Fire.

[rax]

Short version: Housemate set the house on fire. No one is hurt. Got the cats out OK, and though they were very scared at first, Oolong has already wandered up to me and licked my face. I think Selene is still hiding. I will probably go sit with her when I am done with this post.

Also: DO NOT CALL ME. You will stress me out and I will not answer. This goes for anyone, whether you are friend or family or the Pope. DO NOT CALL MY PHONE. You can text me but do not expect a response if I am not able to deal right then. I would in fact really appreciate texts or emails or whatnot! But I am not able to deal with interactions that I cannot schedule right now and probably for the next few days. Thank you for your understanding. I know that I am crazy. Please do not make me more crazy.

So. I was grading some papers and talking on AIM when the fire alarm went off. Usually this is because of steam from the shower, and my housemate was taking a shower, and I figured he had left the door open, but I looked up just in case, and saw smoke. I ran into the kitchen, and he had LEFT OIL BOILING WHILE HE WENT TO TAKE A SHOWER. The oil was on fire, the pan was melting, and the flames were shooting up into the range hood. I told another housemate to call 911, put on oven mitts, and moved the pan over to another burner, and then turned off the burner that had been on. The range hood was still on fire, and my next thought was: FUCK, IT'S IN THE ELECTRICS. This was true; turning off the circuit breaker to the range hood minimized the damage but at that point I was fucked. Vegan-clubbing-friend-from-last-post and I grabbed cat carriers, ran into the basement, stuffed the cats in to their great displeasure, and brought them outside. The fire department showed up while we were doing this and went to work.

Damage:

• kitchen cabinets
• anything that was stored in the cabinet above the stove is totally fucked
• the range hood is a twisted lump of like molten metal it's pretty fucked up
• the stove is probably dead
• the wiring to that half of the kitchen may be fucked
• everything smells like smoke
• my cats are sad
• I currently despise everything and am seriously considering just sending my homework in to class with my housemate and saying "sorry I have to deal with shit this is just not happening" we will see how I feel in the morning

On the plus side, I had been looking for an excuse to get a gas stove, and there is gas piping behind the stove! I know this because the back of the stove is blackened and insulation is hanging out everywhere and there is tons of broken glass. But if you have recommendations for good gas stoves I would love to hear them! I am not going to go measure right now because it will make me cry but it's a reasonable amount of room and I may have to replace the counters anyway.

Also I would love to have some vegan nightshade free rice cooker recipes that provide complete nutritious meals. Because I cannot eat out. Eating out is for other people. Although fuck it, I am shelling out for vegan sushi for lunch and dinner tomorrow. And maybe breakfast. But after that I need to make, I dunno, rice and lentils and peas and spices? And then throw in hummus? That's like a meal. Oh god.

Also also uh how do you file a homeowner's insurance claim?

I'm gonna go find my cat now.

Comments

[sixolet]

Oh god that's horrible full of horribleness, but I am glad you and the cats and the housemates are uninjured.

Hmm. Your idea with the rice cooker sounds like it'd work, though I'd add in a cube of veggie bullion (if there's a brand you can rock) or a pile of nutritional yeast (if there isn't) and some olive oil.

Also you can s/lentils/can o' beans/ and futz with the spices some and it's somehow a different dish.

You totally deserve to take care of yourself instead of going to class tomorrow.

[hebinekohime]

What. The. Fuck. I'm glad you caught it when you did and that everyone is unharmed!

I found this rice/lentil recipe that I think is nightshade free: http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/07/spiced-lentils-and-rice.html

And this for quinoa:
http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=31708.0

[darthbitsy]

Ugh! :-( :-(

I'm glad everyone is OK.

I think you could make this in a rice cooker.

Lentils and Rice with Fried Onions (Mujadarrah)

Description: "As plain as this sounds, mujadarrah is absolutely one of the best dishes there is. A Jordanian cook I know serves her version accompanied by a chopped vegetable salad that sparkles with parsley and lemon. Although you can cook the onions in a scant amout of oil, it's the oil that makes this otherwise humble dish so very good."

