Havanese Forum banner

Big time scare

3K views 37 replies 26 participants last post by  davetgabby 
#1 · (Edited)
pulled onto my street coming home from work. As I'm nearing my house I see what looks like a firetruck out front and near my house. As I get closer , yes it's a firetruck. and yes it's right in front of my house. The driver is still in the truck and has to back up so I can pull in my driveway. I see the front door open. Heart is beating 200 times a minute, and my first thoughts is Gwen having a heart attack, as she does have issues with it. Pile out of the truck and there in the front hallway are three firefighters and GWEN standing there talking .As she sees me I am almost in tears. Turns out the hardwired smoke detectors all went off and she called the fire dept. and told them there wasn't a fire and that it wasn't an emergency. They dispatched the truck anyway which they probably shouldn't have and it took them fifteen minutes to figure out the problem. One of the detectors was faulty or dusty ,who knows and the system is such that if one goes off , they all go off , JOY. They had to find the right breaker (which is labelled bathroon /hallway) lol , so they could test each detector individually to see what was the problem. Needless to say they found the culprit, . So I guess after being here for 18 years its time to replace all of them. Yes hardwired ones too . I sort of remember reading this years ago but you know , I never replaced them,. Geeze I really didn' t need this. She didn't have a heart attack ,but I nearly did . Lesson learned you dumb bugger Dave. Molly wasn't happy either . Gwen is still shaken. Five detectors going off for twenty plus minutes would do it to me too.
 
See less See more
#3 ·
Oh Dave, how awful. You had my heart beating just a little bit faster reading your story. I know the problems Gwen has had in the past. Sending hugs your way.
 
#4 ·
thanks Heather and it's good to see you back Geri. I need a drink , still upset.
 
#9 ·
thanks alll, I'm sipping a triple shot of rum and coke. Yeah Lucile now that I'm researching , I find out that some hardwired ones have backup batteries in them in case of power failure. Still trying to figure if mine do. The company that makes mine is no longer in business. GEEZE
 
#30 ·
You always have me LOL! Love you!
 
#11 ·
Glad everything is okay. The advantage of the hardwired alarms is that they summon the fire department even if you are not home. Important if you have dogs! I put in a system for that reason alone!

When i first moved into my house (my very first house), there was an alarm system there that was not connected (from the previous homeowners). well, at 4am one morning it decided to go off (the power dipped or something which triggered it). Of course I couldn't call the alarm company because i had no idea who they were. All i could do was put on some clothes and brush my hair and make myself "presentable" for the fire department when they arrived. I didn't even get a date out of the whole ordeal!
 
#14 ·
lol, yeah our security system isn't direct to fire dept. Had the option but figured what if you're cooking and set it off. Here we get charged for false alarms. Sheri yeah , no one would sleep through them, I think a deaf man could hear them. lol
 
#15 ·
When I had my "protection" dog and my DH was away, the alarm system went off in the middle of the night. I had paid a lot of money for the dog and the system. Well when the alarm siren started up, me and Axel took off to the bottom floor and out the door. I always wondered who was most afraid, me or Axel. Well it was a thunder storm and I guess rattled a window and set off the alarm. Now I know that if someone had broke in, Axel would have attacked and held them until the police arrived, but the alarm system scared us both. We took it out when I replaced my windows and the smoke alarms may be twenty years old. It is a good thing that I have lots of doors to the outside.
 
#16 ·
thanks for that Lucile, I need a laugh too.
 
#18 ·
yeah Linda , that's it, I saw no fire equipment and that made me think otherwise, . Here quite often the fire dept. will get medical calls as well , if they're available quick. Thanks.
 
#19 ·
It's all been said, but very relieved for you, Dave! We had changed our detectors to battery because they were old and going off too. Now, just have to remember to change the battery. Last time I tried to put it back together, it was a big headache, like a puzzle. You'd think they could come up with a more people friendly design!
 
#20 ·
I am glad everything is ok, Dave. Hopefully your heart rates have settled down by now. That happened to us, too. The smoke alarm in one of our daughter's rooms went off in the middle of the night. The alarm company called and I told them to tell the firefighters not to come, but they did anyway. We have had the one replaced, but not the others yet. It's one of those things you keep putting off.
 
#24 ·
Are they all on the same circuit, and nothing else on that circuit? When I built new houses, that's the way I set them up. I never trusted the ones that were battery only. If that's the case, just make sure to mark the breaker, and if there's obviously no smoke, the breaker can just be flipped off.
 
#31 ·
Tom they're on with the main washroom and hallway lights. Your idea would be best, but you know builders ,they don' t care. I could shut it off without too much problem but I'm not sure how they found the faulty one. I'm no electricain that's for sure. I'm going to replace them all . Don't need these going off when Gwen is alone again :frusty:
 
#25 ·
I was happy to hear it wasn't Gwen or Molly and I'm so sorry for your scare. I moved into an apartment a long time ago and the battery started beeping in the middle of the night. I climbed up a chair and tried to figure out how to make it stop. then I noticed a wire. I tried to just put a pillow over my head but after going crazy I climbed back up and cut the wire. I hadn't really read my lease about not tampering with the fire detector.:brick:
 
#29 · (Edited)
Gee Dave, I had those two stiff drinks for you and woke up this morning with a hangover--the first one in many years. What I will do for a Havanese friend.

BTW DH and I came home one night many years ago to find two police cars in the yard, lights flashing, police with guns going through the house. My then teenaged youngest child and his friend had scared themselves and thought someone was trying to break in. They had run to the neighbors house and of course the neighbors called the police. Well you can imagine how scared we were at first. That may have been my last hangover.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top