Why I prepare

Vanity | Apr 10, 2012 | JRandomFreeper

[JRandomFreeper]

Sometime last night, my slightly dotty, older neighbor put a pan on the stove and went to check her email. The obvious resulted, with a standard issue kitchen grease fire.

She panicked, couldn't contain it, and called me yelling: "Bring a fire extinguisher! Hurry!".

So I hustled over to her house with my trusty kitchen extinguisher with the cobwebs on it.

Of course, I did fail to put on pants.

The upshot of the night was:

A)Don't put a pan on the stove and walk off. Ever.

B)Have a fire extinguisher, and know where it is.

C) Don't wait to call 911. Those fire guys are GOOD!

D) Wear pants to a grease fire.

She couldn't sleep in the house because of the extinguisher powder in the air and all over everything. So out came my preparedness cot and sleeping bag, and I slept in my kitchen so she could have the bedroom. The breakers in her kitchen tripped with the burned wiring, so a work around had to be found to keep her refrigerator from going bad. I had that stuff. I'm glad I did. Not a world-wide disaster, but enough to prove the value of being prepared.

She'll be fine, a few thousand in damage, and a bad scare.

[JRandomFreeper]

Just an interesting situation last night where I happened to have all the right gear to keep a bad situation from getting worse, and then to deal with the aftermath.

/johnny

[JRandomFreeper]

Might be of interest.

/johnny

[Jemian]

You have always been a hero. Good for you and EXCELLENT advice.

[Clara Lou]

There’s a good feeling after being able to make the best of a tough situation.

Grats!

[thackney]

BTTT

[cripplecreek]

I once read that the worst possible place to put a home fire extinguisher was right next to the stove.

[FreedomPoster]

Kudos, good job.

Your item D) is similar to the more common admonition “Never fry bacon in the nude.”

Laz does this all the time, or so I am told.

[Yashcheritsiy]

Put some pants on ya prevert!

[JRandomFreeper]

I've worked in commercial kitchens. I keep my fire extinguishers near the exit doors, not near the stove.

Because if there is a fire, I'm leaving. If it's not too bad, and I've managed to cover it, I might, maybe use the fire extinguisher before leaving.

But I'm leaving. With or without pants.

/johnny

[Gene Eric]

Good job!!!

I’m sure a lot of late night fires are put out without pants.

Reminder to self: dust off and check fire extinguishers.

[Mr. Lucky]

I fry bacon in the nude whenever I want to keep the grease from splattering on my shoes.

[JRandomFreeper]

Mine was 15 years old and has been all over the US with me. I've already bought a replacement for it this morning.

The fire guys did get a giggle out of how much kruft had formed on mine over the years, and did ask how old it was. ;)

One important thing about using one... Throw all exposed foods away. That even means stuff in bottles and cans that are contaminated with the dust on the outside. It's a food safety thing.

/johnny

[1_Rain_Drop]

I always keep a fire extinguisher by the stove.

I guess it’s time to dust it off and move it to a new location by a door. Problem is, there are four exit doors in my kitchen. Now I must buy three more FE.

Thanks for the thread (and your neighbor!)

Put some pants on! it’s cold out there!

[backwoods-engineer]

Good on you for helping a sheeple neighbor. Now, they just might wake up. Or not.

Nonetheless, YOU are prepared, and I applaud you.

[JRandomFreeper]

She's more of an early dementia kind of person, not really a sheeple. She hates Obama and all he stands for. But I think it's important to care for the slightly demented elderly and young children.

There are some neighbors that I would have just opened up beer and hot-dogs and watched the show. They are on their own.

/johnny

[Kartographer]

"Now I must buy three more FE."

The way some people cook it's probably a good investment!

[Kartographer]

Preppers’ PING!

Prepping isn’t always about fighting off a hoard of zombies!

[Pecos]

"There are some neighbors that I would have just opened up beer and hot-dogs and watched the show. They are on their own."

Understood.

[Teotwawki]

And shake your ABC fire extinguishers every once in awhile. I do mine every three months. It doesn’t need to be vigorous, just rock it over to fully inverted and back until you feel the powder shifting smoothly inside, about 15 times. They will solidify over time if you don’t.

[Starstruck]

When I was in the service, I always said when got out I would never stand in another line. My main reason for prepping is to not have to stand in a soup line:)

[goseminoles]

Lol!!

[pingman]

I thought the powder in an ABC was baking soda; pretty safe stuff.

[Hugin]

“Never fry bacon in the nude.”

Care for some sausage with your bacon?

[Responsibility2nd]

Wear your dam pants....

 

 

[maine yankee]

Just remember this safety jingle in the future;

FIRE ! FIRE !

PANTS TO A FIRE !

[JRandomFreeper]

I don't know what is in it. It does have an irritant, and breathing the dust is dangerous. The fire guys wore respirators until they cleared out the house with that portable jet engine thing they used. They are the ones that recommended she not sleep there until it was cleaned.

