Why It's Important to Fix Roof Leaks

The fire that happened behind our home really put us on the edge. The fire started because water leaked in the room and an outlet got wet. It was the firewall that saved our home. Soon after, the ceiling in our kitchen started leaking. The water poured out from the kitchen lights. 

It was scary. The lights were on and water just suddenly started pouring out from it. We immediately turned off the lights and called for help from an electrician. He advised not to turn on any of the lights and turn off the circuit breaker switch for the area.

The incident was a blessing in disguise. We were told by the people who we bought the house from that the house electrical system was new. They couldn't give us an electrical plan, so an electrical audit was made. The result was five pages of required fixes. To make a long story short, we had everything re-wired and a new circuit breaker panel was customized for our home. 

The same issue recently happened to my childhood home. The house has been overdue for renovation since it's already over 50 years old. Our helper reported the incident and said that the area where water came in smelled like "electricity". We advised her not to turn on any lights in the area or use any of the outlets. 

Water in the bulb

Since we're planning to do something with the property, we decided to terminate the electricity that was attached to the roof. We originally planned to have the electrician just turn off the switch to the floor. He advised that it wasn't possible since the switch was also connected to the ground floor. He and his assistant ended up terminating the lights individually. They also checked the rest of the house to ensure nothing untoward happens while we're still planning what to do. 

54-year old cables

Electricity + water = disaster. Our electrician explained to us that it's important to make sure your electrical system is healthy. It's important to have a proper circuit breaker panel for your home. He said most fires happen in developing areas because they don't have proper circuit breakers. Usually if an appliance catches fire, the circuit breaker will shut down and prevent the fire from traveling through the wires. 

So, check for leaks in your home. It may come from your ceiling or windows or from flooding. I am amazed how my childhood home withstood so many typhoons and floods. My Tito Bert built us a really sturdy and safe home. Make your home safe too. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Home on Mondays: Tips from Firefighters

We are forever grateful to the firefighters who helped last Saturday. I realized yesterday after chatting with the village security that firefighters aren't just the firemen who deal with the fire. They also include the first responders, your village security/tanod/your neighbors who call the fire station. 

We've received a lot of advise the past few days on how to deal with a fire and how to prevent fire from happening in your home. Here's a list of the tips we've received the past few days:

1. At the sign of fire, immediately turn off the circuit breaker of your house. The fireman told us it was very good that Sweetie immediately turned it off. 

2. Build a firewall around your house. The National Building Code provides guidelines for the firewall. Thickness of the firewall depends on the hours it should be resistive to fire. We're having ours checked since it has some damage. 

3. Unplug everything when leaving your house. If taking a vacation, better to turn off your circuit breaker. 

4. Don't take leaks for granted. A fire can start when your plugs/sockets get wet. We actually haven't been turning on the lights in our kitchen because of an unresolved ceiling leak. 

5. Cross-check and make sure that your electrical wirings are not compromised. Make sure that the contactor that made your house did not use substandard materials. 

6. Check for open wires. We sadly just discovered after getting another contractor that there are open wires around the house. Good thing we have taken precautions after suspecting that there were electrical installations that were not up to par. If you have an old house, electrical wirings and plumbings only last 40 to 50 years, so make sure to update those in your home.

7. At the sign of fire, evacuate the premises immediately and bring only essential items. We only brought my medication and important documents. Sweetie had us place important documents in one place so it's easy to grab in case of an emergency.

8. Have N95 masks on hand. I inhaled the smoke even before we knew there was a fire. Fire smoke are nasty and can ruin your lungs. Effects can come 24 to 36 hours after. I'm actually not feeling well and have set an appointment with my pulmonologist. I should have probably had myself checked by the medical personnel onsite last Saturday.

9. Have a fire extinguisher in your house. We were told though that this is only good for fire that's just starting. First responders tried to use a fire extinguisher, but the fire was too big already. 

10. Have emergency numbers on hand. We're lucky we have Google to help search for emergency numbers. It's important though to have the numbers of your village first responders (barangay/village security). We were lucky that our village security OIC was a fireman, so he knew who to contact (that's why 15 firetrucks came!). They had to go to the barangay hall though since there was no one manning the fire station at the time the fire broke out.  

Here are the BFP Paranaque phone numbers:

Barangay Sun Valley tanod: 0966-8208752

Those are the tips I could remember from the top of my head. Do share if you have other tips :)

#BeKind #StaySafe