A House Fire on Christmas Day

A house fire is a home owner's worst nightmare. There's no argument there. A house fire can occur due to many causes such as candles, cigarette smoking, kids playing with matches, electrical, or cooking. The most common cause for a house fire is fireplaces and chimneys. This type of house fire occurs an average of 25,100 times each year in the United States according to the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA). Our friends had this type of house fire on Christmas Day.

Chrismas morning was a cold zero degrees and lightly snowing. It was nice that we were having a White Christmas this year. It was cold outside but we were nice and warm inside as we ate our breakfast. By noon the temperature had risen to a chilly 17 degrees, the snow had stopped and there was no wind. It was a perfect Christmas Day weather-wise.

Little did we know that good friends of ours, were in the midst of a house fire. The first alarm went out shortly after lunch. An hour later a second alarm went out, and shortly after that, the third alarm was called. This house fire was a stubborn one and because it was so cold, the firefighters were having problems fighting it.

A few days later, I spoke to one of my neighbors who is a volunteer firefighter and who fought this house fire on Christmas Day. He said he was there for 6 ½ hours and there were about 25 other firefighters. It was so cold that the hoses kept freezing and so did the gloves on the firefighters. The house fire started in the chimney and had apparently been smoldering for several days before it exploded.

Chimney fires occur mainly during the winter months as we huddle in front of the fireplace to get warm and cozy. We may not be aware that a chimney fire has started or is about to start. Sometimes chimney fires will smolder for several days in several places before it begins to consume the house. The holidays, especially in December, are when most house fires occur due to chimney fires.

Our friends were lucky that their house fire began during the daylight hours and not at night. They were able to get out along with the family dog, so no one was injured. Asphyxiation is the leading cause of fire deaths, and this exceeds deaths caused by burns by a three-to-one ratio. Asphyxiation is so high because house fires produce poisonous gases that make you disoriented and drowsy (FEMA). That's why most house fires that occur at night while people are sleeping is deadly. If you don't have a working smoke alarm in your house, chances are you may fall into a deeper sleep from the poisonous gases and not wake up. Then you become a statistic.

The fire inspector concluded that this house fire started due to a leak in the cap on the chimney that eventually rotted the flue. The owners never knew there was a leak as the water would fall into the flue and not into the house creating their worst nightmare.