I count my blessings that I didn’t kill my entire family.

[NYLIBUD]

Ok so to understand what I’m writing about,you have to know that I currently am caring for my 85 yo father,with the onset of Dementia.My mother died in 2015,at which point I moved in with my father to care for him.Well Sat night I had my entire family over for dinner,myself,sister,her kids,my father.My brother his wife and son.We were all eating dinner.Shortly after my nephews and nieces wanted to go in the basement to hang out.That’s when my nephew came up to tell me the pilot light flame on the gas burner was pouring out of the bottom,and burning the front of it.I went down to see,and decided to immediately shut the heat off,and called our gas co to come and look at it.The guy came yesterday(I wrote this at around 2-3AM this morning)Anyway,the repair guy said that the burner,which happens to be around 50 years old,I guess my folks got their moneys worth.He explained that it was completely carbonized,from years and years of soot,not allowing the pilot flame to go out up through the pipe...The guy said that we were all lucky the house didn’t blow up,or that my family,and I didn’t suffer from any Co2 exposure.We also had no working smoke,or Co2 detectors..Anyway,I really blame myself,becuse I should’ve been on top of all that,especially with my father’s health declining..So I’m counting my blessing that I didn’t kill my entire family.?‍♂️??.Everyone out there should make sure their heating systems are in good working condition,and to install smoke and Co2 detectors if you don’t have them.Ok that’s all,sheesh.

Thanks

Edited November 27, 2023 by NYLIBUD

[Horrorshow]

Glad everyone is safe ?

[Snake45]

Wow, you really ARE lucky!  I hope you've thanked God for your good fortune.

When I saw the thread title, I thought it was going to be a story about a family member knocking over your display case and destroying several dozen of your most prized models, or something along those lines. 

[ColonelKrypton]

8 minutes ago, Horrorshow said:

Glad everyone is safe ?

Indeed.

That was a real problem waiting to happen. Good advise.

cheers, Graham

[TonyK]

Glad everyone is ok. The furnace is like many other things in your house; you don't think about having it serviced every so often as long as it's working but they need to be looked at to make sure it's all good.

[Dave Van]

Sounds like you did everything right. Good thing you were there. Thank God it ended as it did.

[Fat Brian]

Glad you guys are safe. As a gas company employee I implore everyone with any gas appliances or heating units to have carbon monoxide detectors. Some fire houses will even give you one for free. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Pretty scary photos. Glad the ending was a happy one.

[NYLIBUD]

Hey thanks to all you guys.I really do appreciate it.Yea it’s just crazy how everything happened.I mean we were all in the dining room,which just happened to be right over the burner in our basement.If that thing blew,we would’ve been shot like a rocket into space.?☄️??‍♂️Just like that.Its strange,but I think my mother had something to do with it.She was probably looking down,and saying,oh no way,don’t you dare blow up my beautiful house,your father and I built over the years.Lol.Well again thank you all.??Always said how great the people are that use this website.

[Muncie]

Glad you are all OK, and thank you for the heads-up

[NOBLNG]

Glad you and your family are safe. We have smoke detectors that are wired into our monitored alarm system. We also have CO detectors upstairs and down. They aren’t monitored though, but would hopefully alert us if there was a problem. You can’t be too safe when it comes to gas or electrical systems.

[webestang]

I'm also glad you and the fam are OK. Scary stuff. That happened to me about 10 years ago in a house I was renting. When the guy came to change the furnace out for a new one he said the old furnace was as old as the house......the house was built in 1954!!  

[espo]

Glad this all ended well for you and your family. Now knowing the age of the home and the basic equipment that we all take for granted, now might be a good time to invest in having a home inspection done by a trusted inspector. Your water heater is another problem area when they go bad. 

[NYLIBUD]

Yea,thanks again guys.But I was just really stupid and I could’ve blown up my house,or killed myself and old man.? with Co2.And to have nothing in the house in the way of any alarms,yea I really have no excuses.Getting a whole new system tomorrow,a friend of a friend,fully licensed and insured of course.And yup,sometimes things just work out…but dam.?

Edited November 28, 2023 by NYLIBUD

[Rodent]

Please get the recommended number of smoke / CO detectors for your layout and install them immediately.

[GLMFAA1]

Thankful the kids wanted to go to the basement. Most kids don't like basements (see furnace in "A Christmas Story")

Smoke detectors are a chore like they used to be with 10 year batteries but they do expire in seven years and they will let you know that.

greg

[NYLIBUD]

STUPID!!?‍♂️?

[Khils]

17 minutes ago, NYLIBUD said:

STUPID!!?‍♂️?

Wrong choice of wording... I think the better use would be complacent.

 The word you used.... would only apply if you hadn't done anything, or you chose not to remedy the situations.

Yep!    ...still human.

Edited November 28, 2023 by Khils

[Russell C]

A nomenclature correction, if may offer it:  CO detectors -- carbon monoxide, single carbon atom / single oxygen atom combined, deadly to breathe in large quantities. It's what folks do to take themselves out when parked in a garage with the engine running and a hose directing all the tailpipe fumes into the car. CO2 has two oxygen atoms, it's what we breathe out, and when there's too much of it in a crowded room with everyone talking, the air begins to just feel a bit stuffy.

[1930fordpickup]

Ron don't beat yourself up over this. taking care of your dad is not easy. You have a lot on your plate. Maybe you just need a check list of things you should have checked out. That old boiler will work fine with a cleaned-up burner. MY dad and I did his one time because the holes were rusted up. He put the boiler in the house in 1963 or 1964 and we did the cleanup in 93 and every couple of years after that until My sister and her husband purchased the house 2 years ago. 

[NYLIBUD]

Yea,as I said,i really appreciate everyone’s post.Thank you guys again for all the advice.Some pretty funny ones too.?Actually the new system is going in as I write this.??

[NYLIBUD]

All done,ahhh.??‍?Didn’t break my bank $$ either.?And no busted pipes.

[Xingu]

We had a 20 year old unit do the same thing. It was shooting a flame about 4" outside the unit. Just happened to be walking by it at the right time. I use it as a reminder that everything needs maintenance and needs to be checked regularly.

[Tom Geiger]

Wow Ron!   I'm very happy the whole thing worked out and nobody was injured or killed.  Big thanks to the nephew who spotted it!

And thank you for posting it!  You may have saved another family!  

[slusher]

You just never know, I am glad you cought it in time an everyone is safe!