2006 New Years Resolution

Well, we tried to start 2006 out with a bang, ur, more like a burn...here are pictures of the damage that was caused New Year's night in our living room from a 3 wick candle that was burning in front of the fire place. The wax got very hot, melted through the outer edge of the candle & caught the basket that the candle was in on fire (The candle was resting on a thick glass plate inside the basket). The Christmas stockings were almost a complete loss as the flames reached to the mantle (we saved 2 of the 7). Miraculously there was a basket of firestarters 12 inches from the fire that were not ignited. Stan & I had fallen asleep on the couch (about 1 foot from the fire) in the 4th quarter of the Cowboy game. I have no idea what woke me up, but when I came to, the fire completely filled the front of the fireplace & thick dark smoke had already filled the room. Stan sustained burns to his fingertips as he moved the basket outside, Sean saved the day by getting the fire extinguisher in a hurry. By the way, I didn't know how to operate it, Sean had to show me. We think it was nothing short of a miracle that we did not sustain more damage & that Stan didn't get more seriously burned. The smoke detector in the hall did not sound until Stan had already moved the basket outside.

You can see from the pictures how close the couch was to the fire, and there are shattered pieces of glass from the candle dish fused into the carpet.

2006 REMINDER:

• replace batteries in smoke detector
• Buy fire extinguishers for each room in the house
  (1 extinguisher was not enough to subdue this fire)
• Make sure everyone in the family knows how to operate the fire extinguisher
• Have a family discussion on Fire/Disaster Scenarios
  

When our daughter got home from the movies, she asked why we didn't call 911. We didn't even have time to call. By the way, the family has unanimously banned me from burning any more candles in the house. All candles in our home will now be located inside the fireplace (who needs a fireplace in Texas anyway). In case of power outage (which we experience at least once a year), the candles will be lit inside the fireplace!