BS: Big Fire

Subject: BS: Big Fire
From: Senoufou
Date: 31 May 16 - 03:43 AM

Awful event in our village yesterday. House opposite engulfed by flames and their oil tank exploded. Two fire crews arrived promptly, and hacked all the roof tiles off to get their hoses in. No-one was hurt thankfully. If only the torrential rain we're having today had fallen yesterday, it would have extinguished the fire far sooner. It started in a neighbour's shed, right beside the oil tank.
It got me thinking about how much my home means to me. The poor elderly couple were sobbing. All their little bits and pieces probably ruined.
I don't know if I could bear it. Home means such a lot. The insurers put you up in a hotel, but it can take months to rebuild. It's very hard (for me anyway) to detach from my small bungalow and treasured possessions, especially as one gets older. I know life itself is the most important thing, but I admit I was in tears at their plight.

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: Raggytash
Date: 31 May 16 - 03:51 AM

Senoufou, I am sure from your posting's here you will offer all the help and support you can to these unfortunate people. Can the other neighbours rally round to help them as well in the next weeks and months all this will take.

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: Senoufou
Date: 31 May 16 - 04:00 AM

Oh yes Raggytash, my husband was one of the men who secured all the proffered tarpaulins over the burned roof after the firemen left, and we were all trying to comfort the poor souls with cups of sweet tea and hugs. But their daughter arrived and whisked them away. which was the best thing really. Once they're back in (who knows how long that will be?) we can all muck in with helping and support etc. Villages are good like that.
I know there have been ghastly forest fires in Canada this year, but this happened right in front of our eyes.
It's so shocking to imagine how I'd feel if my cosy little shell were to be burned to a crisp together with all my stuff.

What a horrid Bank Holiday Monday for everyone concerned!

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: Pete from seven stars link
Date: 31 May 16 - 08:20 AM

About the only good thing out of all this is how you , your husband , and others rallied round in an emergency . I say...only....but I am sure that means a lot to the unfortunate couple .

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: Senoufou
Date: 31 May 16 - 10:47 AM

I expect it helps to have the support of one's community. Most villages and small settlements are quite good at rallying round. But I'd be very distressed I'm sure.
I used to consider becoming a nun, and made lots of retreats with various religious communities. The vows involve 'Poverty, Chastity and Obedience'. I now see that detaching from all one's possessions and owning pretty much nothing at all would have floored me.
Maybe it's just old age, but I find my little bits and pieces are dear to me. Things like photos, small trinkets from my travels, my husband's gifts to me when we'd just met all those years ago, my three lovely cats, my art- and craft-work and so on.
It emphasises just what these poor refugees in flimsy boats have left, too. They arrive (if they're lucky!) with just their tattered clothes. It must be completely soul-destroying.
I suppose the words, "We bring nothing into this world, and for sure we can take nothing out." are horribly true!

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: maeve
Date: 31 May 16 - 12:25 PM

Kind Eliza, "...completely soul-destroying."

No, speaking for myself...it is not. It is painful, confusing, upsetting, inconvenient, a huge loss, but your things are not who you are. They are helpers, reminders, tools and creations, that is all.

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: leeneia
Date: 01 Jun 16 - 10:33 AM

That sounds logical, Maeve, but it's not necessarily true. I have a friend who is a social worker for the aged, and she says that "Yanking an old person out of their house can kill them."

When my in-laws went to assisted living, I remembered what she said, and we tried to make the new place (smaller) seem like the old place. We put the same pictures and objets d'art in the living room. We took soap and candles (!?) from the bathroom so the new bathroom would have the same fragrance.

If the silverware is in the top drawer to the right of the sink in the old place, then put the silverware in the top drawer to the right of the sink in the new place. Same goes for medicines, toothbrushes and keys. etc etc

Things may be just things, but all our habits are based on our things, and habits make life much easier.

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: Senoufou
Date: 01 Jun 16 - 12:06 PM

I know the old couple quite well, and the husband is rather frail physically. The wife is such a cheerful soul and always had her house in perfect order, the garden too. The windows had beautifully white net curtains up, and small porcelain ornaments on the sills. We passed it today and it's such a wreck, we both shuddered to see it.
I should think this will have a terrible effect on them both at their age.
A chap presumably from the insurance company was chucking all their stuff in a large skip (carpets and roof insulation etc) The oil tank blew to smithereens, and the melted plastic is all over the two gardens. I know this would finish me if it happened to us.

