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| But it can burn the crap out of one's ankles. |
First and foremost, I want to thank everyone for their kind words and concern. I think part of helping me through all the feelings was sharing it on social media. Crazy right? What an odd world to live in.
I decided this was a story worth telling. Let's go all the way back to yesterday at 2:00 PM* four hours before fire time.
The boys and I were running errands to Home Depot. Currently, we are remodeling the kitchen and needed to purchase a few things. One of these things was a new set of fire detectors. It turns out that right next to the detectors are fire extinguishers for the house. Truth time: I have never had a fire extinguisher in my house before. I am sure there is a law out there I was breaking, and I have a cousin who would be mortified to know this. However, I thought it was kinda overkill. I mean, c'mon! When is the last time I had a fire in my kitchen?! I have only ever lived in electrical homes. I thought fires only happened if your kitchen was gas. For some reason, I thought, "I am about to have a new kitchen. I don't want it to burn down!" The problem was that there are more options than I thought there would be for fire extinguishers.
The solution was to message my AWESOME brother-in-law because he is a firefighter. He asked me a question or two. It turns out all of these pictured are fine. I decided to go with the red ones because fire extinguishers should be red right? Besides they came in a two pack.
4:50 PM, 1 hour and 10 minutes before fire time, I took the boys to Tae Kwon Do. On Tuesdays, they go for two classes 5-7 PM, and Chris picks them up on his way home.
5:00 PM, 1 hour before fire time, I took a nap.
Shortly before 6 PM, I wandered to the grill to turn it on and get it ready to start dinner. I have done this enough times before. I opened the tank, and then ignited the grill. This time it seemed to take a bit for the flames to get going. I thought that was odd, but then they slowly appeared starting from the left side of the grill. By the time the right one was supposed to come on, it made a moderate poof and slightly more moderate flame burst forth. This is what initially singed my hairline. I blamed myself and checked to make sure I didn't have any of the knobs up too high. That was clearly what the problem had to be.
Because I'm a vane creature, I thought I would pop into the bathroom and see how bad the hair damage was while the grill warmed up. That's when it happened.
- It was no where near that cool!
- Being that close to an explosion, even the small one from a propane tank is TERRIFYING.
- All those ladies would not be that calm once they smelled the back of their hair frying to a crisp. That is something you don't forget, and they are definitely close enough to those huge flames for one of their heads to ignite.
Initially, I screamed and dropped my phone. I remember just saying "Oh my God! Oh my God!" over and over as I turned around and saw flames on top of the propane tank. I knew I had to turn the grill off but couldn't get close enough. At this point, I still was unaware of just how hard the blast had hit me. I DID remember the fire extinguishers purchased only hours before. I ran and grabbed one.
I put the flames out and turned off the grill. Then I stepped back to take a breath. A little proud of myself that I had kept pretty cool during the whole thing (pun intended), I went back inside the house to call the hubs. I just wanted to let him know what happened and why dinner would not be ready when he got home.
I know you are probably wondering why calling my husband and not the fire department was the first thing on my mind. Well, I had put the fire out. I thought I was fine. I had yet to feel the biting sting from the burns on my ankles/heels or see my skirt burnt up. Unfortunately, once the adrenaline goes and the event actually hits you, it hits you pretty hard. The moment Chris answered the phone I completely lost it. I was crying so hard. You know the kind where you snot and heave and blubber. He couldn't understand me at all. The more I tried to talk to him, the more I realized I should have called 911. What if I didn't turn everything off properly? What if there was another explosion on the way? Panic started to set in pretty well at that point.
After hanging up with my hubs, I did call 911. Of course, I didn't want to waste resources or anyone's time, so I prefaced it with "I'm not sure this is an emergency but..." That poor operator. She was so patient trying to understand me. She said she thought it was a good idea to send someone out even though the fire was no more. I'm glad she did. The firefighters made sure the tank was completely off and said it looked like my lines had a leak which caused the explosion. They took a quick look at my ankles/heels and decided I was right. It was just like a really bad sunburn. I would be fine. I got a reassuring hug and thanked them.
I get just how blessed I was. I prayed so many thanks to God because it could have been a lot worse. My kids could have been outside playing when it happened if they'd been home. The first poof could have burned my face. The main explosion could have knocked me out, and it would have been a while before anyone found me. My burns could have been deeper and scarier. The outside patio could have caught fire. So many things!
Once I had collected myself and thanked God, I needed to find a way to tell this story. Many of you saw the pic and sent your well wishes. It does make me feel better😊.
Things I am taking away from this:
- Always check your tank and lines if you have a gas grill.
- Keep more than one fire extinguisher handy around your house.
- If you have a mini-explosion (poof), shut it all off!
- Call 911 first even if you think you got it under control.
I'm sure I will muster up the courage to grill again someday. For now, I will stick to the microwave until our kitchen is finished.
*I thought it was the morning, but after checking my phone messages it turns out it was the afternoon.
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