Crisis Thinking

It was the middle of the night when I was jostled out of a deep sleep. (I was a teen, then, living at home). The smell of something burning reawakened my senses to a reality that was simply not right. What was that toxic odor? The odor was not a familiar one. It was 2:00 a.m. No one should have been 'cooking', at that hour, anyway. Of that I was certain. 

The acrid smell was more terrifying than I could have imagined as I opened my upstairs bedroom door to be greeted by an dense cloud of smoke on the other side. I ran downstairs to see what was happening. Was my family o.k.? As I approached the living room, the offending 'fire pit' was on its way outside, having been dislodged from its location, in the living room, by my very tall, younger brother. A monumental tragedy had been averted. The upholstered sofa continued its smoldering journey outside. No one was hurt yet no one had thought to call the fire department. A lighted cigarette had fallen onto the sofa where it had burned a hole, deep inside and began to gather uncontrollable energy for its unleashing. My dad had fallen asleep after having worked the night shift for the railroad. What could have happened, did not.  His own attempts at putting out the smoldering fire had failed. Inside the soft underbelly of the sofa, the fire raged until my younger brother's quick thinking brought it all to a close, outside. 

It was decades later when fire came calling again. This time I was a big girl, a wife, pet owner, mother of 3 and a home owner with a EPA fireplace needing its ashes removed. (I had done this for years and knew the drill by heart.) We had been heating our house for 20 years using firewood. It was vastly cheaper then heating with electricity. The cost savings were monumental. Living better electrically as the saying goes had no meaning in the 21^st century. The chimney always received its yearly, seasonal cleaning and monitoring, for signs of wear, tear and parts replacement, as required. The company we used were pros and safety was their mantra. On this particular Saturday, and later than normal, I collected the 'cold' ashes from the fireplace, but spilled them during transport, to the outside bin. With dustpan in-hand, I began the cleanup. With a slight film of ash still remaining on the mat outside the door to the garage, I began to vacuum the tiny particles of fine debris that lay deep inside the mat. Within seconds, dense smoke filled the room where the vacuum had been plugged. A live particle of ash had ignited a fire deep within the vacuum cleaner, resulting in smoke enveloping the adjacent room. Would the rest of the house be next? I unplugged the vacuum quickly and tossed it outdoors. (All animals were safe, outside.) The smoke was confined to the one room, with all windows and doors opened for fresh air. The smoke alarms went off, doing due diligence, as they were expected to do. Though the alarm company called, the fire department was not needed. The 'volunteer' rural fire car arrived anyway. People do panic in circumstances such as this, I knew. These professionals simply wanted to check. I was always so careful but not careful enough that morning. Quick thinking had averted a worst case scenario. 

On the same day, miles away, on a well travelled secondary road, our youngest son was dealing with his own crisis. While driving home from an appointment, he'd heard a rattling sound coming from inside/outside the car. Not much on taking chances, he spoke with his oldest brother, by phone, relaying his concerns about the unusual noise emanating from within the metal structure of the Volvo wagon. He pulled over to the side to examine the car, front to back, but saw nothing. He walked around again, just to be sure. Still nothing. Keeping to the side streets, as his brother had suggested, where speed limits were lower, our son continued on his way. It would be safer that way until our mechanic could solve the mystery. As he approached the intersection, the 'volcano erupted' from the front of the car, sending the front driver's wheel, with its accompanying nuts and bolts, cascading up into the air like a well-rehearsed ballet of falling debris. The action movie came to a halt, moments later, as all four lanes of traffic stopped to watch the catastrophic event unfolding before them. What could they do? It ended as quickly as it had begun, a bizarre roadside event. The car was driven to the curbside, a few feet way, where the shock of what had just happened was immediately on public view: a three wheel mangled machine, with no one hurt.  Traffic resumed and life returned to the intersection, once again.

At the body shop, later that day, we saw the entangled, peeled back remains of the driver's front end, a reminder of a tin of sardines that had been peeled back, most of the way. People could have died that day. ... A simple mistake in basic tire service, at a well respected garage, had caused the near disastrous event that could have taken lives. Adhering to a strict code of 'preparation' at home and on the road, while taking nothing for granted, aids in optimizing positive outcomes during emergencies, large and small. ... Being emotional never helps. ... Thinking quickly and rationally always does.

Coming soon: The ozone layer,  fluorocarbons, sunscreens and 'villainous' fat!