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: maeve
Date: 01 Jun 16 - 01:30 PM

I am sorry to have posted.

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: keberoxu
Date: 01 Jun 16 - 01:37 PM

Maeve, with all due respect, it really is okay that you posted. Emotions run high about this sort of thing! There are first-responders and care-givers who share your point of view, actually, so you are not alone, and just because you differ from the other post here, doesn't make you wrong.
(Could we all take a deep breath maybe and calm down? Yes, it's a tragedy. Tragedies happen -- seems to be only human for them to happen. So now that we're all here, let's give each other a little space to breathe.)

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: Senoufou
Date: 01 Jun 16 - 01:39 PM

No, maeve, not at all. Your post was expressing your view. It's good if people aren't attached to material things, and the most important thing was nobody was burned! I was just imagining my own stance. Maybe because I'm quite old myself.
It is interesting to contemplate having to do without all our possessions. I've seen people in Africa who own hardly a thing. As long as they eat, they seem to be fairly happy. Over there, it's family and the community which matter not 'stuff'. And of course one doesn't need much in that heat. Simple lifestyle - quite appealing really!

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: maeve
Date: 01 Jun 16 - 02:44 PM

With due and undue respect, I said I was "speaking for myself" and so I was. I didn't say I was wrong. I said I am sorry to have posted, and so I am. My survival of the fire that destroyed our home and belongings is clearly not of any interest. That's fine. Goodbye.

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: Senoufou
Date: 01 Jun 16 - 02:51 PM

I'm very sorry maeve, but when you wrote 'speaking for myself' I thought you meant you were giving an opinion. I didn't realise that you had personally undergone such a traumatic experience. I truly do sympathise, and of course it's 'of interest'! To have your home and belongings destroyed, well, that's dreadful.
Please forgive me for not understanding your post.
Eliza

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: keberoxu
Date: 02 Jun 16 - 01:07 PM

Space! Let's give each other space!

Whew. Eliza, can you update us on the survivors? ....and it occurs to me to ask, if the fire started in a shed on the property next door to the destroyed house, what does this do to relations between these neighbors. Not in any way am I hinting at arson, or deliberate malicious intent, no no, but....will the fire be considered someone's fault?

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: Senoufou
Date: 02 Jun 16 - 01:29 PM

The elderly couple have gone to stay with their daughter, who lives in a nearby village. The insurers will be arranging accommodation for them in a rented property, as the house will take six months to rebuild and refit.
You're right keberoxu, it will be very difficult for the neighbours to view eachother without awkward feelings, but it depends on exactly how the fire started. Even the house where the fire began is badly damaged, as the exploding kerosene flew everywhere and actually melted the dormer window of the house next door.
My husband has a theory that someone had a barbecue on the Sunday (it was nice weather) and an ember or spark somehow caused the shed to smoulder all night. The high wind sprang up and fanned the wood into flames. It's dangerous to have an oil tank containing 1200 litres of kerosene next to an inflammable building such as a wooden shed. Once the oil went up, it behaved as an accelerant in the roof timbers.

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: keberoxu
Date: 10 Jul 16 - 05:29 PM

Eliza! What has changed with the situation across the street? It's been a little while....

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: Senoufou
Date: 10 Jul 16 - 06:31 PM

We saw the elderly couple coming back to the burned-out house last week to collect a few bits and pieces.(The fire brigade had presumably made the building safe) so we went across and gave them a hug. The poor lady burst into tears, and I'm afraid I did too. She said they were now in a rented 'holiday cottage' a couple of villages away, and it was very nice. They 'might' be back home by Christmas.

Apparently the Police CSI people had asked them if they had any enemies, so I assume arson may have been suspected. However they haven't any enemies at all, they're lovely old folk.

The other house affected has had to have all the garden earth removed to quite a depth by diggers as it's contaminated with kerosene. And the melted window frames will have to be replaced, plus the damaged roof where the fire fighters broke the tiles to check for fire in their house.   
The house looks so forlorn, with a large plastic sheet secured, and piles of charred and sodden roof insulation in the garden.
What touched me the most and brought more tears was when the old lady told me at least she had saved a little cross-stitch sampler her daughter had made for her years ago. She said she couldn't have borne to lose it to the flames. Feel so sad for them - they looked older than ever somehow.

