PDA

View Full Version : Homesteading Safety...



Wildernesstech
12-08-2013, 10:53 AM
9682

Obviously, I am new here. But I am going to do something I hesitate to do, just in case it may help someone avoid some of what we have been through!

In January of 2004, my family had EVERYTHING that we ever wanted to secure our future. We were happy. I had employment. and we were ready(or so we thought) for about anything. As I prepared for work early that morning, our youngest son, 3 years of age, tugged on my pantsleg asking "Daddy, Do you have to go to work today? Can't you stay home and play with me?" I knelt down and aksed him; "Dalton, If your mommy or your brother got hurt today, and you dialed 911, wouldn't you want someone to come help them?" He responded with, "I guess that you better not be late!" You see, I was a rural Paramedic. Working an ambulance covering MY community and large surrounding areas. Our son knew that I needed to go to work. But what none of us knew was just how much our world was going to change that day!

After an eventful and long day we crept into the night (We worked 24 hour shifts). I was working with a trusted Paramedic partner who was lead that shift. Late in the evening we took a psych' call and determined that it was in the patient's best interest to be transfered to a facility some 40 miles away for specific care. As we neared our destination a call came across the radio for a house fire... Yes, it was MY address! I immediately tried to dial home and was met with no answer. This terrified me, because we provided our own power which had never failed, so at least the machine should have picked up! Quickly we processed our patient and then ran code back to my place. I remember hearing my supervisor ask dispatch for ambulances to cover our area as everyone of my fellow EMS personnel converged on what was left of our home. During the drive I received a call from my wife who had finally been handed a cell phone. Unfortunately, she was nearly killed in the fire while trying to get to our two sleeping boys, 3 and 13 years of age!

No cause for the fire was ever determined. Believe me when I say that all investigative options were exhausted. And it has been ten years this January, but sometimes it seems like yesterday. This is certainly not my favorite story to tell. If I told you my eyes were dry right now I would be lying! But I feel a need to warn others that "It can happen to you!" We had plenty of smoke detectors, they woke my wife, and she still hears them in her dreams. But our home was made of natural woods, as many of yours are. It was designed for maximum air flow to combat the warm Missouri summers, and that allowed it to act like a fireplace and efficiently burn fast! I have been safety conscious all my life, but I wasn't as prepared for this one as I needed to be! The boys had been through fire drills, but were in their room on the second floor and quickly overcome by the smoke. My wife did all in her power but the fire was hot, and between her and the children. She suffered burns to include her airway.

And we all should truly think about the hard times ahead... As people who prepare, there will always be those that are envious, fire is a tool that has been used for centuries by terrorists and the sort. It is doubtful that our fire departments will be able to answer every call. Let's never have all of our eggs in one basket. Let's do all that we can to protect our homes and families. If this doesn't get you thinking of ways to keep us protected from ALL threats, then I don't know what will!

I challenge each and everyone of you to give this thought and post every little idea that comes to mind here. Share feasable safety options with each other. I really thought that I was as ready as I could be! ARE YOU?

RandyRhoads
12-08-2013, 12:21 PM
:sad::sad::sad:

hunter63
12-08-2013, 12:30 PM
Thanks for sharing a part of your life....as painful as it might be.

Safety is always a concern no matter where you are.

Wildernesstech
12-08-2013, 01:54 PM
Yes, Safety is always a concern... I just know that it is easy to become focused on the perceived threats and lose sight of the everyday ones. Oh, and I figure that is what we are to be doing here; Sharing ideas, experience and knowledge with those of like minds. Thanks for being hospitable!

hunter63
12-08-2013, 02:06 PM
With a log cabin....and a wood stove for a primary heat source.....That in it self is a concern.
Fire extinguishers and components to code are in place.....but vigilance is always there.

crashdive123
12-08-2013, 02:10 PM
Thanks for telling your story. It is a sobering reminder to all that preparedness is paramount and threats usually aren't discussed in the news the day before to give us warning.

randyt
12-08-2013, 02:50 PM
We can never be too diligent with safety even then the fickle fingers of fate can get us.

Wildernesstech
12-08-2013, 03:19 PM
Of course now we figure that if we could make it through that together, whatever else they throw at us will be nothing. Getting away on the sailboat has been great, but now we are listing it for sale and moving back to the homestead when she sells... You just can't store enough or raise enough on a boat!

1stimestar
12-08-2013, 06:17 PM
Thank you for sharing your story. I hope your wife has recovered. There is one thing to being prepared. You can be prepared as much as possible, have diverse baskets to put your eggs in, have safety plans, contingency plans, and skills, but when catastrophic events happen in our lives, our mental capacity to bounce back is the biggest factor in our continued success. How long it takes us to start to bounce back and start on recovery says a lot about us. This has been a pretty big factor in my life as well. I think I'm doing good and it sounds like you are too.

Wildernesstech
12-08-2013, 07:40 PM
My job in the community was therapeutic, but my wife had no such crutch. I was given much good advice, but what I would share is; "It doesn't get better, you get better at dealing with it!"

LowKey
12-08-2013, 08:58 PM
I am really sorry for your loss. That must have been a truly horrific night.

They have done recent research that kids just don't hear the fire alarms. They have the ones now that have voices and can even be programmed with the kids's names. I sleep through anything but not that vocal alarm. Have had it go off with a backdraft. Thank the Maker, nothing worse.

Solar Geek
12-09-2013, 01:58 AM
One of our girls always slept through smoke alarms. We had a log home also and no a/c so when the neighbors would be burning their garbage or leaves, the tiny particles would cling in the fire alarms and eventually set them off. Always at 2 am. And we had 20 foot ceilings so out came the ladder and DH climbing up to reset the alarms or vacuum them out.
Drove us nuts.
However it pointed out the problem to us that she slept right through the alarm blaring in her room. I had to yell her name out to wake her.
She will need the "yelling" alarms in her own home.
Thanks for the sharing. How awful and frightening and so glad all are ok.... as ok as anyone can be after their own "ground zero".

hunter63
12-09-2013, 02:47 PM
Speaking of alarms....we have one of those weather warning radios that gives tornado warning and other bad weather.

Then they started putting "Amber Alerts" on as well as thunderstorm warnings....that thing went off so many times I unplugged it.....I mean on, kinda like crying wolf.

Didn't know they had "Yelling warnings".......Cool.

Seniorman
12-10-2013, 03:52 PM
WildernessTech, I'm very sorry to hear of your family's injuries and your unfortunate loss.

Did you ever know what caused the fire originally??

Thanks.

S.M.

Wildernesstech
12-10-2013, 07:44 PM
No cause was ever proven... I REALLY wanted to know!