So I have a new girlfriend. Things with her are great.

We’ve only been an item for a short time, but last night we had quite the bonding experience.

Yesterday was the Canadian federal election, so we were sitting watching the election results in her suite, which is in the attic of her parents' house. Her folks are elderly and starting to slip a bit, so she’s moved home to help them out.

A fuse blew, and as it's an older house (circa 1915), she said that wasn't unusual, so we headed down to the basement to flip the breaker. We did that: it sparked and turned itself off again. I figured there was a short somewhere and suggested she call an electrician in the morning. We went back up, plugged the TV into a different outlet, and continued to watch the election.

Lisa was working on a design contract while we watched, and realized she'd messed up an estimate, so she got up to look for some receipts, and said she smelled toast. I bugged her about having a stroke, but got up, went over there, and smelled it too...I recognized it was electrical smoke. We went downstairs to see if there were any suspicious signs in the basement. We told her Dad and grabbed a fire extinguisher. We went back up to her suite and I asked if there was a crawl space...realized if there was a fire inside the walls that we should feel them first. They were cool. Then I looked up to see if I could reach to feel the ceiling and noticed a brown patch which was spreading noticably.

We got the cats, dogs and her Dad out of the house. We had to restrain Lisa's Dad (he's stubborn and overall quite odd) from going back in to try and stop the fire. The fire department got there, put out the fire, which they said was smouldering, having consumed the oxygen in the attic space, but which was about 10 minutes from taking the roof. It was one of those situations where a fire, starved for oxygen but with plenty of fuel, will explode on contact with air. As it was it had burned right through three ceiling joists.

This morning the walls of Lisa's suite are stained with soot and water. The water went all down the inside of the walls into her parents' place. The firemen had to tear out a good part of the ceiling and wall in her suite, and what plaster wasn’t torn down is soaked with water and sagging off the lath. Her clothes are wet and smoke-smelling; her bed and most of her stuff are covered in insulation, soot, and plaster.

The fire started in an electrical junction box in the attic. It could have been triggered by any electrical activity in the house, and could have happened at any time. If the fuse had blown half an hour later, we would have been asleep directly beneath the fire. Who knows if we would have smelled it in time...we could have easily asphyxiated in our sleep and burned to death. And because the fire was above us, it was unlikely to have triggered the smoke alarm.

So my brand-new girlfriend and her cat Cemetery Jack will be staying with me for a while. Luckily for her we met when we did...she's got my car and my cell today to deal with insurance stuff. She's also unable to work in her suite (she’s an independent contractor so she works from home), so she'll be setting up shop in my ex-roommate’s room for a while...my new roomie doesn’t move in until February 15th.

I guess this experience will pretty much determine how strong our relationship will be...I suppose it’s truly a trial by fire?

To dland friends or anyone else reading this: I'm humbled and honestly quite shaken by just how close we came to injury or death last night. This morning I’m distracted by all the ways it could have been so much worse. Go replace the batteries in your smoke alarm today. If you don’t have smoke alarms: buy some. Hell, I’ll even send you the money. Mention it to your friends and loved ones, too...it’s such a simple and inexpensive way to protect yourself. Please. I really mean it.