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: Senoufou
Date: 08 Sep 16 - 01:41 PM

Just an update on the burned house. Some lovely lads from Bradford have been working on it for weeks. They've now got the entire set of burned roof trusses off and taken away, and put in brand new ones. Today they finished tiling the entire roof, and a chap has been lifting in a bath and washbasin. They found asbestos in the Artex ceilings, so a team in spacesuits came to get it all safely bagged-up for disposal.
It only needs re-plastering throughout, then carpets and other flooring installed.
The couple have been told it may now be November when they can move back in.
The house beside it had all the earth removed to quite a depth (it stank of kerosene) and several trees felled, plus a huge hedge.
I'm still hyper-nervous about fire. I'd never ever use those scented candle things. And we don't smoke. And no open fire at our house.
I shall get a pretty flower arrangement for the old folk when they come back, to welcome them home.

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 08 Sep 16 - 07:05 PM

good news, Eliza

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Sep 16 - 08:54 AM

Hyper-nervous is a sensible reaction to fire in or near your house.

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: Senoufou
Date: 09 Sep 16 - 10:07 AM

You're right Charmion. All the neighbours are saying the same thing - we're all much more careful now, and it's only being sensible.

Sandra, I expect the old couple will be thrilled to be back in well before Christmas, so it is indeed good news.

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 09 Sep 16 - 10:56 AM

I saw the heading and thought it would be about the "Big Fire of London" The anniversary of which was celebrated(?) this last weekend.

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: Senoufou
Date: 09 Sep 16 - 02:36 PM

Honestly, Nigel, the speed with which this fire took hold, the huge flames and heat (we stood on the opposite side of the road, well away) made me see just how the Great Fire spread, with all those overhanging houses and the proximity of buildings in 17th Century London.
I remember as a girl climbing the stairs of the Monument in London, over 300(?) of them, in the early fifties. Is it in Pudding Lane? (Certainly no hope of climbing up there now! I'd be well out of puff after three or four!)

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: Senoufou
Date: 01 Oct 16 - 10:24 AM

The burnt house is now almost ready. New kitchen being installed this coming week, and wallpaper chosen for the newly-plastered walls.

BUT - the poor woman spoke to me yesterday and told me someone had stolen 500 litres of domestic heating oil from the newly-installed oil tank!! The day after it was filled, somebody came and siphoned out the lot. It's a mystery because it's as quiet as the grave here at night and we'd surely have heard it. It's awful to suspect folk, but the builders, roofers, plasterers etc were all from other UK areas. And there were vans and Bedford trucks outside the house constantly.

That much oil costs about £180. Now the couple will have to order more; hopefully their insurance company isn't fed up with paying out and will cover this. I should think they feel jinxed, poor souls!

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: Mr Red
Date: 02 Oct 16 - 03:27 AM

Building site, who knows who is delivering, or taking!

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: Senoufou
Date: 02 Oct 16 - 05:27 AM

Well that's true Mr Red. There have been several oil-theft incidents at holiday barns in North Norfolk. No-one confronts a 'builder' or 'workman' with his van do they?
And to think I went over several times to those men with ice-cold cans of Coke and cakes during the very hot weather, because I felt sorry for them toiling away in the heat!

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 02 Oct 16 - 06:13 AM

Could the new installation have a leak, either from the tank or the connecting pipework? 500 litres could have soaked into the garden.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: Senoufou
Date: 02 Oct 16 - 06:22 AM

It's a possibility Doug, but kerosene absolutely stinks, and I reckon we'd have all noticed. The tank is near the road at the front.
No, I think it's been nicked.
The thing is, insurance companies are most reluctant to pay out, and may refuse as the tank didn't have a security lock on it. (Ours hasn't either!)
People are so dishonest aren't they?

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: leeneia
Date: 02 Oct 16 - 03:29 PM

If somebody stole 500 liters of oil from a tank, they had to have their own tank to put the oil into. Senoufou, you can relax about giving Cokes to any worker whose truck doesn't have a tank on it.

