Frying Fire | ThisOldHouse.com: Homeowner Holiday Disaster Stories | Comcast.net

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ThisOldHouse.com: Homeowner Holiday Disaster Stories

Frying Fire

"I'd stupidly left some oil to heat on the stove when the doorbell rang. In my defense, I was expecting relatives from abroad that I hadn't seen in forever. Either way, after greetings and helping them to their rooms with their bags, I'd completely forgotten about the oil and returned to a fierce flame. I tried to take the fire out myself, but ended up calling it in. My family was terrified and my daughter was hiding under the table. Embarrassing much? Lessons were learned in the end; there's an extinguisher in my kitchen now."

Tom D. Utica, NY

(Photo: Jerry Woller)

thisoldhouse.com

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.

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"I'd stupidly left some oil to heat on the stove when the doorbell rang. In my defense, I was expecting relatives from abroad that I hadn't seen in forever. Either way, after greetings and helping them to their rooms with their bags, I'd completely forgotten about the oil and returned to a fierce flame. I tried to take the fire out myself, but ended up calling it in. My family was terrified and my daughter was hiding under the table. Embarrassing much? Lessons were learned in the end; there's an extinguisher in my kitchen now."

Tom D. Utica, NY

(Photo: Jerry Woller)

thisoldhouse.com

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.

Santa, Is That You?

Santa, Is That Y...

"When we first moved into our home, we knew the previous owners had cut a hole into the flue. Through spring, summer, and fall, the foil pie plate they inserted into the flue to close off the hole was sufficient. But we forgot all about it come winter.

"One day in mid-December when I came home from work, my 11-year-old son was hopping with excitement about an animal in the chimney. On my hands and knees, I leaned into the fireplace and looked up, coming nearly nose-to-nose with a squirrel. I stumbled back, and before getting to my feet, my son had dashed to the opposite side of the room and pinned himself to the wall in fear. The squirrel fell out of the chimney, then scurried up our fully-decorated Christmas tree, where he sat, looking at me intensely.

"I thought quickly: grabbing the fireplace broom I gently directed the squirrel out of the tree. Then I shouted to my son to open the front door. With a little help, and some patience on our part, the squirrel finally ran out—and thankfully our tree was left intact."

Carol M. Via Facebook

(Photo: Becky Sheridan)

thisoldhouse.com

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.

Light the Menorah...

Light the Menora...

My dad decided to make a Chanukah menorah out of wood—very dry old wood. He then put finish on it, and even though it wasn't "quite dry" yet, he lit it. What's the worst that could happen, right? Well, the menorah burst into flames, which ignited the paper Chanukah table cloth, which lit the placemats on fire.

As my dad tried to slap out the flames with a dishtowel, his hairspray lit on fire. While my other family members were throwing water on our now very dramatic "night of lights," I took the cake and slapped it on my dad's head to put that out.

Then there was a huge cracking noise, which turned out to be our glass dining room table breaking from the heat. Now it seems totally unreal and hilarious, but that was a bit scary at the time!

Minority Muslimah Via Facebook

(Photo: iStockPhoto.com/webking)

thisoldhouse.com

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.

Jingle All the Way

Jingle All the W...

Every year, my neighborhood holds a holiday house lighting competition. The night before the judging, I noticed one bulb was out on my eaves. I got out the ladder, set it up and proceeded to climb. Did I mention we were in the middle of an ice storm? The ladder slid down the wall like laundry over a washboard—with me still hanging on at the top. My 13-year-old came out to see what the noise was and found me lying in the snow with blood all over my face.

I spent the evening in the hospital with a deviated septum and stitches on the side of my nose. I never did get that light fixed and am now not allowed on ladders. My family still teases me about my Christmas light display as my husband and son put up the lights every year.

Karyl S. Tallant-Leathem Via Facebook

(Photo: Fuse/Getty Images)

thisoldhouse.com

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.

Ceiling's Greetings

Ceiling's Greeti...

"We'd spent three weeks in our new home. I was 6 at the time. My parents were having 30 or so people over for a Hannukah dinner and my mom noticed some water spots on the ceiling above the front entry foyer. She sent my dad up into the attic to see if there were any noticeable leaks. Apparently my dad didn't understand the concept of walking on the rafters and not the drywall. He took two steps into the attic and his leg came right through the ceiling. He was OK but nothing could be done about the giant hole in time for the party, so my mom did the next best thing. She took one of my dad's shoes and traced around it on the ceiling with the words 'Herbie was here.'"

Alan B. via Facebook

(Photo: Beano5/iStockphoto)

thisoldhouse.com

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.

"The first year we were married, we rented an old house. That Christmas we had our first real tree, but because there was no insulation or gravity heat, we used a kerosene heater. The heater made the living room so warm that it made the sap flow and a ton of disgusting gnats came out."

Becky M. via Facebook

"We bought a fresh-cut tree for Christmas. After decorating it, it quit taking up water and the needles started falling off. We removed all decor, took it back, and got another tree. Redecorated. All was well. Got all the packages under it and a few days later started to notice webs. The tree was full of spider mites. We then saw that all the packages were dotted with spider mite poop. We rewrapped a hundred gifts, undecorated the tree again, and returned tree #2 along with it's nasty bugs. Finally, we just picked up a $200 artificial tree. Never again will I bring a real tree into my house. Worst holiday season ever!"

Robin V. via Facebook

(Photo: Michael Braun Photography/iStockphoto)

thisoldhouse.com

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.

World's Wildest ... Some neighborhoods take their holiday decorating very seriously.

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