My experience in commerical kitchens is that hitting the big red button means all the food in the kitchen is trashed. And the firemen verified that last night.

They threw away everything over the stovetop, including closed spices, etc...

/johnn

[JRandomFreeper]

LOL! I was napping when the call came, and before that, had been freeping.

Who freeps with pants on?

/johnny

[ottbmare]

Why I prepare: Snowmageddon 2010. Five days without electricity, which means without heat or light; no way to get a vehicle through three feet of snow and out of the community; store shelves stripped bare; no gasoline available even if I had been able to get out. So glad I had stockpiles of food, lighting materials, firewood, water, and medication, as well as skis, guns, ammo, horse, and fishing gear. You never know.

[JRandomFreeper]

I hear ya. I had prepped in 1999 fairly heavily, and kept up the state of preparedness up until the stock market crash of 2008, when my world turned into a crap sandwich.

From 2008 until last year, I mostly ate stored food and local game, including squirrels. Kept me off the dole, and kept me alive.

Personal financial disasters are easier to bear if you can actually have a meal.

/johnny

[SaraJohnson]

Our hero. Way to go. So glad you were there for her. Your advice is important for everyone - old and young. Pay attention when you are working with fire and have an extinguisher... There is not always a JRandomFreeper close by to rescue you.

[donna]

You sure made her life easier. She’ll always remember.

[Lurker]

Lurkers Rule Of Fire Safetey: if it’s bigger than me it is time to flee.

[JRandomFreeper]

Always good advice. I used up the fire extinguisher working from bottom to top, and shoved the neighbor out the door as I was leaving. We were done. And called in the big boys with the right tools.

She did freak out when the first two guys went into the house with fire axes. But she was alive to freak out, so it's all good.

/johnny

[Responsibility2nd]

Who freeps with pants on?

 

 

Wait. Are you freeping to me right now with no pants on?

 

Don't answer that. I seriesly don't want to know.

[Vaduz]

{E} Flour it’s not just for cooking

[JRandomFreeper]

Flour is flamable. It causes explosions in mills and grain elevators. I even know the commercial kitchen trick to get a great ball of flame and a 'whoomp' out of it.

I would never use flour on a fire.

I cover any grease fire with the gigantic pot lid that is always out, remove the heat, and retreat.

/johnny

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Add this to your list of things to NEVER DO with a grease fire.

NEVER PUT WATER ON THE FIRE! The water will boil, blow the now burning grease everywhere and the fire will flare up real bad.

A thing TO DO...Keep a large box of BAKING SODA where you can throw it on the fire. It will smother the fire and create CO2. Just make sure you don’t tell Al Gore!

[JRandomFreeper]

I'm also prepping lunch and dinner since the neighbor's kitchen is out of commission for the duration. So, I'm wearing pants. I always wear pants when I cook. ;)

/johnny

[JRandomFreeper]

AMEN! Never use water on a grease fire. I've seen that done in a commercial kitchen. The newbie got some bad burns out of it.

We always had the BRB (Big Red Button) if things got out of hand, but covering it with a metal lid, removing the heat and retreating generally worked. Hand held over the BRB, poised to run out the door like the wind.... waiting to see if the fire was actually going out.

/johnny

[Vaduz]

Used flour afew times it works no expolosion.
Explosions in mills is causede by to much flour dust.

[JRandomFreeper]

Since I have made flour burn on purpose, and my fire guys say don't use it, I'll stick with the 3lb ABCs in the kitchen after the cover, remove heat, and retreat thing.

Do what you like. Of course, not getting to the uncontrolled fire part is the best solution. ;)

/johnny

[Caipirabob]

A true gentleman hero! Thank you for sharing this!

[xp38]

You were a good scout.

[deoetdoctrinae]

Y'all got my curiosity up about the contents, so I just took a look at my little ABC unit. Found a sentence that reads "After use immediately clean all surfaces contacted by mono-ammonium phosphate dry chemical agent". That doesn't sound too tasty, so I agree with the "throw out everything that was close by" instructions.

BTW, good work johnny!

[null and void]

He’s not alone.

[JRandomFreeper]

I got kicked out of the scouts for eating brownies. ;)

/johnny

[Georgia Girl 2]

Good job.

[JRandomFreeper]

Not a hero. A slightly tipsy, mostly smartass, just-woke-up guy with no pants on and the right equipment and training handy.

Every sentient should be able to do the same.

/johnny

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

B)Have a fire extinguisher, and know where it is.

I have 6 at various locations on each floor.

The one in the kitchen is a Halon extinguisher so it won't make such a mess with all the white stuff. I wish I had more of those.

[Professional Engineer]

Years ago as a poor broke student, i had a neighbor run out screaming FIRE. Smoking was rolling everywhere through open doors and windows.

Fortunately, the burning oil was still in the frying pan. I was able to open the stove drawer, grab a cookie sheet and put it over the skillet. In 10 seconds it was done.

Then the adrenalin rush hit.