An unexpected event in our street this morning brought home to me how tenuous the thread is between security and insecurity. There was a serious house fire next door and our neighbour is without a liveable home tonight.
We don’t know, at this stage, what caused the fire but our neighbour was fortunate enough not to be inside when it happened.
I didn’t realise this but there are about ten home fires each day in the state of Victoria.
Because we are not a metropolitan region the fire was attended by the CFA or Country Fire Authority. This is staffed by volunteers who give their time to attend outbreaks of fire, car accidents etc. It was not long before they were up on the roof of the house next door attempting to extinguish the blaze which appeared to have entered the roof cavity.
We have a wood-burning stove in our house making full use of fire to heat our dwelling; in this instance fire is a good servant. When fire is out of control it becomes the master and not the servant.
Check the batteries in your smoke detectors.
Gippsland Granny 
It’s always alarming when you witness a fire, and I can imagine how horrifying it must be for your neighbours now, it is a really awful thing to experience. I’ve twice had to call the fire brigade for fires in my home, once due to a candle (I never have them now – too nervous!) and once when I put a cloth teacosy onto a hot oven hob ring. The candle incident led to a lot of damage, the room it was in was completely blackened and had to be cleaned up and repainted. The bed, clothes, everything in that room was smoke damaged and covered in black greasy soot. I remember that the door stayed hot for ages after the fire had been put out, and I still have a few old buckled CD cases from that time to remind me of it. How quickly things can change when something catches fire, you do need to be incredibly aware and careful with naked flames. I’m off to check the smoke alarm…
Thank you for reminding us how important it is to check the batteries in the smoke detectors…many times thinking it is just a stupid bother, but far from it.
Very sorry that your neighbor lost their home. It is important to have smoke detectors and be careful with fire.