6 tablespoons olive oil
1 very large onion, sliced into rounds 1/4 inch thick
1 1/4 cups green or brown lentils, sorted and rinsed
Salt and freshly milled pepper
3/4 cup white or brown long-grain rice

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until it's a rich, dark brown, about 12 minutes. Meanwhile, put the lentils in a saucepan with 1 quart water and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes. Add the rice, plenty of pepper, and, if needed, additional water to cover. Cover and cook over low heat until the rice is done, about 15 minutes. Stir in half the onions, then cover and let stand off the heat for 5 minutes. Spoon the lentil-rice mixture onto plates or a platter and cover with the remaining onions.

-- Source: Deborah Madison, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, 1997

[picklish]

Oh no!

Remember to breath and spoil yourself with vegan sushi. *hug*

[jtu]

Wow. Glad you and everyone is safe!

Quinoa has been one of my go-tos lately -- tastes like a grain, but full of protein. I cook it like a grain (often with veggie bouillon and veggies).

Also, are those white fluffy red bean buns vegan? Those could go in a rice cooker.

The other rice cooker thing I can think of that's vegan is, um, I think it's called rice porridge in English? You make the rice to a wet oatmeal consistency, and add in things like peanuts and wheat gluten.

[chagrined]

From friend busaikko: "I do a lot of rice-cooker cooking; what we in Japan call taki-komi gohan (literally, "rice cooked with stuff added in" - translation destroys the magic, doesn't it?). You cook the rice in soup not water (with maybe soy sauce or salt if you like), and add in whatever veg you have like: mushrooms (cut up), carrots (grated), gobo (grated), edible ferns, bamboo shoots, soy beans or red beans, chestnuts, fried tofu [usu-age] (cut up small)... whatever! (There's an internet recipe here with a whiny bitter comment about not finding the ingredients, but really... anything goes, green peas, chunks of tempeh, celery instead of gobo, it's great for getting rid of small amounts of leftover veg). Another recipe here for mushroom rice. I would add fried tofu or beans to round it out, but that's just me."

[talia_et_alia]

Oh, my goodness. I'm glad you and the cats and others in the house are all ok.

I'm inferring that you're staying in the house, since just the kitchen is damaged, and that your rice cooker is currently the only functional cooking appliance? (Hope the fridge isn't dead too :/) I will verify what's a nightshade tonight and see what recipes come to mind, but in the meantime, I'm curious about whether local friends (hell, neighbours!) would loan you a toaster oven and/or microwave temporarily, which would widen your options rather a lot.

[jld]

Aaaaaaa that is a special kind of horrible.

But: the humans are okay, the smaller animals are okay, and the property damage is more or less contained. This failure is recoverable. And as far as I can tell you handled the situation about as well as anyone could hope to.

[shatterstripes.livejournal.com]

o.O

[laura47.livejournal.com]

holy fuck, *hugs*

Homeowner's claim

[psymar.livejournal.com]

How to file a homeowner's insurance claim, courtesy of my mom: The phone book should have a phone number for a local claims office for your insurance company. There may also be a website where you can initiate your claim.

Your claim should include damage not just from the fire, but also from smoke, even if it went into other rooms or curtains or whatever.

Re: Homeowner's claim

[rustycoon.livejournal.com]

I would, as an add-on, also mention the actions that you took to stop the initial source of the fire, as well as turning off the circuit breaker. Actions like that demonstrate to the company that you were acting to protect the property from loss, and that saves them money on the claim... insurance companies like people who try and save them money. :)

[navrins]

Yikes. That is... wow.

On the practical side: "how do you file a homeowner's insurance claim?"

1. Breathe. Multiple times, if necessary.
2. Find any mail or bill from your homeowner's insurance company, or look it up on the web.
3. Find a phone number for them. Call it.
4. Say, "I'm insured with your company and I just had a fire. How do I file a claim?"

This should result in further instructions (which will probably start with calling some other number, because the chances of the first one you find being the right one are miniscule). Write them down, and follow them. Continue writing down any further instructions - and the names of people you talk to - because you might need them.

Also, you do NOT have to do this tonight, and probably shouldn't. If you can do it with a cat on your lap, it may help.

