Mini Fridge | House Fire warning.

Cowpokey

Cowpokey

MSgt, USAF Ret
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Minuteman
    • May 1, 2020
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    25,915
    Bel Air, MD
    #1
    We had a small house fire this morning (6:30am), mini cosmetic fridge caught on fire, fire went up the wall, and broke a water pipe in the ceiling, which kept the fire under control. I was already on my way to work.

    Had 3 fire trucks full of crew, plus a fire inspector and fire chief. Must have been 20 of them. We have everything we need...hopefully it won't take too long to restore the house, initial thoughts from the slew of contractors that swarmed on the site like ambulance chasers, said they will have to replace all the carpet, paint all the walls, clean all of the appliances/electronics, dryclean all the clothes/drapes/textiles, blah blah blah...it's a mess, but we'll be fine. Not to mention fixing the actual fire damage. I was a little nervous when they started pulling hose, and filled them up...they drug them in the house, but didn't use them.

    Dudes, when your daughter calls, and says, "Dad, can you come home? We have a fire." shit gets real.

    Probably would have been a total loss if the pipe didn't break in the ceiling...shack would have gone up like a tinder box. As soon as the ammo stash started cooking off, they would have just let it burn.

    Family is all safe, got all the pets out...staying in a hotel for a bit, will have to wait and see how long it takes to be livable again, fire damage pretty much contained to a couple rooms in the basement, but the rest of the house if covered in soot. The toilet lid in the master bedroom, furthest from the actual fire was damn near black...it's supposed to be white.

    Long story short, if your wife/girlfriend/daughter(s) have one of these little cheap fuckers, I'd suggest getting rid of it.
    firebox.jpg
     
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    #3
    Not fun, glad it wasn't worse. Hope it works out as best as possible.

    I had one in the middle of the night, going on 19 years ago now though it still seems more recent. Lots of long term effects from it, some good, some bad. (saying PTSD sounds melodramatic but that's what it is)

    Funny part was the fireman and police trying to get me out of the house and I kept telling them "yeah I'm coming, just have to do something..." (while moving large amounts of powder and primers from the adjoining room)

    Last winter I came home from hunting only to open the door and get hit in the face with a stinking, rotten meat smelling house. My extremely old GE refrigerator had finally given up the ghost. :(
    Moving it, I found the kitchen floor blackened from extreme heat and was horrified realizing how close I'd come to another fire. Now when I go away I unplug all sorts of things. If I didn't need the outside lights I'd throw the damn main breaker.
     
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    #7
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    #8
    good thing no one was hurt, everything else can be replaced or fixed

    IMO pretty much anything that plugs in to an AC outlet has the potential to start a fire

    I was in my office working away and poof, my work computer power supply blew and caught on fire
    lol lucky I was there using it when it happened and I unplugged it very quickly from the wall and put the flames out. The whole floor smelled like burnt plastic.

    When I was about 16 my parents house caught on fire. The garbage disposal had a short, poof it caught fire, we kept the kitchen trash can in the cabinet under the sink, next to the disposal, trash caught fire. I tried to put it out with a fire extinguisher we had, but I didn't turn the electricity off, so the flame kept regenerating on me

    After I drained the extinguisher, I called 911 from a cordless phone standing in my front yard
    Firetruck came
    The fire got so hot under the sink that it melted the connections on the water line to the sink and the fire put itself out
    Fireman earlier had asked me where the fuse box to the house was, that was the first thing they did, they turned all power off.
    The entire house needed to be cleaned because of the smoke damage and water damage
    All clothes and furniture cleaned or replaced, same with carpet.
    The entire kitchen was a total loss, the fridge melted due to the heat, cabinets were burnt

    It was a mess, easy 3 months to clean it up and rebuild, ServPro did the clean up and smoke/water damage remediation
    Insurance literally reimbursed every meal for us (family of 4) until the kitchen was operational again. Just had to hand over receipts

    Its going to be a pain, stay on top of anyone and everyone doing work for you, track receipts, we ended up with a bunch of upgrades in the end, better fridge etc with what insurance paid out.
     
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    #12
    I had a small fire myself this month - not the damage you had fortunately. OsterToaster oven had electrical fire while in use (ironically food being cooked was still OK), fortunately between super alert dog barking and shorting out my kitchen was able to get on top of it before damage done. Read all package inserts, but even with that, you never know.

