The House Fire
What a $39 one-time investment could have prevented!
This is the actual home fire incident that inspired the development of the Stove Alert Reminder
A mother had placed her lunch on a high heated oiled up pan on her kitchen stove in her home.
A minute or two later the phone rang, distracting her away from the kitchen.
It was only a short sales call but enough to distract her mind away from the number rule in kitchen households - never never leave your stove attended when cooking with oil in the kitchen.
Already now being distracted from the stove she exited her home to buy a carton of milk at the convenience store adjacent to her home.
What happened next turned out to be the perfect storm resulting in a catastrophe.
While in the store, a long-lost friend that she had not seen since public school walked in.
They jumped for joy, embracing each other and started talking about old times. The conversation got carried away and within 10 quick minutes she noticed a crowd gathering outside the store.
As the two walked out of the store to see what was attracting all the attention, she was shocked to see that her house was completely ingulfed with thick black smoke bellowing out of all windows on both levels of the home.
An off duty crew member of Toronto’s Marine Search and Rescue Team happened to be driving by quickly pulled over. He was immediately alerted by the mother's frantic actions and loud screams.
He asked her to calm down and to tell him if there were any people in the house.
She answered yes, my baby, she is only 9 months old.
The black smoke made it impossible for him or others to go in without an oxygen mask.
He could hear the sirens from the fire trucks approaching along Lakeshore Blvd.
He took out a pen and paper and drew a quick square and marked an X to indicate the front door.
He then asked the panic stricken mother to mark an X where her baby girl is located in the home and to tell him on which floor she is.
She placed an X at the top right corner of the square drawing and then mentioning she is in a crib on the first floor.
Less than two minutes later the fire department arrived.
He explained to a rescue fireman that a 9 month old baby girl is in a crib at the far southwest corner of the first floor and then quickly showed him the drawing on paper where the girl is located marked with an X - so indicated by the mother.
The fireman sprang into action with an oxygen tank and mask and within 45 seconds the baby girl was pulled to safety.
The teamwork thankfully paid off without a minute to spare.
First, the tearful mother who was able to restore some control from a horrible situation was able to communicate to the off duty crew member of the Marine Search and Rescue Team who then collected the vital information that guided the fireman to the baby girl - which luckily turned out successfully.
The fireman did a great job - first locating the child just in time through the thick smoke and then by immediately applying life saving resuscitation.
A true hero from the Long Branch Fire Station Squadron in Toronto, Canada.
As the fireman exited the burning home with the baby girl in his arms, the baby was covered in black Soot - a powdery, carbon-rich residue.
The baby girl was taken to an emergency center by ambulance which had also quickly arrived on site and with the grace of God and great team support by the paramedics and by the doctors and nurses at Queensway General Hospital - she made a full recovery.
The house fire turned out to be uncontrollable and too far advanced ... and eventually burned to the ground.
The off duty Marine Search and Rescue crew member who just happen to be at the right place at the right time listened to the CBC news cast aired the following day and was perplexed by the reported frequency and commonality of home occupants of all ages being distracted away from the stove - a result of today's busy world.
He began to think that there must be an answer - a way to combat this common occurrence that destroys thousands of lives each year globally.
He had read the same fire distraction news and news stories about home fires as a result of people leaving their home for work or school without giving the stove a check, which only lead to dreadful events that were all very difficult to undo. Truly life changing consequences.
That compelled him to the develop a fire prevention device that would alert and remind people to check the stove before leaving the house.
That device is called Stove Alert - a motion sensor attached to the exit doors that activates a Voice Reminder to check the stove before exiting the home. A fire prevention tool that saves lives and property and presents peace of mind for families across North America and globally.
The Stove Alert concept appealed to both – now retirees of the Marine Search and Rescue Crew and Captain of a Toronto Fire Department Squadron … the founders of Stove Alert.
