Sunday, March 29, 2009

Matt Starts and Puts Out a Fire

(Véase la version en español en la parte inferior de la página)

Saturday 28 March was Earth Day, with a call for lights out between 8:30 and 9:30 to save electricity. I had gone to pick up William at a friend's house, and Matt, 14, decided that he would get candles ready. He lit a candle on the nightstand beside my bed. The phone rang and he answered it, in doing so shifting the pillows on my bed into the flame. They caught quickly. When he realized they were on fire, he pulled them off the bed and hit them against the floor until they were out. Then he called me, crying, on the cellphone. I could barely understand what he was saying, but I got: 1. fire; 2. he was okay; 3. the house had not burned down.

When we got home we discovered that two pillows were burned right through. A third one was scorched, but can probably be cleaned. The corner of the pine headboard of my bed was burned. There were bits of melted synthetic material from the pillow stuffing stuck to the walls and the chair, from when the pillows were being banged around. The carpet fibers were melted together in a black clumps in few places. Matt had a bad burn on the back of his hand. And he had moved the hamster to the far end of the house so that it wouldn’t suffer from smoke inhalation.

Matt was tremendously upset. All I can say is that he reacted quickly, did everything right, and it could have been a lot worse. Ah yes, and no more candles when I'm not home.

Mateo prenda y apaga un incendio

Sábado 28 de marzo fue el Día de la Tierra, con una convocatoria para apagar las luces entre las 8:30 y las 9:30 para ahorrar electricidad. Me había ido a recoger a William en la casa de un amigo, y Mateo, 14, decidió que iba alistar las velas. Encendió una vela en la mesa de noche al lado de mi cama. El teléfono sonó y contestó, en el acto empujando las almohadas de mi cama en la llama. Ellas prendieron rápidamente. Cuando se dio cuenta de que estaban en llamas, las tiró de la cama y las golpeó contra el piso hasta extinguir el fuego. Después me llamó, llorando, por el celular. Apenas pude entender lo que me estaba diciendo, pero capté: 1. fuego, 2. estaba bien; 3. la casa no había quemado.

Cuando llegamos a casa descubrimos dos almohadas bastante quemadas. Una tercera quemada, pero que probablemente se puede limpiar. Le esquina de la cabecera en pino de mi cama se quemó. Había pedazos derretidos de material sintético de relleno de almohada pegados en la pared y la silla, que salieron volando cuando las almohadas fueron golpeadas contra el piso. Fibras de la alfombra se fundaron juntas en puntos negros en algunos lugares. Mateo tenía una quemadura grave en la parte posterior de su mano. Y se había trasladado el hámster al otro extremo de la casa para que no sufriría de inhalación de humo.

Mateo estuvo muy alterado. Todo lo que puedo decir es que él reaccionó con rapidez, hizo todo bien, y que podría haber sido mucho peor. Ah sí, y no más velas cuando no estoy en casa.

2 comments:

Lori said...

No wonder you answered so strangely when I asked how things were! Thank God it wasn't any worse - not something you ever want to see happen again, but at least life and limb (and hamster) were saved. Do you need some pillows? I have 2 extras that are quite new and I won't be moving pillows with me so you are welcome to have them. I am sorry I was a little sketchy when you called yesterday...I could go into detail but suffice it to say that my doc has me on seroquel now. It seems to be helping and I finally started sleeping again. We should get together - even though you were here for the Raquira planning it feels like we haven't really spoken in ages. How does your week look?
big hugs, Lori

Leslie Carmichael said...

Yes, I answered strangely because Matt was there and he didn't want anyone to know what had happened... he doesn't know this is now on the blog. In all I'd say he reacted very quickly and responsibly, and is to be commended. But he feels terrible about what happened.

I might take you up on those pillows!

I stongly agree with the feeling of not having seen you for ages. I was just thinking the same thing the other day. The kids are with JM this weekend, so I'm free.