    Glad your family and pets are safe.
     
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    #13
    As I read more and more of these house fire stories I have come to the conclusion that we have become extremely lazy and naive about our electrical devices. Most (if not all) of the stories I read could have been prevented if people would have just kept an eye on the device and not leave it unattended. Myself and family are guilty as well especially leaving our LiPo batteries unattended while charging. Thank God smoke detectors have gotten much better and accurate.
     
    #14
    MarshallDodge said:
    Glad to hear that everyone is okay. Fire is my biggest fear.
    Click to expand...

    My very first memory of my life is watching my neighbors house burn down from the curb. Still can remember the exact pajamas I was wearing.

    A famous Clint Smithism: When at a Handgun class at ThunderRanch Clint asks how many people keep a gun by their bed, most raised their hand. His next question was "How many of you keep a fire extinguisher by your bed?" Those repeating the class raised their hand - because you are statistically more likely to die in a house fire than by a home intruder.
     
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    #15
    Cowpokey said:
    We had a small house fire this morning (6:30am), mini cosmetic fridge caught on fire, fire went up the wall, and broke a water pipe in the ceiling, which kept the fire under control. I was already on my way to work.

    Had 3 fire trucks full of crew, plus a fire inspector and fire chief. Must have been 20 of them. We have everything we need...hopefully it won't take too long to restore the house, initial thoughts from the slew of contractors that swarmed on the site like ambulance chasers, said they will have to replace all the carpet, paint all the walls, clean all of the appliances/electronics, dryclean all the clothes/drapes/textiles, blah blah blah...it's a mess, but we'll be fine. Not to mention fixing the actual fire damage. I was a little nervous when they started pulling hose, and filled them up...they drug them in the house, but didn't use them.

    Dudes, when your daughter calls, and says, "Dad, can you come home? We have a fire." shit gets real.

    Probably would have been a total loss if the pipe didn't break in the ceiling...shack would have gone up like a tinder box. As soon as the ammo stash started cooking off, they would have just let it burn.

    Family is all safe, got all the pets out...staying in a hotel for a bit, will have to wait and see how long it takes to be livable again, fire damage pretty much contained to a couple rooms in the basement, but the rest of the house if covered in soot. The toilet lid in the master bedroom, furthest from the actual fire was damn near black...it's supposed to be white.

    Long story short, if your wife/girlfriend/daughter(s) have one of these little cheap fuckers, I'd suggest getting rid of it.
    View attachment 8063307
    Click to expand...
    Best wishes, MSgt. In time you will be able to laugh about this...or at least not cry!

    Good luck
     
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    #16
    The Oklahoma town I live in has a burnt out house on nearly every block. Asked a fireman about it and he told me it was vagrants breaking into empty homes and building a fire to cook or stay warm and....surprise.
     
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    #17
    Redmanss said:
    I didn't even know make-up fridges were a thing. Glad it didn't take everything, and most importantly that everyone is safe.

    I do know one thing though, I'd be getting a lawyer on retainer pronto and document, document, and document.
    Click to expand...
    My daughter has one. ( My wife is WAY less maintenance) The house has arc fault/ GFCI breakers on every load. That should help for early detection on an issue.
     
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    #18
    Maser said:
    As I read more and more of these house fire stories I have come to the conclusion that we have become extremely lazy and naive about our electrical devices. Most (if not all) of the stories I read could have been prevented if people would have just kept an eye on the device and not leave it unattended. Myself and family are guilty as well especially leaving our LiPo batteries unattended while charging. Thank God smoke detectors have gotten much better and accurate.
    Click to expand...
    It wasn't unattended, it was in the room my wife spends most of her time in, and sleeps in. When it happened, she was in the kitchen on the main level.
     
    #19
    Maser said:
    As I read more and more of these house fire stories I have come to the conclusion that we have become extremely lazy and naive about our electrical devices. Most (if not all) of the stories I read could have been prevented if people would have just kept an eye on the device and not leave it unattended. Myself and family are guilty as well especially leaving our LiPo batteries unattended while charging. Thank God smoke detectors have gotten much better and accurate.
    Click to expand...
    We have RC cars, lipo batteries are not to be taken lightly. We use charge safe boxes with them, one of the guys at work had a DeWalt 20v battery light off in the garage. He got lucky and caught it, was able to drag it out on the charger by the cord
     
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    #21
    missed said:
    My daughter has one. ( My wife is WAY less maintenance) The house has arc fault/ GFCI breakers on every load. That should help for early detection on an issue.
    Click to expand...
    I talked with one of my fishing buddies about those arc fault outlets. He's an electrician that wires new build. He said they became "code" in 2008, our house was built in 2000. He also said they are a pain in the ass to install, and will trip with a loud fart.