Me, I suspect a paper-work mix-up.

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: Senoufou
Date: 02 Oct 16 - 05:21 PM

My husband thinks the same as you leeneia, that there's a mistake somewhere, as 500 litres is a huge amount and would need a tanker to take it away. But my next-door neighbour reckons the builders took 25 litres at a time in jerry cans, and bit by bit it was removed. (He has a suspicious mind, whereas my husband wouldn't think badly of anyone!)

I still would offer cold drinks and cakes to workers near our house (and hot cups of tea in the winter), as I like to cheer people up when I can. If they turn out to be baddies, well, you win some, you lose some!

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: keberoxu
Date: 03 Oct 16 - 04:59 PM

Talk about adding insult to injury.

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: Jack Campin
Date: 03 Oct 16 - 06:27 PM

I know of someone who did have a slow leak from a pipe leading from a heating oil tank, and didn't notice for a couple of years, at which point the soil under the house and garden needed to be removed to a depth of several feet to fix the hazard. They better hope it WAS stolen.

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: Senoufou
Date: 03 Oct 16 - 06:35 PM

That's very true Jack. The house next door (whose tank exploded in the heat of the fire, and set the elderly couple's house alight)) had to have several feet of earth removed from their garden. The whole place stank of kerosene. The environmental department of the local council were involved, as it was a serious pollution issue.
I think if this tank has leaked, we'd all smell it.

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: Raedwulf
Date: 04 Oct 16 - 02:00 PM

I wouldn't be so sure of that, Sen. There's a good chance that, if it's leaking, it's leaking from deep. Oil (even kerosene) is nothing like as volatile as gas i.e. it won't gasify / fume / smell to the same extent.

It'll spread sideways as much as upwards until the earth is saturated. And given you're N.Norfolk (I'm in the Fens; West Norfolk, just inside the border with Cambs), the chances of you smelling any slow release of fumes from the earth with the wind we get... ;-)

Frankly, I suspect it's been nicked. I don't have oil heating, but if I did, I'd bloody well make sure the tank was secured. That's the sort of world we live in. It isn't any different from 100 years ago, or 500 years ago. There's just the same proportion of things to be nicked, and of people happy to nick things.

All that's changed is the things that are worth nicking, and that those doing the nicking are rather more mobile than ere!

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: Senoufou
Date: 04 Oct 16 - 02:28 PM

I agree with you Raedwolf. It's been nicked! And it should have had a lock on the tank. It was a brand new tank, as the other one melted when it exploded, and they are bunded (an inner tank inside the outer shell) so shouldn't leak.

We're in a small village between Fakenham and Taverham. (Breckland)
It can get quite windy, but in all that heat (it was 31 degrees one day in August!) I do think we'd have smelt kerosene. Occasionally we get a whiff of kerosene from Norwich Airport, if the wind is in the right direction, so I know what it smells like.

Tomorrow their new kitchen will be installed. And just this morning I spoke to the lady, who was very excited at her choices of new wallpaper, which the decorators were putting up. It was so nice to see her smiling and animated. But we had to smile, as her old husband was puffing away on a ciggie! My husband said afterwards he hoped he wasn't going to burn the bloody house down again!

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: Raedwulf
Date: 04 Oct 16 - 02:53 PM

Lol. A few crow miles south of Wisbech, me. But West Naaarfk CC, not that muddy Crumbly lot! ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: Pete from seven stars link
Date: 04 Oct 16 - 05:00 PM

Lovely to hear of things on the upturn for your neighbours senoufou.

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: Senoufou
Date: 03 Nov 16 - 02:53 PM

Well, they're IN at last! House looks lovely, even the garden has been landscaped and a team of professional cleaners were in there all day yesterday getting up any dust and wiping down paintwork etc. The toilet for the workmen has gone from the front garden. Removals van has left.
We haven't been to visit them just yet, as I expect they're shattered and need time to settle in and rest.
Hope to go over at the weekend with a card and some flowers. (Together with half the village no doubt!)
PHEW!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: Pete from seven stars link
Date: 03 Nov 16 - 03:38 PM

Sounds like a lovely ending at last.

Subject: RE: BS: Big Fire
From: Raedwulf
Date: 03 Nov 16 - 03:48 PM

:)