It turns out I was even luckier than I thought. I just looked in the remains of the basket and saw these. It might not be very clear but those charred objects are "Twizzler" firelighters which are made from shredded wood, wool and wax. They were still in the (newly opened) bag which looks as if it protected them from igniting but the bag has gone and the surface of the firelighters is charred so it looks as if they were probably only a matter of seconds away from catching. If that had happened the fire would have been double the size it was and I probably would not have been able to get it out with just a little B&Q extinguisher and half a bucket of water. F*ck me, that was a close call View attachment 223657
I feel better now, but thanks for the advice. The doggy is ok too. I was worried about him as his lung capacity is smaller than mine so literally as soon as I got the fire out I put him outside in the fresh air while I dealt with the aftermath.
Looking at the photograph with the Merc,that's the perfect place to receive the unlucky folk inlife,and clearly your name was not on the list that day,the bloke upstairs obviously has other plans for you Nigel.
With closed sealed stoves you can store wood/kindling & paper close by but open fires as you now know. Really shouldn't have anything combustable close to them. As spitting sparks from certain woods can fly upto 4' Close one Zhed, great share really. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- This might seem anti-intuitive but this thread should be voted up. So it goes front page to remind people to check smoke alarms & be advisably careful about storing combustables. Plus ...have you got an extinguisher?
I generally don’t keep flammable material near the fireplace for obvious reasons. However, on this occasion I was using this incinerator to burn confidential waste paper as my shredder has stopped working. I had tried to light some but it was half full of ash and as most of the air holes were below the level of the ash I couldn’t get it lit. Or so I thought......
I know. The irony or appropriateness of narrowly dodging death in a graveyard didn’t escape my notice either If the bloke upstairs does have other plans for me I wish he’d just reveal himself to me in more obvious ways like he used to in The Bible. Say, by appearing as a burning bush. Oh. Wait.....
He must had nodded off in chair with way too much vino inside his belly,thank christ the cat jumped onto his lap just intime for you.
I use one of those in the garden, it's brilliant but definitely outdoor use only. A lucky escape but at least @Ducbird will have enjoyed your bin shot.
Someone who woke up late, was going to have a bath but forgot, not only to have the bath but also accidentally forgot to switch the immersion heater off and didn’t want all that hot water to go to waste
And I thought I’d had a lucky escape on Saturday night. When a rocket pierced the garage roof and came to rest on a plywood board I had stashed in the A frame of the roof. Even worse I had the garage stuffed with cardboard boxes and furniture as I was getting ready to move on Monday.
So Cathy, what you are saying is that you started the fire just so you could use the hot water to put it out. I'm not sure if that is the work of a genius or lunatic.....
Well, now all of my adversaries have decamped to “the other forum” I’m a bit bored and at a loose end. And you know what happens when you let a bored kid play with matches......
Apart from a thin layer of ash on every surface, a faint bonfire smell and the lightly toasted dining room door it’s surprisingly ok thanks.
