Thank God for firemen and cell phones!

Glad no serious damage was done. One of my friends just lost their entire house to an electical fire, some things can never be replaced.

Thanks for the reminder and glad to hear it wasn’t any worse.

-- Glenn, New Mexico

Phew!

-- Eric at http://adventuresinwoodworking.com

I am very glad this was a near miss, and not a tragedy. You are thanking the right one in your title.

-- Maplewood, MN

Indeed! I’m glad you weren’t hurt and that you didn’t actually have a fire. I hope the electrician gets all of the outlets and switches as well as any junction boxes (including ceiling lights) tightened up. I hope he thinks to check the wires at the other end as well.

FWIW, if you’ve got power cords that don’t have molded plugs on them, it is a good idea to check them. All you have to do is shake them. If they rattle, take them apart and tighten the screws.

-- Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?

yikes…. scary stuff.
Glad you are ok.. now—take care of all those kinks you just gave your body!!

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

I don’t like aluminum wiring. It may not need to be replaced but most home owners don’t take the steps needed to make it safe when re-wiring. And since many contractors are not at the top of their field it is something to keep an eye on.

My Dad is (was – he is to old now) a Fireman and he always told us, if you see a potential fire, call the fire department first then go try to put it out. I am glad your safe. Do you keep fire extinguishers around the house?

-- "so much to learn and so little time"..

Thanks all. I’ve had a sleepless night. I’ll be anxious for the electrician to come this morning. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve checked that outlet tonight – despite knowing the breaker is off.

Dave – Thankfully I don’t use many extension cords and the few I have are less than 2 years old. I’ve been wanting to replace my light fixtures and ceiling fans (they are original to the house and more than ugly), this may be my excuse to do so.

Snow – yes I keep extinguishers around. My Dad and brothers were all volunteer firefighters – so that was pretty much ingrained in me from a young age.

Your Dad’s advise is the same as my Dad’s—- if there is any doubt – err on the side of caution and call the fire department. In addition, you are doing your neighbors a disservice if you do not call at the slightest chance of a fire. Since we live so close to one another, a fire in my home can quickly become a fire in my neighbor’s home.

All in all a scary moment that I’m glad turned out OK.

Thanks for all your good thoughts.

-- Betsy - GO BUCKS!

Phew! Glad to hear you’re OK, Betsy… stuff like that can create a lot of “unknowns” and doubt in your mind about your house. Just remember, there are a lot of people here with lots of experience… ask them if you have questions about what the electrician is wanting to do and you don’t think he’s giving you the correct answer.

I’m glad all is well, good luck today.

-- As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)

Whew . . . a wee bit of a close call. As the son of an electrician I have seen a few sparks in my day . . . some I caused myself. Glad to hear you are ok.

-- The significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them

Awfully glad to hear you and your home are safe!
It is indeed a scary thing to find yourself in need and at the hands of others. Sounds like YOUR quick reaction and actions are at least partly responsible for being safe. All too often people hesitate or “wait and see”. By the time there’s NO doubt help is needed, things have obviously progressed. Sometimes its too late~
This also applies to medical emergencies. I could tell you story after story but won’t (no thanks needed lol)
Sounds like they used a thermal imaging camera. It is much like the “flir” that we see on police video shows.
AWESOME technology. It is very expensive. Units may cost as much as $20,000. Some less, and they are coming down in price. Not every department can afford this technology. Sad but just how it is.
Thermal Imaging can show a hot spot in wiring within the wall, or an overheated ballast in the light in the ceiling. We can use it to find people in thick smoke where visibility is nonexistent. Truly a coming technology that can saves many lives and untold of dollars in prevented damage.
You are right, there is nothing inherently wrong with aluminum wiring. It may need a little maintenance as far as tightening connections like at outlets. I defer to electricians for details there.
BTW – fire prevention week is coming in October. People think its a kid’s thing. We get to target children in schools because of the masses. But fire safety is for everyone.
Test your smoke detectors.
Change the batteries in your smoke detectors when you change the time on your clocks.
Learn how to use a fire extinguisher BEFORE you need it.
Go with your instinct. If you think there is a problem, THERE IS. Its your home and your life. Don’t gamble with either. Call 911. Have good directions written down by the phone. You know how to get to your house. You have to give good directions to the pizza guy or he won’t come. What about 911? Is your house number visible and easy to see?
Yep. I can go on and on….
Glad you’re safe Betsy. Be safe all!

-- CaptnA - "When someone hurts you, write it in the sand so the winds of forgiveness will scatter the memory... "

Thanks for all the thoughts folks. Needless to say, I’ve been sleeping most of the day since I spent most of the night checking that outlet even though I knew the power was off.

CaptnA—- you are right in all your comments. I woke up this afternoon thinking about those smoke detectors. Since I can’t get on a ladder, I’m going to ask a friend to come over to change my batteries. No since waiting, since I’m thinking about it.

This kind of excitement I can do without!

-- Betsy - GO BUCKS!

High five that everyone’s OK!

-- - Real men read directions

Glad to hear all is OK

I for one have been to all to many of those type of fires and can’t stress enough like “CaptnA” smoke and CO detectors and have them checked.
What most people don’t know is that you should replace them about every ten years. They get dusty internally and become less effective.

