A Morning Adventure

Ever since we had our oil tank replenished last week, we Rowes have been noticing a strong fuel smell every time the heat comes on.  This is not uncommon for the first day or so after a refill, but after a few days, it seemed the smell was growing stronger.  By Monday when we all left for work or school, we determined the smell was bad enough to merit calling the energy company to see what was going on.  Ethan texted me while I was at work to say he'd scheduled someone to come the following morning.

By the time I got home from work, the smell was so strong I was nearly gagging.  I turned off the heat and opened all the windows, but the girls and I still smelled the lingering odor.  We wound up having someone from the energy company come out that afternoon.  He found a leak, told us he'd fixed it, and headed on his way.  The weather had warmed enough by then that we didn't even need the heat on, so the smell dissipated substantially.

This morning, however, I woke before my alarm to the smell of fuel once again.  It apparently woke the girls too, because before I had even sat up in bed, Madeleine came bursting through the door to tell me she smelled oil.  Ethan was showering in the downstairs bathroom, and the girls and I all crowded into the upstairs bathroom to get ourselves ready for work and school.  Julia was cleaning her overnight retainer, and I blew my nose to discover a soot-filled tissue. 

ME: Uh-oh.  There's black stuff up my nose.
JULIA: EW!!  Wait.  Does that mean you're gonna DIE?
ME: I doubt it.  But I think I must have inhaled soot from the furnace.
JULIA: (looking at her reflection in the mirror, tilting her head upwards to see up her nose) Wait, I have black stuff up MY nose too!
MADELEINE: Do I? (showing her nostrils to Julia)
JULIA: Yeah, Madeleine, it looks black inside yours too.

The kids began to freak out about this, but little did they know they were about to get WAAAAAY more freaked out.  Just as Julia had finished with her retainer and Madeleine was about to brush her teeth, a high-pitched chirp rang out.  Over and over.

JULIA: (in terror) WHAAAAAAT'S THAAAAAAAAAAT?  Are we gonna DIIIIIEEE?
MADELEINE: (in terror) Mommy!  Something's BEEEEEEPING!
ME: Hang on.  Let me see what it is.

It turned out to be our Carbon Monoxide detector, which was beeping and flashing a blinking light next to the word "evacuate."

Both girls succumbed to pure and utter panic.

ME: Girls.  Girls.  We need to evacuate.  Let's just all go out the front door into fresh air and figure out what to do.
JULIA: But what about DAAAAAAAADDDDYYYYYY?
ME: I'm sure he hears it.  He's in the shower.
JULIA: But we can't leave him!  He's gonna DIIIIIIIEEEEE!  (running downstairs to alert him)

I brought both girls outside to our front steps, where Julia collapsed into hysterical sobs.  Madeleine remained a bit more matter-of fact.  Standing there in flip-flops, holding a toothbrush, she turned to us and asked, "Anybody have any way for me to brush my teeth out here??"

Julia continued her wails of doom, even as Ethan, clad only in a towel around his waist, was standing in open front doorway telling us we had to calm down. 

ME: Ethan, go get dressed so you don't have to stand there in a towel.  I've got this.
JULIA: But he CAN'T go back IN THERE!  He's GONNA DIIIIIIIEEEEE!
ME: Honey, he's just getting some clothes on, then he'll come outside with us.
JULIA: (hugging me, crying)
ME: Honey, you have to catch the bus soon.  What do you need from inside?  I'll go get it.
JULIA: (clutching me in terror) NO!  MOMMY!  Don't go in there!  You're gonna die!
ME: I'm not going to die.  Just tell me what you need and I'll get it for you.  And try to calm down because any minute all the neighbor kids will be out walking to the bus stop and I don't think you want them to hear you.

Julia told me what items she needed and I ran inside to fetch them, and she managed to pull herself together well enough to head off to the bus stop.  Madeleine and I went inside to get anything we needed and brought it out to the back deck, where we had our breakfast.  It was only in the 40's, so I had a winter coat, hat and gloves on, and Madeleine decided to immerse herself entirely underneath one of the new "burrito" blankets Ethan had bought.  Ethan, for his part, used a burrito blanket along with a hoodie to keep warm:

Once Madeleine was off to school and I was off to work, Ethan started his work day on the deck.  The energy company sent someone out later in the morning, and another problem was detected and fixed.  The 40-degree day warmed up into the mid 70s, so Ethan was able to really air the house out and rid it of the smell as best he could.

AND, if our neighborhood didn't already notice something was up while Julia stood hysterically sobbing on our stoop this morning, they sure did by this afternoon, when two fire trucks were parked right outside our house, engines on, lights blinking!  Thankfully, the Fire Department had agreed to come do an extra-thorough carbon monoxide test to make sure it was truly no longer detected. 

Madeleine spread the word throughout school, as well.  Upon dismissal, she announced, "I told everyone that we have CARBON MYOXIDE at our house!"

I can only hope and pray that this is the end of this heating oil saga and that we awake tomorrow to the normal smell of our house, with no alarms going off and no more black sooty nostrils!