That's terrible! I always worry about the ash bucket because it does get very hot. We set ours out in the garage and away from anything flammable till it cools. We used to set it on the front porch.. until it melted part of our vinyl siding one night.

In calif we had a free standing wood stove and the ashes went into a metal trash can, outside away from the house. It was in a side yard about 3 feet or more away from the house.

It was horrible. People outside the home heard screams.

There was no mnetion of a husband. The contractor was there, however.

This story was so horrible to hear. She is a very successful ad woman and she lost everything there was to lose. ..her daughters, her parents , her house and everything in it. How could one recover from that? Those beautiful girls waiting for Santa. Her dad played Santa at Saks. . I heard the bucket was in the house but another story said it was outside. We heat our old house with wood too, and he sits the bucket on the porch. I'm telling him to put it in the backyard now in case wind whips the coals against the wooden house. Imagine the husband getting the news. I think they were getting a divorce.

I was very disturbed on several levels as I read this story. Of course I was horrified thinking about the little girls and grandparents dying in such a horrible way.

Why didn't they jump out of windows? The fall would have been horrible, but probably not fatal. Were the windows sealed?

The house burned on Christmas Eve, Saturday, and the remaining parts were then razed to the ground on Monday. Why the rush? A fire investigation can take days, weeks, even months. In less than two days everything was torn down and hauled off.

It was all very confusing to me...the fire, the razing, the quick pronouncement of the cause of the fire.

It was a terrible tragedy; I hope to the Lord that's all it was.

What a heartbreaking tragedy. And a reminder to all of us. We heat the family room with a pellet stove, but even it calls for care.

Caroline, I wondered about the razing so quickly as well.

I'm guessing they razed the house because it was such a hazard. It was just a shell, which could collapse on anyone (children getting in there for instance), or a high wind could make missiles out of pieces of it.

I'm surprised they took the ashes out of the fireplace at night. I remove them when I'm starting a fire, not putting one "to bed." I was also surprised that the mother got out without her children. I know the will to live is very strong, but for some of us maternal instinct is stronger.

Still, I can't imagine that fire was anything but accidental.

I read the ashes were put into a BAG. A bag that was placed outside next to the door and that it ignited and shot straight up 2 stairwells. If you're separated from another floor by fire in the stairwell, there's not much anyone can do to save anyone. I'm sure the surviving adults will be living with the most horrible guilt for the rest of their lives. I feel bad for the firemen too, that's a horrible thing to see and deal with on any day, but on what is supposed to be such a happy day, makes it even worse.

I can't even imagine. The reporting is what annoys me. Several articles are more interesting in how much the house cost and who the mother was sleeping with while judging her for making it out alive.

I don't think anyone can really say what they would do in that situation unless they've been there. I imagine if it were at all possible she would have saved her kids but it sounds like that house went up very quickly and they were on different floors. Maybe she went outside to get a ladder to try to reach them from the outside if she couldn't from the inside, maybe the firemen wouldn't let her back in, who knows. That poor lady is going to replay it every single day for the rest of her life. I feel so bad for her.

How terrible to lose your parents and your children all at once. I don't blame the mother one bit. Apparently her boyfriend (who also survived) was the one who dumped the ashes. When we had a fireplace, we let the embers die in the freplace(with a fine mesh guard over it) and cleaned them up the next day, when they were totally out and cold. And the Mother was found by firefighters trying to get back inside the house to get to her kids. An awful tragedy.

I'm not blaming the mother either. I was simply surprised--but then I'd assumed they were all upstairs. I didn't realize they were on different floors.

I read that the grandfather knew something about fire safety. It's possible the grandparents went up to bed earlier than their daughter and her friend.

This was so sad. Truly heartbreaking - that poor family.

I've never relied on a wood fire for heat so don't understand the ash-disposal thing. Once a fire had pretty well died out, we left ashes in the fireplace, behind a firescreen, until the next day.

When I got married, our reception was held at the in-laws big home. On Christmas night, 3 days before the wedding, their neighbors house burned in the early evening and was caused by fireplace ashes being put in a plastic trash can inside the house.
When I read about the tragic fire in CT, two things came to mind. The importance of having smoke alarms on each floor of the house and outside every bedroom and also the importance of those escape ladders that can be stored under beds and quickly put in a window sill, allowing people to escape from an upstairs bedroom. Also, it is important to have an escape plan and practice it with children.

Tragic! Sounds like someone didn't know what they were doing. We have a wood burning stove. I like to take the ashes outside and pour water over them while they are still in the bucket. I leave them there for a few days.

Horror stories like this is why I only live in houses where the parents and kids bedrooms are all together. There are so many things that can happen like fire, tornado, kidnapping, etc. I want my kids close so I can herd them out if necessary.

My daughter put the ashes in the metal bucket, but left it on the carpet. Luckily it only burned at hole in the carpet... not the whole house down.

It's easy done... but can be so costly.

Moni

Years ago (70s) when everyone was again heating with wood, next door neighbors put out ashes/embers from wood stove in a metal container for 3 DAYS, then spread them on a small embankment. Soon, a brush fire happened and DS saw it and put it out.

You just can't be too careful!!!