hand!
Same! I don't want to know what it would be like had we waited 5 more minutes.
Damn that's scary, glad you're all okay.
Shit.. I did not know it was that bad... I am glad ur okay my friend, and that you knew that the smoke are more dangerous than the fire in the start of that horrible evet.
Thank God everyone was ok and ur Christmas was spent well.. tnx for the advice and information on safety...
That’s a terrifying experience 😳
So glad you’re safe dude.
I was going to ask, but you addressed it later on the post, about smoke alarms and what might have happened if you were a few minutes later than when you woke up.
Madness at the alarms isn’t even go off until you were up!
holy moly.
You can be happy nothing dramatic happens!
I am glad that this incident has not happened to adults and all the members of your family are well and yes that is good advice to be very attentive to the Christmas decorations and especially to the candles, but again only minor damages and each of your relatives be well. Greetings and happy evening
Sad to hear that. But glad you all of you (and dogs) are ok:) Br. Janusface
Dodged a bullet there, glad you guys are all ok!
Damned! How a bod way to end this year. Anyways, glad to read that anyone is safe! That's the most important and the rest is only material (and can thus be replaced).
So good you are okay! Smoke is no joke, it's a scary experience!
So sorry thank God for life