triptych # 12 / civilized ku # 2650 ~ fighting cold with fire
Wednesday, January 8, 2014 at 10:09AM 
House fire ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggen
Ice storm ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggenDuring the past 3-4 weeks here in Au Sable Forks (and the NE US in general), we have been experiencing some "interesting" examples of weather extremes - very rapidly changing temperature (seasonal) extremes together with changing modes of precipitation - snow turning to rain and back to snow again, melting snow refreezing as ice, and 1 genuine 24hr. ice storm. Consequently, even though we have snow covered ground, that snow is now under a thick layer of ice. Ice which is thick enough to resist cracking or breaking through when walked upon.
The temperature extremes - yesterday's high in the 40˚s(F) with a night time low of 0˚(F) - with low temps of -20˚ have played havoc with plumbing in less than well-insulated houses. Freezing and bursting water pipes are very common. Somehow - we are still without a furnace - we have avoided any freezing pipes issues.
All of that written, one of the features of living in the North Country / Adirondacks is a constant parade (during the winter months) of front page newspaper stories / local tv news casts about house fires. Many, if not most, of the fires are the result of questionable practices in the attempt to produce heat - improper use of space heaters, overloading of electrical circuits with electric space heaters, and a variety of other follies.
Last Friday evening, one such folly, resulting in the total destruction of a house, happened within sight / close proximity to our house. For 4 days prior to the event, the night temperatures were all well below 0˚F, typically in the -5˚F to -20˚F range. Day highs were in the -5˚F to 2˚F range. Truly excellent water pipe freezing weather and that's precisely what happened in the house in question.
The owners were attempting to thaw pipes with what was obviously an ill-advised technique. Don't what that technique was but the results are painfully apparent. The house became a raging inferno and the firefighters from 6 surrounding towns had a hell of time dealing with the blaze while slipping, sliding, and falling on the previously mentioned ice covered ground. And with temps well below 0˚F, they had to fight the fire in shifts - while one group retreated to the local firehouse to warm up and avoid hypothermia, another group took over until they too had to retreat ... and so it went well into the morning hours.
gravitas et nugalis
Featured Comment: John Linn wrote: "Speaking of cold, still no furnace? Didn't you get a new furnace courtesy of Irene?"
my response: As I write, guys are in the basement installing the new furnace. And no, the boiler survived Irene but all the ancillary equipment - burner, etc, - was replaced. It does appear that those pieces survived the latest debacle but we won't know for certain until they try to fire up the thing.
Reader Comments (1)
I truly feel for those poor souls. Hope they have found some refuge from the continuing cold.
Speaking of cold, still no furnace? Didn't you get a new furnace courtesy of Irene?