We're safe and Chris was an absolute champ
Had a bit of an adrenaline jolt tonight.
Housemates have a few fairly large snakes, and have a setup for them in the basement section of their part of the house. Heating pads, sturdy enclosures, etc. The important things for keeping one's large snakes healthy and happy.
One of the heating pads caught fire tonight. Like, actual flames and scary smoke and shit. I only caught a glimpse of the flames, but it was enough to spook the shit out of me. They looked about a foot tall, which is probably a panicky brain overestimation, but even if they were half of that, HOLY SHIT FIRE INSIDE MY HOUSE.
We were in bed, and we heard Chris, Jay's son, shouting about fire, so Jay bolted out to see why, and then everything got hectic and I wound up standing at our front door with one slipper on and trying to tie my bathrobe shut, in the dark. As it was an electrical heating pad that lit up, when Jay sort of hung on not being able to pour water on an electrical fire, Chris thought very quickly and pulled the main breaker lever for the house, so the fire could be doused. He'd smelled the smoke and got up to see what it was from, and saw the flames and alerted everyone.
There you have it, Jay took pictures of the aftermath. You can also see Bogey in his house, with a Coke bottle full of hot tap water to keep him from getting cold.
Fire department showed up and made sure everything was safe again, and I shut myself up in the bedroom with the cats so the house could be aired out. Poor Finn's still freaked the fuck out. Arlo is a tiny bit more clingy, but I don't know if that's because he understood something bad was happening or because he can tell we're wired.
So proud of Chris, seriously. He stayed cool and figured out what to do, to best help the situation. He's got his problems, but he's never been a stupid kid, and he really got to shine and be a hero tonight. I hope his siblings understand that he really did save everyone's lives tonight. It could have been SO MUCH WORSE, but all that happened was a heating pad got burnt and we had to smell chemical smoke for a little while, and that's because of Chris.
In the morning, Alli and I are going to pick up my paycheque, and then to get a smoke detector for the snake room, in case something like this ever happens again. I might not sleep until then, I'm not sure. There may be an adrenaline crash in my near future, or I may stay up all night watching all of the Avengers characters save the world.
Also, I think Finn needs a bit of nip to wind him up and let him dump some stress.
Housemates have a few fairly large snakes, and have a setup for them in the basement section of their part of the house. Heating pads, sturdy enclosures, etc. The important things for keeping one's large snakes healthy and happy.
One of the heating pads caught fire tonight. Like, actual flames and scary smoke and shit. I only caught a glimpse of the flames, but it was enough to spook the shit out of me. They looked about a foot tall, which is probably a panicky brain overestimation, but even if they were half of that, HOLY SHIT FIRE INSIDE MY HOUSE.
We were in bed, and we heard Chris, Jay's son, shouting about fire, so Jay bolted out to see why, and then everything got hectic and I wound up standing at our front door with one slipper on and trying to tie my bathrobe shut, in the dark. As it was an electrical heating pad that lit up, when Jay sort of hung on not being able to pour water on an electrical fire, Chris thought very quickly and pulled the main breaker lever for the house, so the fire could be doused. He'd smelled the smoke and got up to see what it was from, and saw the flames and alerted everyone.
There you have it, Jay took pictures of the aftermath. You can also see Bogey in his house, with a Coke bottle full of hot tap water to keep him from getting cold.
Fire department showed up and made sure everything was safe again, and I shut myself up in the bedroom with the cats so the house could be aired out. Poor Finn's still freaked the fuck out. Arlo is a tiny bit more clingy, but I don't know if that's because he understood something bad was happening or because he can tell we're wired.
So proud of Chris, seriously. He stayed cool and figured out what to do, to best help the situation. He's got his problems, but he's never been a stupid kid, and he really got to shine and be a hero tonight. I hope his siblings understand that he really did save everyone's lives tonight. It could have been SO MUCH WORSE, but all that happened was a heating pad got burnt and we had to smell chemical smoke for a little while, and that's because of Chris.
In the morning, Alli and I are going to pick up my paycheque, and then to get a smoke detector for the snake room, in case something like this ever happens again. I might not sleep until then, I'm not sure. There may be an adrenaline crash in my near future, or I may stay up all night watching all of the Avengers characters save the world.
Also, I think Finn needs a bit of nip to wind him up and let him dump some stress.