Since I was a young boy, I always thought it sounded wonderful to have a log home. Not necessarily one of the old, rustic ones from way back when, but rather the new contemporary log homes with all the perks of a standard house. Then one day I was chatting with my dad, and he told me not to bother, because log homes can burn down so easily. He claimed that once they caught on fire, you couldn't get out. I said, "Well, what about smoke alarms?" Hopefully anyone with a house in this day and age has at least one smoke alarm on each floor. That only makes sense. Clearly people have log homes built. I see them on occasion and they look stellar. I guess if I go that route, I will just have to make certain the smoke detectors work properly at all times.

Last weekend I heard a tragic story. Well, maybe not too awful tragic. No one was hurt or anything like that. Basically my wife's best friend had not emptied her dryer's lint screen and the house caught on fire. It happened after everyone had turned in for the night. She apparently tossed a load of clothes in the dryer before heading up to bed. I'd say this is pretty normal. I do it all the time. However, the lint screen was way too full, and the heavy pad of lint caught on fire. Luckily she smelled the smoke, and the trusty smoke alarms sounded throughout the ground floor. Everyone rushed outside immediately and she called the fire department. The tragic part is that it pretty much took out the laundry room. This will cost some serious bucks, as home repairs generally do. But, on the bright side, everyone was okay. This is the main concern in an event like this. Thank God for smoke alarms.

If you're not too sure about the smoke alarms in your home, check each of them to be certain. The last thing you want in your house is a smoke alarm that doesn't even work properly. It's useless in an emergency. Never belittle the importance of these devices! If you can, try to install a couple smoke alarms on each level of your home. This way you'll have a back-up if one does fail. And always keep up with the batteries. Generally they beep when the battery is low, but it doesn't hurt to test them out.