Sunday, August 17, 2008

Life is Kidding, Right? MORE Murphy

Actually, this will probably NOT turn out to be as bad as it sounds.

But I was awakened by a neighbor pounding on my door, yelling "Fire!" When I opened the door, he said, "Do you know your garage is on fire?"

Um--NO! But I could certainly smell the smoke by that time.

Fortunately, it is a free-standing garage. I don't even use it for my car, which I park on the sidewalk in front of my home. And, also fortunately, I do have homeowner's insurance.

So I provided the community excitement, and got to see an assortment of nightclothes on various neighbors, since all of this occurred just after 3:30 in the morning. I also got the benefit of sirens, two fire engines and an assortment of very cute firefighters. Is there a rule somewhere that firefighters must be young and good-looking?

Now, some ten hours later, I have an alleyway full of melted TV's, soggy mattresses and blackened surplus furniture that was being stored in the garage. Included in that was my deceased father's huge 1983 stereo (those were the days when the bigger the speaker, the better the sound) and his vinyl record collection. I think he owned every Connie Francis album ever made. I was keeping them because I couldn't bear to throw out things that meant so much to my dad. But other than that, I didn't lose anything important to me.

I now have a burned out garage that, maybe, can be salvaged. The building was reroofed two years ago, and appears to still be in shape. All the wood in the walls burned, but the building itself is stucco.

It looks like the cause may be teens smoking in the garage (one of the windows appeared to have been opened).

So I guess you know where Grace will be spending her Monday--on the telephone with insurance agents and appraisers!

6 comments:

Louise said...

oh Grace, thank goodness it was not attached to the house! I hope the insurance company acts quickly for you and doesn't muck you around.

DogAteMyFinances said...

So glad everyone was OK. This sounds like a real hassle. But you might even get a garage for your car now! Forced decluttering.

Anonymous said...

Glad to hear it wasn't worse and wish you best of luck dealing with the insurance company. Let us know what happens. And forced decluttering is the silver lining.

But be prepared to get a slew of nasty comments now. The not-so-nice group will think you're trying to one up JW - LOL!

BTW- I really do think there is that "fire department rule" you mentioned!!

A.M.B.A.

Carol said...

Oh dear! I'm glad you didn't lose much, but when something like that happens, you kind of lose your peace of mind, don't you?

When I was a child, almost the same thing happened to my parents. A neighbor woke them up in the middle of the night to ask them if they knew their garage was on fire, and, like you, well, it hadn't been on the agenda. They determined that a squirrel must've gotten in with a cigarette butt (in those days everyone smoked) and they were able to save the garage, but until the day my mom sold that house, there was always some blackened wood, a reminder of how bad it could have been.

And we still kind of wonder how it REALLY" started.

I hope you can continue to count your blessings.

Sharon said...

Thank goodness it was only your garage! Hope the insurance and appraisals go smoothly for you! Murphy needs to go on a vacation!

Shevy said...

I'm so glad it was only the garage. Darn that Murphy! He needs to go pick on someone else. I'm sorry about the loss of the records that had sentimental value for you.