A "burning bush" encounter

This was one of the more dramatic events that happened lately.

We had come back from an evening onboard the Doulos. There was a blackout, and I lit two tealight candles on the toilet cistern cover. Thinking that I would take a shower soon, I didn’t blow them out when I left the toilet.

After all, it wasn’t the first time I had left tealight candles burning in the toilet…

We sat out front at the verandah, where it was cooler. As time passed, I kept wanting to go back into the house to grab some snacks, or take a fruit from the fridge. But I dismissed those thoughts as me being greedy.

Then I decided it was time to call my mom. So I rang the number and strolled indoors. From a distance, I saw the light coming from the toilet area. I walked in that direction casually as I waited for my mom to pick up the phone. I heard something that sounded like rustling…and instinctively glanced at the glue trap we had set up to catch rats. (More on that another day.)

But no, there was no rat…suddenly I turned around and saw that the toilet was on fire! Because the house was pitch dark, the flames appeared really menacing. In that split moment, I wanted to rush in to put out the fire, then I suddenly remembered that not all fires can be put out by water – oh no, so what about burning plastic? Would water cause the fire to spread? I couldn’t think straight so I ran out to get LS (thinking that if the fire spread at least someone knew I was trapped inside and could get help?)

We both rushed into the house, I ran into the toilet and then threw water over the fire. It was extinguished immediately. The cistern cover had caught fire and the wall was charred. Even the cobwebs on the ceiling were singed!

When the lights came on, it was a sight to behold. Bits of ash were floating around – LS remarked that it looked like a scene from the movie Charlotte’s Web, as the baby spiders floated away after they were hatched. (I, on the other hand, wasn’t in such a literary mood!) An intense charred smell filled the air.

The next morning when I got up, I turned on my mobile phone and realized that it was Saturday. Which meant the night of the fire was Friday. Now, I usually call my mom on Saturday evening. But I had somehow thought that Friday night was Saturday…and the mistake averted a worse tragedy. If I hadn’t gone indoors to call my mom, there would have been more damage.

I am wondering how my landlord will react when he sees the charred mess.

Moral of the story?

[1] Just because something hasn’t happened before doesn’t mean it won’t happen Leaving candles unattended is NOT a good idea even though it’s never caused a fire before…until that fateful Friday evening!

[2] It’s always a good idea to call your mom!