About ten days ago, I experienced a little excitement at my home. It was a hot and sultry summer evening. I had just changed into my pajamas. And I was vegging out on my bed. I had just reached for the television remote, and was shuffling through Netflix, hoping to find something to watch, when suddenly, my house filled up with smoke. . .Lots of smoke. I jumped out of bed and looked around trying to figure out the source of it. Every room in my home was filled with heavy smoke. And, then came a loud boom!
I wasn't thinking clearly, because before I could call the Fire Department, I thought it important to get out of my PJs, and back into my regular clothes. . . And, I needed to put on lipstick. I got one cat out of the house easily enough, but Rueben, my big 22 pound male cat, was clawing me and escaped. He hates the outdoors. He first ran under the bed, and then into the garage. That worried me enough to finally call the Fire Department.
They arrived really quick. There were two fire engines, and 5 or 6 Firemen. I told them about the smoke, and the boom. They almost immediately assessed that I had put a filter into the HVAC system upside down. It had collapsed, sucked up against the air intake, and motor, starving the system of oxygen, and ultimately burned up the motor.
The good news was there was no other damage to my home. They opened all my windows and doors, placed a very large fan at the front door and sucked all the smoke out. I can't say enough for the Sacramento County Fire Department.
My favorite Air Conditioning company is Nordic Air, here in Sacramento. Chris is the owner and technician. Before his arrival, I was fearful I'd need to replace the whole system. Fortunately, Chris replaced the motor for me, cleaned out the condensate line, and performed some other maintenance. The cost was reasonable - Just $500.
All this brings to mind, a blog post that I read today that was published by Roy Kelley. It's titled, "Helping Older Adults Stay Safe During Emergencies." The post provides a number of very valuable tips on this topic. I suggest reading it!
I'd like to also suggest, if you have an incident like I did, call the Fire Department first, before you get out of your pajamas, put on lipstick, and throw the cats out!
Chris Nygard can be reached at Nordic Air (916) 417-1996.
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