What Could've Caused It?

At the middle of a hearty meal at lunch we were alarmed by our youngest sibling's shout.

On March 26, we went to one of my paternal cousin's wedding. We didn't attend the ceremony though but we went at the reception.

It was very hot that time that I had to make my kids wear their caps.

We arrived at the reception, our cousin's residence at a good timing. There's less people lined up to get food and lesser crowd, too.

After getting food, we went to greet the newly weds and give them our gifts. It was me, my sister and our mother. The kids sat patiently at one side where our father was sitting while they wait for us. We, then immediately made our exit because the baby am carrying was already fussy and couldn't stand the heat.

There's nothing unusual when we get in the house. Our youngest sibling was in his room doing some of his school papers. His windows were also closed. We called him to eat but my mother said they already had lunch.

"Fire!" He said in a not so alarming tone as he went again inside to get a bucket of water. My sister stood immediately and went out to investigate when she shouted in an alarmed voice. "Ma, apoy!" She screamed. My mother got up and she, too panicked. And called out. FIRE!

I, on the other hand was startled on how my sister and mother reacted. As I looked towards the door, I saw huge fire just outside. I sprung from my chair and immediately went to the bathroom to fill the bucket with water. I took the rug at the bathroom floor and some dirty clothes and submerged in the bucket of water. My sister came to get water and I handed her the bucket w/ water and the wet rug and the dirty clothes in.

While doing so, I was holding my baby securely. Maybe it was an instinct while the adrenaline went high to fight. I forgot I was holding my baby but at the same time I was carrying him in an secured manner.

We have a fire extinguisher inside the house but unluckily it was not refilled.

The house was actually divided into two. Each has its own comfort/bathroom, kitchen and a spacious living room. Three rooms in each also. The ones my parents are occupying is where we are eating at that time. The other half is where I am stacking the items am selling. The room nearest the entrance of the other side is where my younger brother's. That's why he fetched water from the kitchen on the other side. Outside the main door is a wooden shelf which is made of pine wood and repurposed as shoe rack.

When the fire was extinguished, my mother asked how or what could've caused the fire. We were all puzzled because there's nothing but our shoes, umbrellas and some of her flowers on top. Her spray/water bottle was also in it. So I guessed and said maybe the spray bottle she used to water her plants combusted..

The shelf outside the door is always reached by the sun from 12 noon until sundown and so does the remaining half part of the house.

My mother lost her appetite to eat while I felt the aftermath of my adrenaline rush. We fixed the foods because the kids are done eating. I also told my mother and sister not to shriek in times like that because they will startle others. And instead of thinking what to do, they will just panick.

The shelf was divided into three. The upper part was where our shoes was, the middle was where some of my mom's gardening tools are placed. While the lowest was for the dogs' and cats' bowls.

After partially recovering from the shock Mother went out and started to clean the shelf when she found a box of matches at the very back of the middle part . The one which was the most burnt part. Near it was a small bag of artificial fertilizer or the ones we call ammonia.

The box of matches was somehow in a shady part of the shelf. The shelf was made of pinewood, the variety we call "saleng" which its sticky sap comes out when place under the sun and it gets hard to remove from clothes when you happen to sit in it. This is the one which is best used when starting a fire because even a small piece can ignite a pile of firewood.

The umbrellas, shoes and slippers in the shelf could catch fire easily that's why the fire got big in no time especially that the kind of wood the shelf is made of was "saleng."

How did we know there's fire outside? As told earlier my brother was busy with his school papers. The shoe rack was just outside his window which is flanking the main door where we were. Our li'l brother smelled something like burnt rubber but just ignored thinking that maybe someone was burning something in the rice paddies nearby. His window was closed and it was not made of clear glasses, but then he saw that smoke was already entering his room. He immediately opened one of the windows and saw the fire. He shouted at once to get our attention which we thought was a fire from our neighbors some meters away. He directly went straight to the kitchen sink just outside his room. In a split second he came out then again shouted to be notice. That was the time my sister got up, followed by my mother then me looking outside the door.

Thankfully, there was no electric cables near it and the house was made of concrete. What could've happened? The fire got big in just a minute.

And another thing we were thankful of was it didn't happen in the furniture shop. It was located at the back of the house. It is where every power tools is stored and the stocks of wood piled. Sawdust isn't't also cleaned and that, too can catch fire easily.

We were very much grateful that our father wasn't in the house yet. Because it will surely make his blood pressure sky high.

Everyday, we see fire incidents in the television caused by many factors which we weren't able to avoid. So in order to prevent something like this we have to be vigilant, need to check everything before leaving the house. With our case, I still doesn't know what could've caused it.

Was it the box of matches with the artificial fertilizer beside it? Or was it the spray bottle for my mom's flora?

4-12-22

Z_Graeden