Our city has some really great EMTs and policemen (which we know from
our experience with the ambulance) and now we know that our city also has a great team at the fire department, too.
I was taking a bath before starting bedtime routine with the girls when I heard Mark call my name from downstairs. There was an urgency in his voice that I don't think I've ever heard before. "What's that smell?" He called. "You need to come out!"
I quickly wrapped a towel around myself and opened the door, and was met by a strong odor. Kind of like that plastic/metallic/chemical smell when you buy new electronics, only super strong. Whoah. "Where is that coming from?" I called to Mark, who was on his way up the stairs, trying to follow the scent with his nose.
"I don't know," he said as he shut Claire's bedroom door. "But it's not up here."
I threw on my clothes and joined him in the hunt for the source. We couldn't pinpoint it - our open floorplan had foiled us again! Equally worrisome was the buzzing noise we could hear, a little louder than the furnace, which was also on, and we finally pinpointed it to the wall near our thermostat. The wall was vibrating, and the smell was even stronger near it. It smelled like burnt plastic. "What
is that?" Mark handed Arden to me and ran to the basement to check out the furnace, and I started buckling Arden into her carseat. "Do you think we should leave and call the electric company?" I called down to him, but he was already back upstairs by the vibrating wall again.
"It's the doorbell." He announced, grabbing a chair from the kitchen. After removing the cover from the doorbell box, he confirmed "definitely the doorbell. It's shorting out." I stepped outside and rang the bell (with a shoe! I was afraid of getting shocked. lol) and after quietly dinging, the buzzing stopped. Mark said that the little hammer had melted back.
Nervous about how safe it would be to head to bed without resolving this first, we called the fire department and asked if they could send somebody out to verify everything was ok. Mark reiterated that it wasn't an emergency, there was no fire or smoke, and requested no sirens or lights; the dispatcher said she'd make a note of it, but couldn't promise anything.
About 7 minutes later a uniformed cop arrived (standard procedure...lights, but no sound), and within another 2-3 minutes two uniformed firemen and a firewoman, along with a nicely dressed gentleman but I don't know what his role was. The woman used a special camera that displayed the heat inside the wall to make sure there wasn't anything else going on (there wasn't), and we explained what had happened to the mystery man. Turns out we have nothing to worry about, but we will need a new doorbell.
Whew! All of that for a measly doorbell?? But I'm so grateful we were awake to handle this before it turned into something more serious! And happy to know how quickly the fire department can make it out here.
Our neighbors must really wonder what goes on over here...
