Fire!!!!

citizen_erased · Sep 5, 2007

Firstly, i'm sorry to everyone who reads this post. 'Sorry'
Secondly, I didn;t know where to post this, but as it's part of my novel I stuck it in this section, I hope that's ok. Now, onto the matter at hand. For my WIP, I need a fire to start in a house, with people in. But I don't know how. I'm ruling out cigerettes and candles. My original idea was to have somebody cooking on a gas hob and leaving it, hoping that it will some how set on fire. Now my question is, is this possible and if so, how? I tried looking on the net but all the websites were about fire safety and not how to start one...surprisingly! Thanks for reading, sorry if I am annoying anyone with yet another 'how should I do this' thread. Andy x

JoNightshade · Sep 5, 2007

Perhaps a worn-out electrical cord on an appliance?

Esopha · Sep 5, 2007

An exploding Zippo? That's how my friend's closet caught on fire.

Azraelsbane · Sep 5, 2007

You can always go my way pyrokinetic angel + house = burn

Also, leaving gas on will lead to bad fire mojo eventually. It will probably be a little too explosive for your liking though. If you want everyone in the house to end up crispy critters, go for it.

I think the electrical cord is a good thing. How about time of year? X-mas decorations are the fire department's worst nightmare.

reigningcatsndogs · Sep 5, 2007

painting/cleaning rags combusting? That one always scares me.

rugcat · Sep 5, 2007

JoNightshade said:
Perhaps a worn-out electrical cord on an appliance?

Especially an electric space heater. If the plug is worn, it can spark and burst into flames. Since it's plugged right into the wall. it can catch the wallboard or wood on fire quite easily. I've experienced this.

The_Grand_Duchess · Sep 5, 2007

Azraelsbane said:
You can always go my way pyrokinetic angel + house = burn

Every plot problem can not be solved by a crazy celestial being Azreal!

That being said, if it's cold a space heater on the carpet would do the trick. Or you know, me with matches.

EriRae · Sep 5, 2007

Does the homeowner have a cat? They're always knocking stuff over, especially candles or anything with visible flames--they want to play w/ the flame, at least mine did. She's been banished to the basement whenever I burn a candle.

Azraelsbane · Sep 5, 2007

The_Grand_Duchess said:
Every plot problem can not be solved by a crazy celestial being Azreal!

Who said he was crazy? The boy was just doing his job.

citizen_erased · Sep 5, 2007

Well what I was thinking was... One of my characters is cooking something on a gas hob, as he is doing this he is distracted because somebody (the bad guy) has broken into the house. So my character goes off to find out what on earth is going on, a fight follows and before you know it, the house is on fire. Saying it like that, sounds a bit thin and weak, but it was good in my head. If the gas hob thing won't work, might have to be a flamable spillage or something

Maryn · Sep 5, 2007

Any electrical thing that creates heat (hair dryers, space heaters, heating pads) makes the electrical outlet somewhat warm when left on for a long period. Badly-wired houses (including older homes, sometimes, or newer ones by really cheap builders who cut corners) have the outlets get so hot they can blister skin. (Trust me on this.) It's not much of a stretch to have something flammable in contact with the outlet instead of skin, and it's awfully easy to never notice the heating pad is still on.

Maryn, who got burned when this house was new to her

Edit: It's pretty irresponsible to leave the stove on when you leave the building. Does that fit your character in this circumstance? It's somewhat more logical to leave the oven on, where things can indeed burst into flame.

Also consider a dryer vent fire, where the heat from the dryer ignites the lint, or a chimney fire in which creosote ignites in a chimney in need of cleaning.

Claudia Gray · Sep 5, 2007

Bad wiring in the wall can start a fire all on its own. Trust me on this one. That was the origin of the fire that gutted my apartment in 1995.

JJ Cooper · Sep 5, 2007

Cooking chips (or fries as you may call them) in fat. A lot of kitchen fires start out this way. Just a thought.

JJ

citizen_erased · Sep 5, 2007

Well my character isn't forgetful or clumsy like that, but as he is being attacked, and his house broken into, he forgets about the stove? I don't know

Devil Ledbetter · Sep 5, 2007

Sea shells stupidly placed inside of a jar candle for "decorative" reasons will absolutely to the job.

For insurance reasons, I cannot divulge how I know this.

Lyxdeslic · Sep 5, 2007

Devil Ledbetter said:
Sea shells stupidly placed inside of a jar candle for "decorative" reasons will absolutely to the job.

For insurance reasons, I cannot divulge how I know this.

K, yeah, must esplain. Did the shells heat up and cause the glass to burst? :Shrug:

Lyx

Shadow_Ferret · Sep 5, 2007

What is a gas hob?

Our neighbor, two doors down, set his house on fire by getting drunk, starting to fry chicken on his gas stove, and then falling asleep.

Any kind of grease fire is good.

melaniehoo · Sep 5, 2007

My roommate and I almost burned down the kitchen with the toaster oven. It was placed on top of the microwave so it touched the upper cabinets (limited space) and while we were cooking one thing, some crumbs at the bottom of the toaster oven caught on fire. If we hadn't been standing right there it would've torched the cabinets pretty quickly. Also, since it was plugged in we could've added electrical fire to the mix.

nevada · Sep 5, 2007

A halogen light left too close to curtains will start a fire.

nevada · Sep 5, 2007

Shadow_Ferret said:
What is a gas hob?

A gas hob is a gas stove. In britain they call them hobs. I don't know why. They talk funny over there. lol I'm Canadian, I talk funny too, so I can say that.

Felicia Beasley · Sep 5, 2007

Wow all these posts are going to make me paranoid

Shane Fitzsimmons · Sep 5, 2007

Have it be somebody putting a pastry in the toaster oven and leaving it for 6 hours while they go play video games, and then the pastry eventually gets so hard that it lights on fire and burns the whole place down.

It happens.

Azraelsbane · Sep 5, 2007

Felicia Beasley said:
Wow all these posts are going to make me paranoid

Feel the burn!

Memnon624 · Sep 5, 2007

Exploding cats.

I'm just sayin' . . .

Scott

Ravenlocks · Sep 5, 2007

Oil heating in a frying pan will do it. Say your character is going to fry some veggies or something, pours some oil in the pan and turns on the stove to let it heat, then gets distracted. Next thing you know the oil is on fire and the smoke detector is screaming. Happened to an acquaintance of mine.

Fire!!!!

has finally arrived

bam pow zap.

Agony is defeat

Too sad for words.

Lost in the Fog

I record everything.

:P

Agony is defeat

I Tried

.

Come on you stranger, you legend,

Laughing every time I choke.

Court Jester

And thus we begin the edits

Agony is defeat

A Boy and his Orc . . .

How novel.