A Family Fire Plan Pays Off

By Nancy K. Crevier

Be proactive is the message that comes out of a close call with fire at the home of Betsy and Deryl Gaier in Sandy Hook. Check wiring periodically, test the smoke alarm, have a family fire plan in place, and hope for a lot of good luck on your side.

When an electrical fire broke out at their Buttonball Drive home Saturday afternoon, June 9, having a family plan and “the blessings of God,” said Mrs Gaier, turned what could have been a very damaging fire into practically a nonevent.

Marty Gaier, 16, and his brother, Andy, age 12, were hanging out at home June 9 while their parents set up the tents for La Mamacita’s Relay For Life team. When Marty peeked into his bedroom to investigate an odd crackling noise, he saw smoke billow out the door and flames shooting about 18 inches high behind the dresser. This is where some of the good luck came into play.

“I had been in the back room with headphones on, on the computer, just a few minutes earlier and had come out to the kitchen to make snacks,” said Marty. “I don’t think I would have heard the crackling a few minutes before.”

The fire plans his parents had drilled into him for years snapped into place, said Marty. “I called for Andy to get the fire extinguisher from the room he was in, sent him outside to our meeting place by the mailbox, and ran downstairs to cut the power.”

He then ran upstairs and used the fire extinguisher on the now-diminishing fire, putting it out before it spread further.

What he had not counted on was that by shutting off the power, Marty had also turned off power to the phones, making a 911 call impossible at that time. But he felt he did not need to notify the fire department at that point, although Newtown fire marshal Bill Halstead said that calling 911 should be the second step in any fire instance. The first, of course, is to vacate the premises.

Betsy Gaier said she is very proud that her sons remembered to do what they had been told in case of emergency. “Andy went right out when Marty told him to. He didn’t stop for the cats, he didn’t stop for any of his Legos. He went right to our meeting spot by the mailbox. Then he used a cell phone and called us at the Relay For Life and very calmly told us what had happened. Deryl went right home, but the boys were absolutely calm about the whole thing,” said Mrs Gaier.

Marty said that because of his parents’ insistence on a fire plan and his training about fires as a Boy Scout, at no time did he feel particularly threatened by the incident.

With the fire extinguisher dust coating half of the room and the smoke dissipated, Marty was able to see that the source of the fire was wiring that ran from an aquarium bubbler into an extension cord. “The extension cord is new, but the bubbler we got from our uncle, so it was probably 10 or 12 years old,” said Marty. Hidden behind the dresser, the Gaiers never gave a thought to inspecting the connection.

“I think if Marty had not acted so quickly, we could have lost two or more rooms in the house,” said Mrs Gaier. Ending up with a scorched dresser and seared wall seems like a blessing to her. “When I think about how if this had happened the night before when we were all out, or if Marty hadn’t heard it, or if it had happened overnight, I am so happy that all I have is a mess from the fire extinguisher to clean up,” she said.

Two things will be replaced in the Gaier household, she said: the fire extinguisher and the smoke alarm. “The smoke alarm had new batteries, but it never went off. It is right outside of the bedroom door,” Mrs Gaier said.

All’s well that ends well, in this case.

Mr Halstead does recommend that in case of fire, all occupants get outside of the structure and call for help no matter how minor a fire may seem. Fire can quickly grow out of control, said the fire marshal.

“No one should be ashamed to call the fire department. That’s what we’re here for. We really don’t mind being ‘bothered’ for a fire that turns out to be nothing,” said Mr Halstead. “I’m glad this one worked out.”