J. Peterson's Writing About Electronics, Reviews, 3D Modeling, etc.

Category Archives: Fire

Why? (Fire, Part 3)

March 30, 2017 – 1:02 pm

Everybody asks that.  Figuring out what happened wasn’t easy.

Suspect #1 – The Intercom

Immediately after the fire, the firemen pulled out this item from where the fire took place, and casually suspected it as the cause:

It’s a home intercom unit. It’s designed to use the house’s power wiring to communicate. They’d never worked all that well, and several months before we threw out two of the three units. I had an idea for an improved design, so I kept the remaining unit thinking I could re-use the plastic case and put my own workings in it.

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Reality Check (Fire, Part 2)

February 18, 2017 – 2:44 pm

Siren chasers

Before heading to the hotel, we’d gone into the house briefly to retrieve a few items – some clothes, phone chargers, etc. It was well past 1am by the time we settled in hotel. I couldn’t sleep at all; anxious to figure what was going on, I got up early. My cell phone rang, I instinctively answered.

Caller: Hi, I understand you need a clean up crew at your residence for a fire…

Me: Uh, I contacted the insurance company, I think they’re taking care of that.

Caller: Oh no, you don’t want to use them, insurance just uses the cheapest people. We’ve got a crew of pros that can get right out there and…

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Fire (Part 1)

February 2, 2017 – 10:32 pm

We’d run an errand, then gone out to dinner. We were out for maybe three hours, returning a little after 10pm. Our teen-age twins, eager to get home, ran up the steps from the driveway to our front door. “Fire! The house is on fire!” they called out. I ran up to see what was going on. Smoke was pouring out the front door.

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