When You Know The People You Visit
A blog post submitted by Margaret Rome today brought back a memory of a most unusual character that I had the good fortune to know. He has long since gone on to his rewards and his way of looking at life was not one of 'If only' but 'So what'.
He and his wife would love to sit in their living room at night and appreciate the flickering of the fire. They would not always have the right fuel for the fire so occasionally the newspaper would get tossed in.
As would be expected since the chimney maintenance was often ignored, the build up of debris and creosote would get a flicker of flame and start to burn resulting in the fire department being called.
As it was close to the house, they were always there promptly.
Also, as they were there too often, they knew their way to the fireplace and after getting to know the elderly couple so well, were polite enough to remove their boots at the door.
After putting out the fire and cleaning out the mess, they would also admonish the elderly couple for not getting the chimney cleaned. My friend, however, would point out to them that that was what they just did.
Not the case in real life, however. A chimney needs to be maintained often and there should be no mixing of fuel exhaust in the same chimney. That means no tapping into the furnace flue with an auxiliarly fuel burner such as a wood or pellet stove.
And as is the law in so many states especially here in Connecticut, a smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector needs to be provided for the safety of all within the house.
When You Know The People You Visit
Comments(17)