Good Morning my Beauties.
I figured this would be the best way to update you guys
for those who follow on my Facebook page on what has happened since the
whole Electrical fire incident.
First off let me say we are "SAFE" and that is all that matters.
For those who don't know the story I will sum it up for you.
After a long day of working on painting the house and every other thing we have going on
here this summer (you can read that post HERE)
We had finally sat down for the night.
We had taken the kids out for a break for us and for them and had been home maybe a few hours.
We were all getting settled; the twins were in bed, the girls were winding down one upstairs and one down, and Russ and I were on the couch.
FINALLY....we were sitting..:)
All of the sudden Russ asked "whats that noise"
The TV was making a horrific noise, and I thought maybe it was something at the station
and they were having technical difficulties.
But then everything started to POP. The two light bulbs in the living room blew up.
The TV was still making that noise so we quick turned it off...but it continued to make popping sounds.
We ran into the kitchen and the outlets were all making what we call AUGER noises.
Like someone was turning on a gas auger in our house.
All the kids came running from where they were yelling that their lights, their bulbs,
their outlets were all screaming.
Maddie came running up from the basement and yelled that one of the rooms down stairs had smoke
coming out of it.
Russ quick ran downstairs while I grabbed the phone.
Now let me just say this...THE kids were smarter than us.
They were adamant we get out of the house.
Us being adults were over thinking and thinking we will "figure this out"
Luckily Russ saw that a TV was smoking in that back room and quick grabbed the plug and pulled it from the screaming socket.
I THEN called 911
The dispatcher calmly asked what was happening and I told her..
She said "GET OUT OF YOUR HOUSE"
The kids were already outside.
I will tell you, my foot was barely on the threshold of my front porch before I could hear
the whole battalion of firefights sirens SCREAMING
flying to my house.
It was at that moment when I realized NOTHING ELSE MATTERS.
I always had imagined if we ever had a fire if I would have been one of THOSE people that tries
to run back in to get STUFF.
But I didn't...There were no flames shooting out of the house
But the only things I cared about were crying on my front lawn.
I prayed in my head thanking that whatever happened
my family was safe.
Moments later about 30 firefighters were gearing up and moving into my home.
Halligans ready (pick axes)
My heart waited...I kept expecting FLAMES to start shooting out the top of my roof.
about 15 minutes later they came back out.
They had NOT had to destroy anything.
SO far so good.
They then went to the garage.
The main breaker to the house is in there.
They went to shut down all the electricity.
NOPE...The power surge that had happened had fried the main power.
So we had to wait...and wait...and wait..
The firefighters would NOT be going back in.
When they had been inside, they said the house was still making the same noises and
our circuit breaker in the basement was popping and crackling.
They would not risk their safety till the power company came and cut the main line.
at Midnight he got there and cut the line.
It had been a ground neutral in their line that had frayed and touched the two other wires
sending massive amounts of electricity to our home.
This....was our meter box. TORCHED....all our circuit boxes TORCHED...
NO power but also NO flames in the house.
Luckily, the power was shut off before it started to burn.
The scariest thing was the fire chief telling us.
Had we been sleeping...
Had we been GONE....
Our house would have burned.
Russ pulling the plug, stalled the fire.
We had just got back from vacation....
we had just got home that night from taking the kids out.
WE WERE SO LUCKY!
Thank GOD we were safe!
Thank GOD we were safe!
Everyone kept asking how I was doing (and by everyone, I mean our ENTIRE neighborhood block)
It was like a street party. But then no one was gonna be sleeping with 6 fire trucks lights flashing and screaming sirens.
But I was fine...I really was....I was kind of NUMB and it was surreal, but I was actually strangely
calm and fine.
The kids were safely now at grandma and grandpas and Russ and I were just WAITING..
waiting for the firefighters....waiting for the power company...just waiting..
When he finally cut the power the firefighters went through to make sure the house was safe.
We could go back in...
The whole house smelled like burnt plastic.
at 2am the power company told us he couldn't hook us back up cause it was fried.
We would need to call an electrician in the morning.
I honestly barely remember going to sleep that night..
We both slept here in the living room.
We were safe and we were exhausted.
But we wanted to be here so that first thing in the morning we could make the calls.
We called an electrician and he was out in mere hours...
He and his Boss worked tirelessly in the Heat and Humidity
to get us hooked up with all new Electrical...
They did it in a DAY...seriously...I was in disbelief.
So if you ever need and electrician.
KOOLE Electric is your people.
I am overwhelmed with how amazing they were.
Just a local small business guy, younger than us.
Bustin his tail to get us back to normal.
They got us hooked back up and the power company came back and put in a new meter and
got us up and running so we could see what fried.
Believe or not SURGE protectors really DO work..
I always wondered...
the TV that was POPPING...still works...
our Stove and Refrigerator... still work..
OUR BOSCH dishwasher...RESUMED washing when the power went back on...LOL
It had been running when the Electrical power surge happened.
I am FOREVER sold on Bosch.
The microwave however...Bit the dust as well as the Keurig coffee maker..
The hot water heater transformer blew..but the electricians came the next morning and fixed it.
(I told you they were awesome)
There were many other small electronics and air conditioning units that didn't make it
but we are seriously considering ourselves so LUCKY..
We have our Life, we have our Home.. We can still sit in our home
and be a family.
So that is where we stand so far....
Blessed, Lucky, Thankful and so much more.
I just wanted to write it all down, so that I can thank you all
so much for your care and support.
Again and Again, life teaches me the genuine goodness of people.
So many people have reached out and offered so many things.
I won't name names of some blog business buddies
but you know who you are.
Thank you so much for your generous offers.
I am thankful that I didn't have to take you up on it.
So there you go.
So far...So Good!
Now you guys go out and make someones day BEAUTIFUL
mine already is!
Until next time.
Karin
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