    Bird was still in the house when smoke was billowing out, Cowdaughter2 asked me if she could go get her bird, I told her to ask one of the firemen….as soon as he said no, she bolted back in the house. I get dust in the eyes just thinking about it. 🥺 Brave kid...or foolish, she loves her critters.
     
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    #23
    Cowpokey said:
    We had a small house fire this morning (6:30am), mini cosmetic fridge caught on fire, fire went up the wall, and broke a water pipe in the ceiling, which kept the fire under control. I was already on my way to work.

    Had 3 fire trucks full of crew, plus a fire inspector and fire chief. Must have been 20 of them. We have everything we need...hopefully it won't take too long to restore the house, initial thoughts from the slew of contractors that swarmed on the site like ambulance chasers, said they will have to replace all the carpet, paint all the walls, clean all of the appliances/electronics, dryclean all the clothes/drapes/textiles, blah blah blah...it's a mess, but we'll be fine. Not to mention fixing the actual fire damage. I was a little nervous when they started pulling hose, and filled them up...they drug them in the house, but didn't use them.

    Dudes, when your daughter calls, and says, "Dad, can you come home? We have a fire." shit gets real.

    Probably would have been a total loss if the pipe didn't break in the ceiling...shack would have gone up like a tinder box. As soon as the ammo stash started cooking off, they would have just let it burn.

    Family is all safe, got all the pets out...staying in a hotel for a bit, will have to wait and see how long it takes to be livable again, fire damage pretty much contained to a couple rooms in the basement, but the rest of the house if covered in soot. The toilet lid in the master bedroom, furthest from the actual fire was damn near black...it's supposed to be white.

    Long story short, if your wife/girlfriend/daughter(s) have one of these little cheap fuckers, I'd suggest getting rid of it.
    View attachment 8063307
    Click to expand...

    You do realize God's hand with the melted PVC pipe don't you?
     
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    #25
    Maser said:
    As I read more and more of these house fire stories I have come to the conclusion that we have become extremely lazy and naive about our electrical devices. Most (if not all) of the stories I read could have been prevented if people would have just kept an eye on the device and not leave it unattended. Myself and family are guilty as well especially leaving our LiPo batteries unattended while charging. Thank God smoke detectors have gotten much better and accurate.
    Click to expand...
    Thats perhaps part of it but I think another part is many of the older houses have wiring that was suitable for the time but as we started adding heavy duty appliances, water heaters, large ovens, heat pumps with electric back up. the old wiring just isnt up to the job. Most older (pre 1940?) had what is calle dpost and tube wiring, bear, or marginally insulated wire wrapped around ceramic insulators and running through tubes in the joists and walls. Mouse chews the insulation, gets electrocuted, layson the wire until he starts a fire.

    1675219642856.png
     
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    #29
    missed said:
    What brand was it?
    Click to expand...
    Sorry for not putting that "directly" out there, a link is in the original post. I don't want to be involved with the name/manufacturer in this matter, let the insurance and lawyer folks take care of that...we'll worry about other stuff in this subject when they have time to go over it.
     
    #30
    Cowpokey said:
    Sorry for not putting that "directly" out there, a link is in the original post. I don't want to be involved with the name/manufacturer in this matter, let the insurance and lawyer folks take care of that...we'll worry about other stuff in this subject when they have time to go over it.
    Click to expand...
    Thanks ! I did not see the link till I came back on the PC. Looks like my daughters is different than that one. Many of these small refrigerators are Peltier type cooling where it is a metal assembly that will get cool on one side and reject the heat on the other. So you have a heater on the outside of the cooler, shit designs, a little bit of packing material, ect, up in flames it goes. Good luck with getting it all squared away!
     
