The first fire of the season....

Don't let the title fool ya, it's not exactly what you think. We've had our pellet stove blazing non stop since we returned from Vegas on the 28th. It's definitely winter here, as it's colder than a well digger's ass. It's currently 21 degrees, and the overnight low is supposed to be 7. That alone is enough to make you want to pull out the thermals! But even before this past week when the weather changed and it got THIS cold, we still had it somewhat fired up. Luckily we changed out our wood burning stove for a pellet stove this past February. The pellet stove burns cleaner and is more efficient, and it saves Ruben from having to chop wood and haul it into the house. The pellet stove runs off a thermostat, we just throw a bag or two of pellets in every other day or so and we're good to go. It's easy to clean and maintain, just open it up and vacuum. Since the clean-out for the piping is inside, it saves you from going out and climbing on top of the two story roof, which is definitely more to say than the wood stove. The clean-out for the wood stove was outside, and we hardly had enough brush links to reach to the top, nor did we have a ladder tall enough to get on top of the roof. That wood stove always scared the crap out of me. There were times the living room would fill up with black smoke. Little did we know that the chimney cap was clogged. As I said, no ladder to get on top of the roof. Coming from Vegas we didn't know the importance of maintaining a fireplace, of sweeping the chimney and inspecting it. We're lucky we didn't die in our sleep from carbon monoxide!

Well on Thursday I think one of our neighbors learned the importance of it all, and a very valuable lesson they will never forget. I was driving home from dropping Natalie off at school, and as I near the Marina & Park where I turn to get to our house, I see the road is blocked to go any further. As I looked over toward where our mailbox is, I saw a huge fire that about 4 trucks were working on putting out. It's my guess that the fire started as a result of not maintaining the chimney as the season kind of snuck up on us this year. It was a damn shame too, the house on fire was a beautiful one too. My only hope is that everyone, including any animals, got out safely.
I have the same irrational fear everyday when I leave my house, that I am going to come home and find it on fire and poor Lexie would be stuck inside. That's why every day when I take Natalie to school, I turn the pellet stove off. Sure by doing that the house cools off some, but if it gets too cold the heat will kick on....and I don't have to worry as much about the heat catching the house on fire. I hope the family that resides there has found a place to stay, and didn't lose it all in the fire, and for all of us around it, I hope we all learned an unforgettable lesson! Please take the time to get your chimney sweeped and inspected, or you could wind up like this.........