(I don't know how well you deal with this sort of stuff; maybe this was all obvious to you... maybe it would be obvious if you weren't freaking out about the fire and other stressful stuff but since you understandably are, detailed instructions might be helpful. And you asked.)

[postrodent.livejournal.com]

Holy shit. I am so sorry, babe, I know what a bad time this was for this to happen! I am hell of relieved that nobody was hurt - selfishly, I am particularly happy that you aren't hurt - but there's no way that it doesn't cold suck to have a house fire. I definitely will respect your wishes and not call you, but you have carte blanche to call me if you need an ear.

Love you, and very glad you're safe. <3

[circuit-four.livejournal.com]

That sucks beyond words. You poor creature. *hugs* If there's any help we can offer somehow, let us know, including Rik-loans.

[tiamat360.livejournal.com]

Oh my god. I am so, so sorry. I am very glad you and your cats are healthy and safe.

[shatterstripes.livejournal.com]

I'm glad that all that's fucked is stove and stuff nearby it in the kitchen! No people or cats or books or stranger things. Good luck dealing with things, and with not having to do fifty zillion other things on top of it!

[gothic-ham.livejournal.com]

Ugh *hugs* that sucks. People at school ought to be reasonable enough to give you a little time to deal with that.

On a side note - i have heard about that you can use the rice cooker in place of a crock pot. Maybe you could make a stew or something?

[kiya]

Oh wow. I'm glad everyone's okay!

[sairaali.livejournal.com]

Oh fuck. I'm so sorry.

Let me know if there's anything I can do.

[plymouth.livejournal.com]

Augh!!! Fuck that sucks I am so sorry you have to deal with this shit.

I have a roommate who frequently leaves things on the stove and goes to his room. When I catch this happening I go bug him. Fortunately in his case the worst that has ever happened is that something boiled over and burned onto the stove (he also sucks at efficiently cleaning such things up). But still. It should not be done. The furthest from the stove one should be while cooking is maybe the side of the living room that still has a good view directly into the kitchen where the stove is.

[rax.livejournal.com]

Feel free to use this as a cautionary tale if you'd like!

[davidglasser.livejournal.com]

oof. so sorry to hear about this, though relieved to hear that nobody is hurt.

if this isn't a reasonable excuse to finish grading late, then i'm not sure what is.

if you're not up to shelling out for a new stove, it looks like http://bloomington.craigslist.org/app/ gets them pretty regularly. i'm mostly familiar with 50s-era used gas stoves honestly.

if you don't have time to get a stove for a little while, a hot plate or propane camping stove is cheap enough to get by on.

[eirl.livejournal.com]

I'm really sorry! I'm glad you, your housemate, and the cats are okay. I hope everything goes well with the insurance claim and the repairs.

[crschmidt.livejournal.com]

In the vein of "Stupid things I have done with the stove", which may possibly help you feel slightly less 'aughhhhh':
* When I was 12 or so, I was planning to make myself mac and cheese. I put the water on to boil, then went back to playing on AOL or whatever. I came down 20 minutes later when I remembered to find all the water boiled away and the pot *smoking*.
* At one point, I had taken the stove knobs off to clean under them, and put them back on, and out of habit, turned them on to make sure they were on tight. Not looking first and noticing there was a *plastic bag full of papers* on top of them. Yeah, I started a small fire. (Luckily, I noticed pretty quick, but the house still smelled like burnt plastic for the rest of the day.)
* At one point, I put on spaghetti sauce for spaghetti and meatballs and (again) left it on and forgot about it. I came back to find the entire half of the kitchen covered in spaghetti sauce.

The fact that I have thus far avoided burning the house down is, unfortunately, primarily through luck and not any amount of skill on my part. I wish you and the rest of your housemates the best, and hope all works out well. Good luck. *hug*

[schrodi-kitten.livejournal.com]

Holy shit! I am so relieved to hear that you and cats and people are okay, but holy SHIT! What an awful thing to have to deal with.

[weirdquark]

Oh, dear. ::hugs:: You handled things well and are awesome. You totally deserve to take a break and deal with shit later.

I'm glad that you and your cats are okay.