I almost burnt my house down using a cotton bag to bake potatoes in the microwave. It is a special bag and has worked well in the past, but not so much today. I was seeing all kinds of smoke and couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Then I spotted it coming out of the vent in the microwave and when I spied in there I saw the bag was smoldering!
I turned off the fire on the stove top so it didn't get out of control while I was dealing with the hot potato. I turned the sink on, unplugged the microwave and got the fire extinguisher ready. Then I opened the microwave door and to my relief no flames shot out. The bag was burning more readily with a small flame forming. I used an oven mitt and put the bag and potato in the sink. Then to be extra safe I filled the sink up with water and soaked it all so the flame didn't come back to life.
Then I put the fire extinguisher back in it's spot, turned the flame back on under my fried ham (yum) and started a new potato- my last one, I would have been sad if the pyromaniac potato had been my last one- after consulting my mother on how long I should cook it with out the bag. It turned out perfectly soft. It all sounds pretty tame now, and there was no real danger, but only because I did spot it before the whole bag started to burn. If I had left the potato to its devices and went to play with the dogs (or something) the results could have been worse. I might have gotten to use the fire Extinguisher. I could have put my Air National Guard and Magic Mountain Safety Training to use. PASS - Pull the pin, Aim at the base of the fire, Squeeze the handle, Sweep side to side.
I think that was enough excitement for the day.
I was just hearing a noise in the front yard (it is night) and Pie heard it too and started to growl and I whispered "bark" and she busted out with her big scary dog bark. If you watched the agility videos you heard her excited yips, but this was her "I'll eat you as dessert if you mess with me" bark. Most people never hear it. I'd say it is a deterrent if someone was thinking about coming in uninvited. My two fluffy dogs can't really be called a deterrent, so that is just one more reason it is nice to have Pie around.
I am tired so I am not going to treat you to any pictures of the burnt bag...
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2 comments:
That would have been bad luck if your new house burnt down. I have used a fire extinguisher a few times, most recently when I was in Iraq and my vest with all my ammo caught on fire. I never got out of a vehicle so fast. I however did not remember the PASS acronym.
I look forward to reading your book and hearing more about this (and others) incident. It sounds scary. I think it would be hard to use a fire extinguisher on yourself. Kind of like doing the Heimlich (sp?) on yourself.
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