Months ago our water filter gave out. It proved irreparable. We kept water coming to the refrigerator for ice. Wednesday morning (May 1) in between schooling and getting ready for the library Haddie announced as only she can, "EW! I smell something." Imagine the back of her hand all pressed up against her nose and her face all wrinkled up.
Unsure about the smell Jess went to the front door, the new room, the dining and living room and smelled nothing. By the time she came back to where Haddie was standing in the kitchen the acrid smell of burning plastic was present. Looking at the eye where a perfectly good and new bag of chocolate chips was resting awaiting being put away she was sure someone had turned on an eye.
Nothing.
Creeping closer to Haddie, the smell was strongest by her. She was in front of the trash can by the fridge. A quick sniff in the gap between the wall and the unit reveal the source but no smoke no flame. It must not be a fire.
Having Wal-Mart (10-12 weeks) and Costco (1 month) shopped the evening before, Jess knew the fridge had to be move and asked God for the strength and torque (remember there's a baby belly) to pull the fridge out. She was met with small billows of smoke.
EVERYONE OUT!
The boys quickly moved Galilee, Haddie and the cat to the minivan. Caleb returned to help.
Just smoke. The unit was not hot to the touch. The walls were not hot to the touch. Then the water mechanism turned on in the unit the bright dancing light of flames could be seen in the lower panel of the unit where there was a vent.
FIRE!
A fire contained in the unit. Jess went for the fire extinguisher and sprayed the panel. Unsure of what had happened she also unplugged the unit. The fire was out and the source of the flames cut off.
A whole unit full of groceries: 10 cheeses, bologna, ham, cheese singles, 20 pounds of yogurt, 9 gallons of milk, salad fixings, condiments, 5 pounds of pork chops, 3 1/2 dozen eggs, leftovers for lunch, pounds of frozen veggies, frozen breakfast food and odds and ends all without cooling.
To Facebook went Jessica to plead for help. The kids returned and Galilee immediately decided the floor was too dirty. She does not like texture on her feet. She wanted to spray and wipe the floor. We learned that you should dust behind your unit. The little bunnies were just waiting for a lick of flame to slip out.
Our library and picnic plans were ruined. The groceries we had put in the cart, on the conveyor belt, back in the cart, into the car, into the house would have to go back in the car. But to where? There were many offers from two states. Jess took up the Diethrichs on their offer of a garage unit. It was completely empty because they needed to go shopping. Into the coolers, into the car they went. Two sets of neighborhood boys stocked the fridge for Jess. It would take two trips as Jess sized up the options. Another family on the same street took two of the milks and Galilee and the picnic family took Haddie.
It was a long day of phone calls, driving and decisions.Jess made it through it even putting the unit back in its spot because it was way too much with it sitting in the middle of the floor. Chris took the big four to track practice and Galilee and Jess made pizza for movie night. It was then that exhaustion caught up
and
Jess' wrists gave way and the beautifully and fully topped pizza pitched forward into the oven. Crust was saved and retopped. The burning toppings scraped out of the oven and pizza put back into cook.
At the end of baking time, we opened all the windows turned on all the fans and grabbed a baking tray to beat the smoke away from the detector. Then we ran the oven on self-clean.
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