So we just called the fire department....

[smhbbag]

and now we feel a little stupid.

There was a strong burning smell in our place, but with no smoke or flames. The alarm didn't go off. Even though I was convinced it was nothing major, the smell was intolerable. I decided to be cautious and not have our house burned down because an idiot like me was convinced everything was fine.

The firemen opened our door, and before taking a step inside said, "Yep,I smell it. Yall use the dishwasher tonight?" We confirmed. He opened it up, and pulled melted plastic tupperware out of a crevice in the bottom of it.

He tipped his hat, told us it happens all the time, and left. I felt like a class-A schmuck. My brother-in-law is a long-time fireman, and he had a good laugh at my expense, even though he said we did the right thing.

Is there a dunce-cap smiley?

 

[Presbyterian Deacon]

Better safe than singed.

 

[nicnap]

Well praise the Lord that it wasn't an actual fire.

 

[Southern Presbyterian]

Better safe than singed.

 

[Grymir]

Good to hear happy ending!!

 

[Marrow Man]

That'll teach ya to turn off the heated dry in order to save energy!!!

 

[Tim]

You did the right thing. Don't feel stupid.

 

[Matthias]

and now we feel a little stupid.

There was a strong burning smell in our place, but with no smoke or flames. The alarm didn't go off. Even though I was convinced it was nothing major, the smell was intolerable. I decided to be cautious and not have our house burned down because an idiot like me was convinced everything was fine.

The firemen opened our door, and before taking a step inside said, "Yep,I smell it. Yall use the dishwasher tonight?" We confirmed. He opened it up, and pulled melted plastic tupperware out of a crevice in the bottom of it.

He tipped his hat, told us it happens all the time, and left. I felt like a class-A schmuck. My brother-in-law is a long-time fireman, and he had a good laugh at my expense, even though he said we did the right thing.

Is there a dunce-cap smiley?

There is humor in this, but you still did the right thing. Fires can start in some real out of the way places (Inside walls, attics, crawlspaces, etc)

 

[Mushroom]

Don't feel bad, Jeremy. We once called the FD because 'smoke' was billowing out of a cellar window. The 'smoke' was steam, coming from a defective electric water heater pressure relief valve. You'da thunk we could tell that the smoke had no odor, and that it mysteriously disappeared into 'thin air' a few feet from the window, but when you're worried about a house burning down, you have to do the safest thing, and that's call the FD. That's what they're there for.

 

[Mindaboo]

Don't feel bad, Jeremy. We once called the FD because 'smoke' was billowing out of a cellar window. The 'smoke' was steam, coming from a defective electric water heater pressure relief valve. You'da thunk we could tell that the smoke had no odor, and that it mysteriously disappeared into 'thin air' a few feet from the window, but when you're worried about a house burning down, you have to do the safest thing, and that's call the FD. That's what they're there for.

We didn't laugh about it at the time, I felt rather foolish. To top it off we had three or four trucks in our driveway and our Elder just happened to be driving by and pulled in as well. Brad wasn't home, so I was at home with four frantic kids, two were babies and the fireman is trying to talk to me, the Elder is trying to make sure we were okay, my kids are freaking out about all of the toys they need to save, and the babies were a little upset. I handed my children to my Elder, and went and handled the talk with the firemen who were there. My Elder thought it was quite funny, but I was a frazzled mess.

Don't feel so bad, we have been there and done that. I had to call my cell phone company and explain flushing my phone down the toilet. The woman laughed for the first five minutes of our conversation, and everyone around me is still laughing about that. It was me, not the kids that actually flushed it. I have lots more stories I could tell, so if you are ever feeling like a fool, I am sure I could make you feel a lot better.

 

[turmeric]

Then there was the time I called the vet...
Cat 1 loved to have me toss a plastic cockroach and she'd fetch it; Cat 2 got jealous and tried to eat said plastic bug. She ate half of it, I found the other half! I called a vet, his assistant laughed, the vet laughed and recommended that I give Cat 2 some canned food, and wait and see how things came out, so to speak! Both cats survived.

 

[APuritansMind]

It's better to be safe. I would have done the same thing.

 

[jwithnell]

I've been around fire suppression most of life, and I can guarantee you the fire folks would much rather take a call when nothing is wrong than a call where someone has lost everything.

On a similar note, my family and I were at a cabin last weekend. Just before we went to bed the second night, we discovered that someone had removed the batteries from the smoke detectors -- this in a place where heating and most cooking is done by wood stove. The manager had more on hand. We were ready to leave if need be; there's no way I'd have my babies sleeping somewhere without smoke detectors in place.