On Fire?

We had quite a scare yesterday morning. It was about 11 am and Jim I headed out to run a few quick errands. The kids stayed home to enjoy a quiet morning. They were both in their rooms when we left. And the attack dogs were on duty.

We were gone a total of about 30 minutes and were heading back from returning Drew's tux when Jim got a call on his cell from our alarm company.

Our alarm is centrally monitored so if the burglar or smoke alarm goes off, they call the police or fire departments and then call us.

The monitoring people said that the fire alarm had gone off and the fire department had been dispatched!

We were about 3 miles from home when we got the call. I am normally a totally calm person who does not easily get alarmed....but in this case, I drove 65 mph home and passed the fire truck!

While I was driving, Jim was calling the neighbors. After a couple calls he found one at home and sent him over to check things out. Butch, the neighbor, ran across the street with his phone and handed it to Drew. Drew reported that the alarm was going off and he could not disarm it but they did not smell any smoke.

We got home and Jim ran in while I met the kids outside. What upset me the most was how upset Gracie was. She thought she was home alone because Drew was sound asleep with my Bose noise cancelling headphones on and did not hear the alarm! So she answered the phone call from the security company, told them she was home alone and did not smell any smoke. And then she got the dogs out back and waited with them. She did all the right things! But it was super scary for her.

Finally Drew woke up and did another check for smoke and tried to turn off the alarm.

The fire truck pulled up shortly after us and came in to do a check of the house. One of the firemen was really good to Grace and praised her for doing the right thing.

I learned three things from this:

1. If we ever leave the kids home alone, we will be clear to tell them, "we are leaving and you both are home together". This way Grace will know that Drew is home.

2. I always said I would save my dogs first. But when push came to shove, they never crossed my mind! Sad for them but I was happy that my mom instincts are solid!

3. The taxes we pay to allow us to have a fire department are worth every penny and the money I pay to have my alarm monitored is completely worthwhile....even if there was no fire!

The alarm went off again a few more times during the day, including during the super bowl party! Our alarm guy is going to come and take a look but it is likely that the smoke detectors need to be changed. Apparently after 8 to 10 years the normal dust in a house can cause them to not work well.