At the end of our block on Avenue Prud'Homme is the Notre-Dame-de-Grace Fire Department. One day a few weeks ago, Ang told me that Rachel and Taylor wanted to bake some cookies to bring to the fire department to thank the firemen. I asked if the fire department had done something specifically for the Lacey's since they had been in Montreal, but that wasn't the case... they just wanted to thank the firemen for all that they do to keep the community safe. Unfortunately, since that conversation no one has had an opportunity to bake some cookies for them, but we might need to put that task a bit higher on the priority list now.
This morning, as I was talking to a (very good looking) fireman in full uniform in our kitchen, it occurred to me that he and the rest of the crew that had been dispatched to our apartment building at about 10:00 am were probably from the station just down the street. Well... now we have a very good reason to bake them some cookies to thank them for all that they do in this community.
Now that I have you wondering what on earth happened that involved a good looking fireman standing in my kitchen in full uniform (including a huge axe), I'll tell you the story...
This morning, Ang was baking some yorkshire pudding to be a part of our lunch after church today and accidentally started an oil fire in our oven. The fire was contained in the oven and was fairly quickly put out with flour, but there was so much smoke that it set off the smoke detector in our apartment and then the fire alarm for the whole building!
So, I called the fire department and a crew came out to make sure that everything was okay, that the fire hadn't moved from the oven into the walls, and to turn off the building's fire alarm. Of course, by this time, there were people standing in the alley between our building and the next building, on the street, and on their balconies wondering what was going on.
So, that explains why I was standing in my kitchen this morning talking to a fireman. I think the captain (who only spoke French) told the fireman who was in our apartment (who could speak English) to stay with us until the flour in the oven had stopped sizzling and then until the fire alarm was off, which took almost half an hour.
What a way to start a morning! Now that I look back on the situation, I think that I should have called the fire department sooner than I did, but why didn't I? I'm honestly not quite sure.... perhaps I didn't think that the fire was as bad as it actually was or could have been? When the firemen first arrived and made sure that the fire was out and that it hadn't moved into the walls, I think that it scared me to watch the captain checking the temperature of the walls around the oven with a heat sensor. Maybe that is when I realized just how bad the fire could have been!
And if you've never seen an oil fire before, it is scary. Flour does put it out, but in the meantime, it almost dances around to taunt you. If you throw flour at it in one spot, it will flare up again in another spot, and the tiniest bit of oxygen will cause it to revive itself in an instant. It was probably big enough that I should have called the fire department sooner, but I have no idea why I didn't... Hopefully there will never be a next time, but if there is, I hope that I will remember what I have been taught a lot quicker than I did this morning.
Maybe this is just me, but isn't it ironic how some of the things that we've been taught to do in an emergency seem to allude us at the very moment that we need to remember them? During the biggest earthquake that I can remember Victoria experiencing in the years that I lived there, neither me nor the person that I was with could remember what to do during an earthquake! Not helpful...
Anyways, I won't try and understand how our minds function (or don't function) during emergencies, but that was the slightly traumatic beginning of my day... I am now significantly more appreciative of what firemen do to keep our communities safe and definitely think that they deserve to be thanked more often. I do believe that a batch of cookies (not cooked in our oven until it has been thoroughly cleaned) is in order. And perhaps a batch for the people who live in our building who were probably quite alarmed by the events of the morning.
Ahhh, good times, good times... I did have to laugh once Ang and I had finally made it to the Lacey's for church, about 45 minutes late. Only in a church plant would a church service/meeting ever be delayed because someone had a fire in their oven that morning! Mind you, Ang and I were the only people who were able to make it today, but it was still a humourous thought.
On a totally different note, the 5 1/2 week saga has finally ended and I am very pleased to say that I now have high speed internet access from the comfort of my home. Ahhh, I can leave the slow world of dial up - hallelujah! And now I can work on updating my online photo albums, which I'll do as soon as possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment