Fire in the House!

And that is exactly what happened this morning.

Every morning, I boil a kettle of water for my French press coffee, and go take a quick shower or something in the meantime. Today, instead of turning on the burner on which my teakettle rested, I accidentally turned on the burner with plastic dishes on top.

Thank God for fire alarms. 

I rushed out of the bathroom, and Adam jumped out of bed, to find angry, thick, black smoke swirling overhead. We ran into the kitchen to find a huge fire a-blazing on the stove! 

Things from here on are blurry. I remember Adam heroically confronting the fire... by blowing on it. I was a little more concerned about the neighbors forming a mob as the fire alarm pierced the air at nine in the morning, so I grabbed a fan and got it out of the box at superhuman speed. Amazing what adrenaline will do for you!

I also remember Adam dropping to the floor and crawling on all fours over to the front door to open it. Me, being much more practical, took three large leaps to the door and yanked it open, watching a huge puff of smoke billow out. I ran out, hacking and coughing. 

There were several neighbors standing outside, just watching. And then I suddenly hoped I had tied up my bathrobe securely when I threw it on.

After all was said and done, I am now short one cookie sheet, a Pyrex dish, both my spatulas, and a 1/4-cup measuring cup-- the cause of the fire. I hope to have some pictures for you someday.

I had to go to work in an hour, so I jumped in the shower. The ash had migrated into the bathroom. Dear Lord...

AND... I didn't ever get to have my coffee. Talk about adding insult to injury!

I wouldn't mind if this was all that happened. Unfortunately, those of you who have observed plastic burning have also probably noticed the stringy ash it produces. Every single inch of my house is now covered in the stuff. Luckily, the one exception was the bedroom, so I have a nice, soot-free place to go tonight. However, I spent that entire day cleaning the kitchen alone. The soot got into the cupboards, so I've been washing many dishes. 

AND I've been washing them all by hand. Because evidently the only thing that works on this ash is Liquid dish soap!

AND I accidentally broke the French press while I was cleaning. This was clearly NOT my day! Either that, or God is going to great lengths to break me of my coffee habit.

So now, I will always look twice before turning on a burner!