The Oven Blew Up

Last night The Island Girl came home from school to spend the weekend. The Oldest Island Boy is staying in Gulf Breeze during the week to work and he came home for the weekend too so we decided to make a spaghetti feast to celebrate all of our birdies being in the nest.

The Island King was cooking and the Island Girl and I were sitting at the bar watching him. He put some garlic bread in the oven, turned on the broiler and turned back to talk to us.

Less than a minute later something in the oven started sparking. The Island Girl and I both yelled and as the Island King turned around sparks started flying and the burner split. The sparks kept flying and now we have a fire red burner acting like a welding rod.

He turned the oven off and even though we're yelling at him to get the breaker, he runs into the garage to and returns with a 2x4.


My house is absolute chaos at this point. The dog is barking, me and the kids are yelling and he's banging on this burner with the 2x4 like he can beat the fire out.


Now, I have to tell you that my husband was an actual – went to school and worked in Miami – firefighter.

Was” meaning back in 1980 something.

He's yelling that he knows what to do because he's been trained in this but really, you can't blame me for doubting him because I doubt that that at any point in his training was he told to grab a 2x4 and beat a fire out.

And, still, no one has turned the breaker off.

The 2x4 wasn't working so the man actually grabbed a cup of water and was going to throw it on the welding hot burner.

The Island Girl and I went nuts. “Don't throw water on an electrical fire”!

He's yelling that the oven is off and the burner is now an arc welder and that the fire isn't electrical.

Right about then the Island Girl and the Youngest Island Boy started yelling “get the fire extinguisher!” and the Oldest Island Boy says “he's insane – I'm going to turn the breaker off”

The Island King says no that we don't know which breaker and will have to through them all which means we'll be in the dark.

The Island Girl points out that he'll be able to see the fire in the dark and that she has a flashlight.

He's getting frustrated, more at us than at the actual welding rod thing going on in our oven, so as the Oldest and I are getting ready to throw the switch and kill everything in the house he grabs the fire extinguisher and hits the burner with it.

We went back in the kitchen as he opened the oven door and it was still burning so he hit it again with the fire extinguisher and slammed the door.

Which actually put the thing out.

Now, he will tell you that it burned itself out at the exact moment that he hit it with the fire extinguisher, which, in his mind, is why he had to do it twice, but the Island Girl swears that he just barely hit it the first time and that when he really hit it the second time – it went out.

I suppose that it could be pure coincidence, after all there are three astrological events happening tonight, but to be honest, I think the fire extinguisher did it.

So the oven fire/arcing welding rod is out but now my oven has been beat with a 2x4 and sprayed with a fire extinguisher.


What a mess those things make! Luckily most of it was contained to the kitchen but there is a thin layer of dust covering everything in the living room and the dining room.

Which does not surprise me considering I spent all day today dusting and mopping and cleaning.

Not surprisingly, the Island King has a completely different take on the situation but I guess we all see things differently in a crisis.

I do agree calm is something we should work on as a family – and maybe a lot of little common sense. The Oldest could teach the class because he assessed the situation and then decided to turn the breaker off.

Chaos at it's finest.


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