I don’t care much for aluminum wiring but, if it’s connected correctly it’s OK.
NEVER worry about calling the fire dept. We are always happier to see a left intact rather than in rubble.

And to Snowdog: We’re never to old. Maybe broken and slower but never to old.

-- Bob K. East Northport, NY

Betsy,

Good to know you are safe and everything is under control. Hope you didn’t hurt your neck scrambling out of bed!

Lew

Thanks guys. The electrician has been here. It turns out the the wiring was still tight so it was not arcing. Instead the outlet itself had just worn out.

I have to admit that I am glad that the firemen and the electrician turned on the power and plugged in the cord and had the same effect I did. I’m not sure they believed me when I told them what happened and they did not see any burn marks on the outlet or the wiring.

The electrician is quite certain the rest of my system is OK and that I do not need to replace the cord that was involved in this incident. However, I think I will still replace that cord. It’s not that expensive and the peace of mind is worth it to me.

Bob – I’ve never had a CO detector. Aren’t those for houses with gas furnaces?

Lew – as to my neck. I did hurt it a little bit I think. But I’m pretty sure it’s just muscular from the quick movements. I have reverted back to my original dosage on the muscle relaxants and that seems to be helping. If it does not feel better by Monday, I’ll go back to the doctor to be sure. But I really think it was the “scare” and “stress” factors that just tightened me up.

Thanks all for your concern.

-- Betsy - GO BUCKS!

There is a tube of compound that is available at HD and Lowes. It is used to put on the wires when you have aluminum and the switches which are for copper wire. It’s a dielectric conductive grease. It stops corrosion at the contact point.

It is also useful to put on the bulb threads before you screw the bulb into your ceiling fixtures.

We’ve all had the condition where the bulb breaks off when you try to unscrew it.

Perdue (the chicken people) are requesting that all of their chicken growers go to the compact fluorescent bulbs and they are recommending this compound on the threads of the bulbs. The bulbs are a lot more fragile and they don’t want broken glass on the floors of the chicken houses.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

Thanks Karson. That’s probably a good idea. I’ve had bulbs get stuck. The stubs are hard to get out.

I wonder if the Perdue people’s motivation is not just the broken glass but the chance of having mercury on the floor. That’s the pessimist in me coming out.

-- Betsy - GO BUCKS!

Co detectors are used for detecting carbon monoxide. That can be from gas and oil even kerosene fired heat sources as well as auto exhaust. Like if you have a room over or attached to a garage. For general info to all.

-- Bob K. East Northport, NY

So since I have an all electric house, yet my garage is attached – I should have a CO detector? I’m assuming it should be mounted just inside the house????

Thanks Bob?

-- Betsy - GO BUCKS!

Yea, CO detector would be good near the garage. Something that most people don’t know is that CO detectors are supposed to be mounted low about 12-18 inches above the floor.

-- Adrian ..... The 11th Commandment...."Thou Shalt Not Buy A Wobble Dado"

So glad you are OK, Betsy! My master bedroom shares a common wall with my garage. The CO detector is a good idea.

-- North Texas

Lucky for you everything is OK Betsy. You did the right thing calling on the expert.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

I’m glad to hear that alls well now.

We had a chimney fire once that got out of control, but with the quick response of our firemen,

they saved our house just in time.

A person feels helpless when that happens.

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

Glad you’re O.K.
That’s two this week for lumberjocks.
We are a tad smarter than the average homeowners so we are usually dilligent.
I wonder what happens to the average Joe that has no interest in these technical glitches.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Yes, It’s still good to have near the garage. lazyfiremanin is correct. Crazy things happen so, for a few of bucks it’s worth it.

-- Bob K. East Northport, NY

I have to say Betsy that you are right, we should thank every fireman that we see.

We had an issue with our smoke alarms going off a little while back very early one morning. my wife and I checked the house up and down and found nothing (saw nothing and smelled nothing). we tried to go back to bed, but the alarms went off again and again. My wife finally called the fire department and explained what was happening. The person on the phone said they would send someone over. My wife asked that they just come in a regular car as her mother lives next door and we didn’t want her panicing at the sight of a fire truck.

Well the firemen showed up a few minutes later and of course they had one of their huge trucks with them and all the lights on!

My wife met them at the porch door and said “I thought you were going to come over in a pickup truck”!
the reply she got was
“We decided to bring the company car”!

the guys were great, they checked each floor for us and came to the conclusion that the smoke alarm in the basement somehow got clogged with dust… I’m still trying to figure out how that could have happened! So to add to Betsy’s electrical outlet warning, I’ll remind everyone to clean out your smoke alrams from time to time.

And for all our LumberJock firemen, I say Thank You!

-- ~ www.darrylmasterson.com ~ www.woodworkingdungeon.blogspot.com ~

I am glad you are okay!!!

-- Davesfunwoodworking

Betsy, I’m glad you are okay too.

Hurray for Firemen and EMTs! I’m glad you ladies and gentlemen had your calling to serve everyone with your dedication to a dangerous and sometimes thankless profession.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Thanks guys. It sure was a scary experience—- but thankfully it turned out OK. I’m going to have someone pick me up a CO detector and get it installed.

-- Betsy - GO BUCKS!