[wiki]

The thread about having the heating on tempted us to test out the coal range in our old weatherboard house.

The range is about 100 years old and when we moved in six months ago the landlord said the council had rated it safe to use, and he'd had the chimney swept so it was good to go.

Yesterday, we tried it for the first time with some wood.

About four hours later it exploded outwards into our dining room/kitchen

We were sitting in a sofa with our backs to it about two metres away.

I'm not prone to exageration, but the dents in the walls and the burn holes in the carpet from flying embers and bits of brick and metal show us we're very lucky to be alive.

We were sort of slouched down in the sofa watching Rock Rivals downloaded on the computer. The slouching shielded us from most of the impact - and we're not hurt apart from a bit of coughing from the dust and soot and our backs are a bit sore.

It was a massive bang and then the whole room went black from the dust and smoke.

Fire service was great and came and cleaned up most for us, but here's a photo of the remains of the stove.

Not wanting to alarm anyone, but if you have an old stove or heater - especially if it used to have wetback (the fire service think that was the cause of the explosion) then get them re-certified.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/ukwiki/explode1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/ukwiki/explode2.jpg

[peebles16]

OMG that looks really scary - glad to hear you are all safe and relatively unscathed :yes

Karenx

[jubjub]

blardy heck, thats a bad one, you must still be shaking! guess its a good thing the whole house didnt go up.

[cappuccino]

That's a terrible mess but glad to hear you are ok.

I have discovered poor electrics in this new rental house. Are there any kind of regulations for landlords to comply with regarding electrics/safety before they can let out their properties?

[Familyofmonkeys]

Scary stuff....glad to hear you are OK!

[gil]

So glad that neither of you was hurt! Take care,
Gil
xx

[lockstock]

Blimey, that was too close for comfort. Hope you're OK. Extra blankets for a whlie then eh?

[Tia Maria]

:eek: :eek: :eek:

Cheers

Tia

[Scotty69]

OMG:eek: hope you are ok,

[JandM]

What a HORRIBLE thing to happen, but... it could've been so much worse. All the best for clearing up and getting rid of your coughs. I reckon somebody was looking after you there.

[Moorf]

OMG Amy - that's incredible, so glad you're both unharmed, wow... it's like a bomb went off..

There must have been one hell of a gas build up in there... those stoves are hefty!

Hugs to both
xx

[Nienke]

:no That must have been so scary! Thank god you are both allright!

[mossum]

thank goodness for slouching !

have a virtual brandy for you nerves - poor things

vic

[wiki]

Thanks everyone,

We were incredibly lucky and very, very thankful it wasn't worse.

We've got two sets of loss adjusters (ours for contents, and landlord's) coming around tomorrow, and industrial cleaners (yay) who say they'll do the whole house.

Insurance people were great today - but not so good on Friday night.

My landlord couldn't get his insurer to answer the phone for 20 hours! And I talked to State on Friday night who told me they couldn't do anything, it was down to our landlord's insurers!

Bu talked to State again today who were super helpful and apologised for the mis-information on Friday night. We stayed at the house last night after someone checked the gas water heating and electrics were alright.

Our possessions got off almost scott-free. We have a small burn on the two-seater sofa, the pc and external hard-drive will need professional cleaning to get the soot and ash out, and apart from that we had three burnt bath towels, a singed scarf, a burnt jersey, my trainers were coated in ash, and my ugg boots (which I was wearing) smell of smoke and aren't machine washable.

The only thing I'm sad about is my katmandu jacket which survived me treking it around Rome, Turkey, Scotland and Yorkshire for six years has massive melt holes and is no more.

Our hoover is also knackered from the Fire Service using it to pic up the hot ash.

Our guinea pig Chester (who lives in our hallway) was traumatised for a couple of days and shaking and hiding under the straw in his cage, but he's been out for his first run this morning and let us pick him up finally, so is well on the way to recovery. Then again, he only needs dandelion leaves to keep him happy...

In the grand scheme of things what we lost was absolutely nothing - how we escaped with little injury (OH saw doctor for tight chest after inhaling ash) and very little personal stuff damaged is an absolute miracle.

