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Napping Guardian Angel Woken by Smoke Alarm

This is priceless - or it would be if it wasn't serious.

First of all, a fireman (allegedly) describes an entirely predictable fire as a "freak accident" but then the family go on to suggest the loss of life was prevented by a Guardian Angel.

Full Story

If you can read the comments, the most surprising thing seems to be the negative reaction thrown at the only commentator who seems to have a grip on reality. I've added my tuppenth-happney later and will doubtless be ragged if someone notices.

What you have is this:

Child (11) uses Blu-tak to put picture on wall - above what we think is a traditional light - 60W+ housed in a very tall uplighter (not clear in the picture on the net, but was in the printed version).
Over time, the Blu-tak dries up or otherwise looses adhesion causing the picture to slip right onto the lamp.
Any residual moisture in the paper has long since dried out by the heat from the lamp - leaving it tinder dry.
Paper falls from wall catching against hot bulb and ignites; shortly thereafter falling onto the bed - igniting the child's toy
Smoke alarm goes off.
Everyone is OK.

This is what smoke alarms do.

It took me less than a second to work that out just by looking at the picture and I expect "Andy" in the comments figured out the same.

What irks me (and I think Andy too) is that the local rag has blow this into some sort of amazing survival against the odds human story; and the quote from the fireman is nothing short of nuts. Having been on both sides of these stories, I fully expect the quote is entirely out of context or even made up.

But what pains me is the bizarre belief that this child was being watched over by a supernatural force - a force was powerful enough to prevent the child (and perhaps the family) being overcome by smoke, but strangely unable to stop an entirely preventable accident in the first place. A force that, in fact, waited until the smoke alarm started screeching before it acted.

Or maybe... well, you can see where I'm going here.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Craigart14 on September 16, 2011 at 9:24pm

Is that a small town with a local paper? The story is pretty muddled. Why would flames close to the child cause her to pass out? The floor lamp in the photo looks to me like a halogen torchiere style lamp. They get very hot and should never be used in a child's room. Is that the lesson to be learnt?

Permalink Reply by Ken Jackson on September 16, 2011 at 10:32pm

I keep a 55 gallon drum of papal pee in the corner of my room just for these kinds of emergencys... After all you never know when Lucifer is gonna be hangin; round your back door, and it is always better to be safe than sorry. Besides without the fire how could you even begin to count your blessings...

Is the world getting more and more stupid, or am I just getting older and wiser? I for sure am not ready for any of these idiots, from the fireman on down.... Gimme a phooqin break!

Permalink Reply by Hollyn on September 16, 2011 at 10:41pm

Must have been a slow day in the newsroom.

"What's the news today?"

"No news. The only thing that has happened recently was a house fire in Linthorpe."

"Great! Fires make great headlines! Was there any damage?"

"A comforter was critically wounded."
"No property damage?"

"They may need to buy a new lamp."
"What was the cause of the fire?"
"Parents let their 11 year old use blu-tak to hang a picture above a lamp."
"Well that was stupid. So, how many firemen did it take to control the blaze?"

"Well... the father was actually able to snuff the flames before the brigade even got there."

"Oh for fuck's sake! Give me a break here... Alright, here's the headline: 'Girl's Guardian Angel Saves Family From Freak Accident!' There! Done! Let's get the hell out of here."

Permalink Reply by Marc Draco on September 17, 2011 at 7:11am

Priceless... Pretty much sums it up.

Permalink Reply by Tom Sarbeck on September 17, 2011 at 12:27am

The logic:

1. Guardian angels help people survive people freak accidents.

2. These people survived a freak accident.

3. Therefore, guardian angels exist.

Why did I not immediately see that?

Permalink Reply by The Secular One on September 17, 2011 at 5:01pm

Part of me just wants to say "that's what you get for not using compact fluorescent bulbs" because those wouldn't generate the heat to light paper on fire.

But it was a guardian angel huh? Then why do they even have a smoke alarm? Stupidity is everywhere I suppose.

Permalink Reply by Hollyn on September 17, 2011 at 9:44pm

I had that same thought about the lightbulbs.... lol.

Permalink Reply by Brian Stout on September 17, 2011 at 5:50pm

I agree that the mention of a 'guardian angel' by a news agency is ludicrous.

However, I belive the entire article is filled with nothing more than sensationalism, like one commentor said.

"the blaze closed in on the sleeping girl"

"only minor damage"

Permalink Reply by Marc Draco on September 17, 2011 at 6:27pm

It wasn't an agency, it's a local reporter - that does not excuse it.

But don't try and comment on the article - you'll get seriously burned by the ignorant majority in my home town.

Oh, god, my head hurts.

Permalink Reply by Remko Wagemakers on September 18, 2011 at 11:07am

Literally unbelievable [pun intended].

If the 'Guardian Angel', wo was obviously woken by the smokedetector/fire alarm, than we should probably change many product descriptions from 'Made in China/Japan/Taiwan' to 'Made by God in Heaven & Distibuted by Guardian Angel Inc.' Damn.. They really have a large productline, and are in all kinds of businesses... ;)

Permalink Reply by Marc Draco on September 18, 2011 at 11:25am

That gives me an idea for some photoshoppery... Umm...

Permalink Reply by Teagraves on October 1, 2011 at 1:49am