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Topic: A Cautionary Tale
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Mike Peckham
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1461
From: West Sussex, UK.
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted December 29, 2008 06:11 AM
Hello Everyone
Many thanks for all the messages of support we’ve received on here and via personal message, emails and telephone calls – they are all very much appreciated!
A quick update;
Firstly, no cine films or equipment were harmed! The fire was contained mostly to the ground floor and as most of my cine equipment is kept on the first floor it was well out of the way. The only exception being that I have a GS 1200 and a Sankyo 800 in a cupboard in the downstairs hallway that came close to being burnt, the fire managed to scald the inside of the cupboard, but, whilst I haven’t tried either machine, they appear to have survived unscathed.
Secondly – and this was the purpose of the initial message on this post – thank goodness for fire alarms! There were five of us in the house when the fire broke out and all five escaped in good time, plus of course we managed to ring the fire brigade before we were even sure there was a fire!
It was terrifying to see it take hold, one minute there was the vaguest smell and the next there were flames from floor to ceiling and the sound of cracking and splintering wood. It was a truly surreal experience to see and hear all this in our own home when we all know these things only happen to other people.
The fire brigade arrived within five minutes of being called and were fantastic, they worked in a highly organised and efficient way, even finding time to check our well-being and offer us blankets and words of comfort.
The fire appears to have started in the electrical consumer unit (or fuse board), we shall never know the exact cause as there is nothing left of it, but it is clear that is was not on account of anything being left on or a faulty appliance. Ironically, the consumer unit was replaced (for safety reasons) less than five years ago by the same electrician who installed the smoke detectors, I still have the Certificate of Electrical Safety that was issued at the time!
The insurance company have been great and despite it being Christmas they have already sent the cleaning firm round to assess what can be cleaned and saved. Cleaning and rebuilding is due to begin next week and in the mean time we are able to use the parts of the house not effected by the fire – where there is only the soot and smell of smoke to deal with.
So, once again many thanks for all the messages of support, we’re all fine and we shall be entering 2009 thankful to be alive and in the knowledge that things could have been a lot worse!
Mike ![[Cool]](cool.gif)
--------------------
Auntie Em must have stopped wondering where I am by now...
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