16 January 2009

Unseen hand

It's been a rough few weeks with my cold. Haven't been sleeping very well at all. So, I was not happy when the smoke alarm went off in our room at 2am.

It was cold (-20 F). It was the middle of the night. There was no fire.

Needless to say, I was busy cursing the detector as hubby ripped it off the wall and disconnected it. I felt the fates were against me ever getting a good night's sleep ever again.

Hubby wanted to give the house a good going over, curious about why a hard-wired detector would go off the in the calm and dark of night.

A quick check of the house discovered that the furnace was off. Holy moly, the furnace was off.

At this point we were both a bit stunned because we have three carbon monoxide detectors in the house. It would've been understandable if one of those had gone off since we have gas heat and with the furnace off or malfunctioning, carbon monoxide could've become a problem.

Fortunately, it seems a piece of debris had fallen right on the pilot light and hubby was able to get it started without too much trouble. It would've been awful to have slept until morning with temps that cold...there could've been some serious problems.

Despite all the commotion and noise, neither one of the kids woke up.

But why the smoke detector in our room?

Was that you, Guardian Angels?

8 comments:

Adoro said...

Wow. That could have been very bad. Pilot light out...where is the gas going to drift in the meantime? Is your furnace near your water heater as it is in most houses? What happens when the drifting gas meets the flame from the water heater's pilot light?

Ka-boom.

That is, unless there was enough airflow to render that amount of gas harmless for awhile.

I once had a furnace go out, and my dog figured it out...very strange.

I'd say your Guardian Angel was definitely involved in your problem!

Chris said...

Go, guardian angels!

This unfortunately points out something that some folks don't know. Kids will not always be woken up by alarms going off. This is why grown-ups should be glad they don't sleep so well anymore.

Sanctus Belle said...

I had that very same thing happen to me years ago during an extreme cold snap - the furnace going out part, not the smoke detector part - unfortunately! We had to pack up the then very small children and head for grandma's house or perishf for cold.

Aren't husbands great for getting up and dealing with these things, not to mention car starting in the cold, carrying luggage, opening doors, etc.?? Nothing beats a manly husband to do the manly things!

Chris said...

Yes, "someone" was definitely watching out for you. ;D

Chris said...

Sanctus Belle is so right! One of the few times I *really* wish I had a husband is when the darn smoke alarm goes off at 2:00 in the morning!

swissmiss said...

All I can say is, "Thank you Guardian Angels!!"

Oh, and it is nice to have a man in the house, especially to kill spiders :)

Anonymous said...

Ohmygosh...so glad you are all safe and your furnace is working.

Anonymous said...

You have a good angel there! That could have been pretty nasty!
I'm glad you're okay and hope you get rid of that cold and get some proper sleep.
God bless you.