My Night of Terror

Monday night was a completely normal night - to begin with anyway. I edited photos while watching (listening to) Dancing With the Stars and went to bed around 10:30.

At exactly 1:28 a.m., I was ripped from my peaceful slumber by a really loud noise. I quickly realized it was the smoke alarm. I tried so hard not to panic, but I did not have any luck. What is one supposed to do in this situation? 


Stop, drop and roll?!?!

I jumped out of bed and as I scrambled to find pants in case there really was a fire, a thousand thoughts ran through my head. I was completely panicking. My first thought was, "Oh No! I can't have a fire! I don't even have a fire extinguisher!" (I totally do now though). Then, for some crazy reason, I was certain that someone had broken into my house and was setting off the fire alarm to get me out of my locked bedroom.

Like I said, I was panicking.


And that apparently makes me straight up crazy.

I was completely over-reacting because I wasn't quite awake and I was completely terrified, so I grabbed my gun - seriously - and Charlie's Angel-ed my way down the hallway, with a fantastic case of bed-head. (The re-play of this event in heaven will be so hilarious). I didn't smell any smoke and quickly ran through my whole house -well, the main level anyway, to be sure there was no fire.

Thankfully, there was not.

There were 2 alarms going off. I had to drag a chair from my dining room down the hallway to reach the alarm and when I reached to turn it off, I noticed that it was a smoke and carbon monoxide detector. Great.

It took me a minute to realize the other alarm that was going off was the one in my super scary, super dark basement.

Why not?

I dragged the chair down the stairs and got the alarm shut off. So annoying. But, I was super concerned with the CO thing...so I called my dad, who didn't answer, then my mom. Who also did not answer. About this time, both alarms started going off again.

I was so freaked out!

I'm such a scared-y cat anyway, but it's a whole 'nother beast in the middle of the night, in the dark, when I'm all alone and don't know how to take care of a (loud and scary) problem.

I called my mom again who answered immediately. As soon as I heard her voice, I totally started crying.

What's wrong with me? I'm like a 4-year-old. Honestly.

I decided to call dispatch and get some advice. I thought about just disconnecting the alarms and going right back to bed, but the whole CO possibility was terrifying. My mom didn't put my fears to rest at all by telling me a story of a lady she knows whose whole family was in her home when there was a carbon monoxide leak and they all got really sick...but they got out and are okay.

I called dispatch and a really nice girl answered and asked how she could help me. I blubbered out the tale of my current situation and she, without hesitation, told me that I had to evacuate immediately.

Right.

So, I walked out to the end of my driveway in socks and pajamas. Not awkward at all. Oh, and by the way, I was full-on sobbing by this point. It was not my best moment. I blubbered out my name and address and she told me that someone was on the way. Then she asked if I wanted her to stay on the phone until they got there. She obviously realized that I was crazy. I told her that I was fine and hung up.

So, I was scared inside my safe home. I was at a whole new level of freak-out standing out on the dark street in my pj's in the middle of the night. I called my mom back and she and my dad chatted with me for 15 minutes (why so long?) until help got there.

The 'help' was one cop car, one fire truck and one ambulance - a grand total of SEVEN men. A little much, if you ask me, but I was so glad they came. Four guys stumbled out of the fire truck (they had clearly been asleep prior to my little emergency) and went into my house to check things out. They made me stay outside in case it wasn't safe. They were inside about 7 minutes and came out and told me that the air was clear and there were no dangers...just a faulty smoke alarm in the basement.

Whew!

But, I was kind of embarrassed. Relieved beyond belief, but a little embarrassed that they all came out for nothing. Well, nothing besides my peace of mind, I guess.

As soon as they left, I went back downstairs, climbed on the chair (both of my dining room chairs were down there by then - don't ask) and unhooked the alarm. I removed the battery, but - from prior experience, knew that some alarms still chirp even when they are unhooked and the battery is taken out, so I took it out to my garage and put it in my car, just in case.

I was very ready to go back to bed at this point. I totally trusted that I had disconnected the alarm that wasn't working right, so I should have been able to settle down and go right back to sleep, right? Not even close. I was still so panicked that I could not even get settled. I was so tense and fully expected an alarm to go off again. So, I basically only slept for 3 hours that night and just tossed and turned for the rest of it.

Oh, and at 5:44 a.m. the smoke alarm in the upstairs hallway went off again. Geez. Not too big of a deal because my first (I set 3 - so not a morning person) alarm goes off at 5:45. but it's still terrifying to be ripped out of bed in such a way.

So, I currently have 2 disconnected smoke alarms. Yesterday was so rough because I was so, so tired. I was pretty emotional and, let's be honest - crabby all day. I always thought I did okay under pressure and/or stressful situations. 

Now I know better.