Electricity + Water = Fire
Dec/12/07 11:33 PM
Since the removal of the chimney we have received so much rain that I am contemplating abandonment of the house project and instead building an ark.
When I removed the chimney, I tacked a board over the hole and sealed it with roofing caulk, thinking that was just a precautionary measure in case it rained. Rain it did, and has been raining for 4 stinking days. Needless to say my “patch job” is leaking like a civ. I would get up there to fix it but, with the roof that wet, the ride down would rival that of any slide at a water park. Which leads me to the topic of this post...
You see, the numbskull that I am, when I took down the chimney I accidentally skinned off some wires that were indeed LIVE. Combine that with steady pouring water that is running down walls and wires and add an antiquated fuse based wiring system; what you get is a recipe for disaster.
Monday morning, I had to meet Randy Johnson at the house so they could get started on the foundation. Well, when I opened the door, I smelled something, something that smelled vaguely like... Yes, an electrical fire. Both the dining room and kitchen lights were flickering on and off, and from the chimney area I could see smoke and sparks shooting in all directions. The wires were burning, in parts, but luckily (if you can call it luck), I did such a terrible job on the roof patch that enough water was leaking through to put out the fires almost as soon as they started.
About that moment Randy walked in too, I think he was as horrified as I was. We jumped into action and pulled the fuses and Randy cut and capped off the wires. He professed that he wasn’t an electrician, but that what he did to the wires had to be better than what was there.
Since then, my head has been filled with “what ifs” and a step-up on double checking everything. Also, the electrician is coming out to cut power to the house and set up a temporary pole as well. Once in a while we all learn lessons the hard way, fortunately this one wasn’t as hard as it could have been.