Sad family news....

Early Saturday morning there was an explosion in the garage of my Aunt Linda and Uncle Jimmy's house in Kentucky. Very sadly the dog that I am pictured with above, Sparky, died in the explosion. Their house caught on fire and they lost everything.

It's such a horrible thing to lose everything you own, but I am thankful that they were uninjured. I am very sad about the loss of their dog, because I know how much she meant to my Aunt Linda. They have been married for 49 years and lived in this house for 40+ years, and it's sad to see so many memories gone with the house. My Aunt had my grandfather's purple heart and bronze star from WWII and I am pretty sure that the fire destroyed those along with other family mementos.

The strange thing about this is that this past summer my Uncle Johnny and Aunt Karen who live just minutes away had a fire that started in their attic and they lost everything as well. My mother is obviously upset and concerned about the fact that two of her siblings have had serious house fires. She wanted to know what my plans were in case my house caught on fire. Honestly, I have never even thought about it, so I called my friend Steve who is a firefighter and he gave me the following tips:

-Do not store things that are flammable close to things like your furnace or hot water heater (if you have gas) most fires/explosions start with something that has a fuse like your hot water heater. A lot of people will store things in their garage (gas cans, paint, etc, etc) that will cause a fire to spread quickly and become very dangerous.

- Make sure that your fire detectors are working and that you have a CO2 detector if you have gas.

- Openly discuss a fire plan with your family. It's important to talk about what you would do if a fire broke out upstairs or downstairs.

-Buy a fire escape rope ladder if you live in a multi-story home. Store it under your bed or close to the window you would use to escape if you couldn't make it downstairs.

-Unplug/ power off electrical devices when not using them.

- Don't leave your dryer running when you aren't home. Clean the lint filter and the hose regularly. Don't use fabric softner as it will cause the filter to be covered with a residue. If you use softner, regularly remove the lint filter and clean with soapy water.

You don't think much about things like this unless it affects someone in your life!