Other Smoke Detectors

[whiteraven]

So, my dumb*ss neighbor set off the smoke detectors tonight. I'm in a 6-unit building, and she has a fireplace that she doesn't know how to use. Put too many logs on it, she said. So they've gone off like 3 times now. No one else in the building even came out to see where the smoke was. I was just getting to the point where I could sleep at night without worrying about them, and now my anxiety is off-the-charts.

I lived about a block from one of the largest nightclub fires in the history of the US--they used our armory as the morgue for the 150+ who died, and it was just an awful, awful time. I still have trouble with sirens (I freeze, then start crying), smoke and fire alarms (even when they just beep because they need changing), and so many other things. It's been over 4 decades--and I just can't manage anything related to fire.

I don't worry about me. I worry I wouldn't be able to get the cats out if something happened. I keep their carriers out, I have a knife in the bedroom if I can't get the window screen out, I'm careful to check everything when I go out and to bed. Last time this happened I was out--and I, thankfully, had my cameras on, so I was notified. I had to come home. It was just batteries I needed to change, but...

Thanks for listening.

 

[user27357]

yep.
I kind of feel like that, but only for a second, just until i get a handle on what and why. Like the split second after seeing a snake in the wild- what is it? do i need to act? And then, we cool.
Not making light of it, especially when you are asleep when the alarm goes off. That adrenaline hit is a powerful thing.
Not having to act, nothing to do with the adrenaline, thats a hard thing to deal with. I hear the sirens in my nightmares and get the same freeze response upon waking, like the only thing i can think is “is it real?”
Hope it never needs our attention beyond exploring and adjusting our reactions to suit, but if it does matter and we have to act, we are ready and primed, right?

 

[whiteraven]

She f*cking did it again. They went off 3x. I can't live like this.

 

[Lucycat]

Hmm. That’s tough. You don’t want or need the alarms going off, but neither can you afford to ignore them ( just in case).

Is there any way you could chat with her and explain why you are ( appropriately) very sensitive to the alarms ?

Just maybe she would be a little more careful if she understood the importance of the alarms and how they affect others ?

 

[whiteraven]

Is there any way you could chat with her and explain why you are ( appropriately) very sensitive to the alarms ?

We had a discussion about it some time ago. When I went out, she was opening her door and laughing--said she'd try to air out the place right away so I wasn't scared.

Just maybe she would be a little more careful if she understood the importance of the alarms and how they affect others ?

She seems to forget she lives in a building with 5 other units. She's not a terrible person, but she doesn't really think of others about stuff like this.

 

[Nosafeplace]

Make sure your smoke alarm is also carbon monoxide if she’s using firewood, then there’s definitely a concern for carbon monoxide. Make sure your alarm entails both.