    #31
    "Large Loss" guy from USAA flew in from Boston today to do structural assessment, had the two contractors that are going to do the tear down and rebuild/restore out at the same time. Most likely going to take the basement down to the studs, tear the 2 year old HVAC unit out and replace. On the main floor and second floor at a minimum all carpet will be replaced and walls painted, but they are going to open up the walls in certain places and see if there's smoke residue in the insulation...if there is, they will take those floors down to the studs and rebuild also. We'll probably be in the hotel for a couple weeks while all of the assessments and stuff are done, given what they said today it's "going to take a few months", so we'll be moved into a rental house with a yard for the mongrels. Time will tell.
     
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    #32
    Cowpokey said:
    "Large Loss" guy from USAA flew in from Boston today to do structural assessment, had the two contractors that are going to do the tear down and rebuild/restore out at the same time. Most likely going to take the basement down to the studs, tear the 2 year old HVAC unit out and replace. On the main floor and second floor at a minimum all carpet will be replaced and walls painted, but they are going to open up the walls in certain places and see if there's smoke residue in the insulation...if there is, they will take those floors down to the studs and rebuild also. We'll probably be in the hotel for a couple weeks while all of the assessments and stuff are done, given what they said today it's "going to take a few months", so we'll be moved into a rental house with a yard for the mongrels. Time will tell.
    Click to expand...
    Sounds like it might be cheaper for them to just total it and start you over.
     
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    #34
    Cowpokey said:
    "Large Loss" guy from USAA flew in from Boston today to do structural assessment, had the two contractors that are going to do the tear down and rebuild/restore out at the same time. Most likely going to take the basement down to the studs, tear the 2 year old HVAC unit out and replace. On the main floor and second floor at a minimum all carpet will be replaced and walls painted, but they are going to open up the walls in certain places and see if there's smoke residue in the insulation...if there is, they will take those floors down to the studs and rebuild also. We'll probably be in the hotel for a couple weeks while all of the assessments and stuff are done, given what they said today it's "going to take a few months", so we'll be moved into a rental house with a yard for the mongrels. Time will tell.
    Click to expand...
    You are being taken care of, after-the-fact. That's awesome. You have been BLESSED, big-time all through this.
     
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    #37
    Jesus, glad you and yours are alright. A fire is my biggest fear as well. I found the story about Clint funny. I do keep a fire extinguisher in my closet next to the bed but still, reloading room is right on the other side of the wall.
     
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    #41
    Video Cowdaughter2 put on instagram, don't remember if I included this before, and I'm not in the mood to go back though this thread and see. BTW, Miller High Life (cans not bottles) were all saved temporarily...will have to restock tomorrow.

     
    #45
    Cowpokey said:
    Video Cowdaughter2 put on instagram, don't remember if I included this before, and I'm not in the mood to go back though this thread and see. BTW, Miller High Life (cans not bottles) were all saved temporarily...will have to restock tomorrow.

    Click to expand...

    NO pics of the daughter? It didnt happen. ;)
     
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    #46
    Man, I’m glad y’all are ok. I feel for you, I have a buddy whose garage caught on fire and filled his house with smoke. Fire department got it put out before it spread, and USAA took care of him, but they had to live in a hotel for a while. Also every “soft” or upholstered item in their house was trash because you can never get the smoke smell out.

    FWIW, I’d never heard of a cosmetics refrigerator before, but my wife has. I told her to keep it off her Amazon list. 😬
     
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    #47
    J. W. said:
    Also every “soft” or upholstered item in their house was trash because you can never get the smoke smell out.
    Click to expand...
    Yeah, fortunate or unfortunate, I'm guessing the majority of the furniture will have to be replaced...probably a lot of the appliances also. The range/oven is less than a year old, microwave above it just over a year old...oh well. If they decide those get replaced, we'll get a gas stove, because fuck joe xiden.
     
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    #49
    Maggot said:
    Thats perhaps part of it but I think another part is many of the older houses have wiring that was suitable for the time but as we started adding heavy duty appliances, water heaters, large ovens, heat pumps with electric back up. the old wiring just isnt up to the job. Most older (pre 1940?) had what is calle dpost and tube wiring, bear, or marginally insulated wire wrapped around ceramic insulators and running through tubes in the joists and walls. Mouse chews the insulation, gets electrocuted, layson the wire until he starts a fire.

    View attachment 8063493
    Click to expand...
    That is "knob and tube" or "KT" wiring.
    Much more common that you might think.
    What's worse is the plaster walls in your pic (also known as "daub and wattle").
    Those wooden slats get dry and ignite from the wiring....all of a sudden fire inside the wall.
     
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