[Drover Jess]

so glad you are ok, what a HUGE fright and what a good thing you are insured...
perhaps LL will put heating or in now as I doubt you'll feel like lighting a stove again?

all the best and stay warm

[catt]

thank god for insurance......only realise the value of it when you have to use it.........glad your all ok,,,,,keep safe

[Pebbles]

:yes Wow!!! One great little guardian angel you've got there!
Hope things get back to normal for you very soon ... and thanks for the warning

[nickydwuk]

What a shock but good that no one was hurt and damage is to a minimum. A lesson to be learnt by all I think. Regardless of what landlords say - get things checked out yourself and make sure your insurance is up to date. Best of luck with the big clean. :nice1

[Jo Jo]

Oh my word. I'm glad to hear you are well.

[Mels]

That is so scary. I have always been afraid of gas fires, I can see myself going cold rather than using them now.

Glad to see you're all OK.

Mels

[thezorbster]

What an awful thing but thank goodness your guardian angel was out in force. Glad you're OK (and Chester!).

[mgbridges]

:eek: :eek: Blimey what a scene of devastation, can't believe you've both come out of it unscathed!

Someone was certainly looking out for you and your guinea pig! Hope all the insurance stuff gets sorted smoothly and quickly.

Anneliese

[dusk]

glad to hear you are alright. what a shock though!

[benandclare]

So glad you're ok and see it made "The Press" today

[Moorf]

You made the papers!

http://www.stuff.co.nz/southlandtimes/4498883a6568.html

[jubjub]

Hey, you girls are famous!

[Kerry and David]

:eek: So glad that you are both OK

K x

[wiki]

You made the papers!

http://www.stuff.co.nz/southlandtimes/4498883a6568.html

Yup, it's not often you're interviewed at your own desk at work.

(for those not in the know, I work at the Southland Times ... )

The industrial cleaners have stripped everything out of the dining room now and are coming back to clean the rest of the house today.

Seems a bit pointless when the coal range is still in place and needs to be pulled out - that's going to be even more dust!

haven't spoken to the landlord in a couple of days, and he's not said when the work will get done or how long it will take.

We're now tossing up whether to find another rental, or perhaps even another city... this sort of thing tends to give me itchy feet. I think it's reaction to feeling sort of "helpless" that I want to be proactive and make big decisions.

[Bruckner]

Yikes Wiki! I only just saw this. Glad you and OH are OK. Hope everything works out insurance wise.

Emily

[Den]

Wow! You are lucky, glad you are ok - keep us all posted can imagine you are feeling like shifting to another house.
The fires over here are a bit nerve racking!

[dilanium]

Oh wow. Glad you're okay!

I know I would find a new rental ASAP!

[bob_the_engineer]

Sincerely I’m glad your both ok, but I have to say this, just how big an idiot do you have to be to block a heat exchange with concrete! Your landlord literally built a bomb for you.

I’m not speaking with hindsight here, the probable outcome is completely obvious to anyone with a school level education in physics, and a thought in their head. In fact is so obvious, that if I were in your position I doubt I’d have thought twice before lighting the fire, I just wouldn’t expect someone who is prepared to work on a wetback to do something so stupid! I guess much like you I’d have been sat there in a cloud of smoke and ashes too.

If he’s done this, I’d be asking about any other alterations he’s made.

I’m not writing this for the sake of calling your landlord a moron. I’m wondering if you’ve checked the rest of the house…

Listen to me eh,,,,, lol. I feel like I’m talking down to you, honestly I’m not, I know lots of people who have no interest in things such as wiring and plumbing, but do expect them (as a minimum) to be safe, so don’t give them a second thought.

If that sounds like you, then I’d call in a gas plumber and an electrician to check the place over.

What a frightening experience.

One other thing, I’d expect your landlords liability insurance to cover absolutely everything. As a tenant in NZ your expected to carry liability insurance, just in case you destroy the landlords house.

Liability insurance is usually included in your home contents, as a tenant I had an additional liability policy, (OMG I’m so boring).:D

Anyway, in short, he blew your stuff up, make the idiot pay for the damage!


Bob