Story.


We had a kitchen fire on Thursday night. Our 11 year old was cleaning a cast iron and while it was heating he walked away. It of coursed smoked a lot. Instead of waiting he added the oil. That of course caught a fire. He quickly jumped into action and being 11 he'd only knew water puts out fire. Added water. Which made lots of fire and the flames climbed into the vent hood. He didn't freeze he grabbed the other thing he knew, the fire extinguisher.  When dad saw that he could no longer cover it safely he used the fire extinguisher when he stayed in the vent hood.


I came up just as it was out, smoked filled the air, and on top of that the yellow dust filled the whole house from the fire extinguisher did. Our 11 year old was considerable upset and felt blame and we had a really great opportunity to build our relationship. We talked about accidents happen to everyone and we all make them AND that he's a good kid even when he messes us.  He asked for a hug and a prayer and helped us start to sweep it up.  


(He then ran through the screen door taking out the dog food to dump and when he hit the ground and the screen fell on him he had enough) It's apart that isn't funny right now, but I'm saving it for later because in hindsight it will be so funny.

Clean up after a kitchen fire and how you can help someone else know what to do.

 

How can you help?

 

Prayer.


If you pray, pray. Pray for Mercy and Grace over the family. WHY? Because it's really easy in the heat of the moment to blame and shame.  Our bible study lesson this week was on the be attitudes from Matthew and we'd just discussed Mercy and Grace. Having that in my heart was a great mindset to be able to give that to Brogan who really needed it.  In a way that I don't know I would have been prepared to do without God providing that early input as he often does.

When I arrived home,  I sent out in our group text to all the ladies "I just walked into a house fire". Now I didn't know the extend of that at the time. All I knew is that these Godly Women would be praying for us right now. Right in the moment we needed it.

Close-up of the yellow dust from the fire extinguisher as we talk about how to do a clean up in our house.

Help.


The next thing that happened was the texting "How can I help you?" or "What do you need?".  The dust hadn't settled yet at all. I had NO idea what I needed. NONE. I couldn't think.  I would have rather someone just ask chatgpt or whatever you use and show up.  No one showed up, but now I know what someone might need.

So this is my list of things or ideas that CAN help someone and how to show up for your friends or family.


  • Paper Towels and LOTS of them!!!!!!
  • Fire Extinguisher  and the Fire Cloth things that can smother a stove.
  • ALL hands on deck with a mop bucket and rags because EVERYTHING has to be washed.
  • Help moving out all the furniture and dusting it and all the picture frames and putting it back.
  • Watching the kids. There's really only so much they can do to help. I could have used a sitter to take them on day 2. B/c that's the most clean up. After the dust settles.
  • Pitched in to hire a deep clean from Felisha here in Lawton. She's amazing.



The damage of a kitchen fire to the hood vent that's taken off.

Information.


After the adrenaline settles there's things to know and do. How do you know the extent of the damage?

I called the Fire Marshall who helped a lot. Two important calls is to a licensed general contractor who can assess the structural damage. Second, electrical engineer to check if it's safe to use again.

Then yes you may have to call insurance if it's a lot of damage.


We are very blessed that our damage might be that we replace the hood vent. And we fix the learning GAP in fire safety.    

 

The End.