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Posted by Connie Newbauer Dec 2, 2006 |
Winter hit with a vengeance yesterday in Southern Wisconsin. For the first time in years, steady winds of 35 miles per hour hit our city in a steady gust lasting 3 hours, qualifying this first storm for the moniker of blizzard. It seemed like a good idea to light the fireplace.
It seemed like an even better idea at the time to have my eldest son to help me light it. We are in a new home and I wanted to make sure I did everything just right.
We opened the flue; made sure the fireplace was neat and tidy and double-checked to make sure nothing around the fireplace could accidentally catch fire.
Joseph leaned down to turn the gas on. I attempted to find a good place to light it without being too close to the fire - I'm a big scaredy cat! After several attempts - poof!
The fireplace lit in a tall leap of flames and my hair - normally sitting neatly on the top of my head - was swinging free and on fire! It only lasted for a second, but it was a very scary second!
The longest lasting proof of my brush with disaster was the awful aroma that floated around the house, seemingly forever! There aren't too many things I would rather do without my children, but perhaps I've found one in all of my years of parenting!
Even though we've uncovered one small danger when lighting a fireplace through thorough investigative reporting, I've decided to dig a little deeper. Check out fireplace safety tips from the Michigan State University on Monday!