If your house was on fire...

[the.fee.fairy]

This is following on from a comment in the internet addiction thread:

If your house was on fire, what 3 things would you rescue (i'm not going to count living things like animals, partners and children - they're all alive and safe)?

Mine are:

1. My laptop, which is conveniently attached to the hard drive and power cable...
2. My handbag (which, conveniently houses my mobile, my passport, my pda and my wallet)
3: Books...as many books as i could sweep off the shelf and carry.

What about you?

[the.fee.fairy]

Haha, i realised that i threw the thread completely off-topic again, so i decided to start a new one!

[Green Aura]

I quite like our little forays off-piste

However, to keep on this topic it's really weird trying to work out what's so import you might risk life and limb to get it out.

I think my handbag would have to be top of the list - it's a fairly crappy old thing but my mobile, passport, toothbrush and hair brush are all in there so life could continue - I'm wondering if I should put a clean pair of knickers in there now

As my laptop stands up next to my handbag, by the sofa when not in use, I guess that would be next on the list, although I'd probably be burned to a crisp struggling to unplug it

And I think finally I'd rescue my crafts basket - just a big wicker shopping basket which contains all my knitting needles and crocheting hooks and a selection of yarns I'm currently using. That way I'd still be able to make a few things and it might help me feel a little less useless in a hopeless situation.

[Millymollymandy]

Oh bugger I just replied on the other thread!

[Millymollymandy]

Anyway..... which was

handbag which contains passport, bank cards and french healthcare card

Fire proof box containing all our really important docs (as outlined in the other thread)

If at all possible I'd throw as many photo albums out the window and attempt to save my hard disk, but really I ought to ask my OH where the backup discs are of my hard drive as it would be somewhat easier. Mostly for all the genealogy research and photos of ancestors on it - photos and things like that being treasured possessions that can't be replaced in any way.

[Graye]

Funnily enough this was probably one of the first questions OH asked me when we first met (I had been dragged along by a besotted friend to "admire" the band). Off the top of my head I immediately replied "my dog and my guitar". For some reason this impressed him!

Now I think I would, hopefully, take the same sort of stuff as the rest of you. But then we don't really know what we might do under pressure I suppose. I remember walking into our house once as burglars were leaving via the dining room window after we disturbed them. Seeing the video (it WAS a long time ago) on the coffee table with its cable wrapped around it and the plug missing, the remote controls lined up and the TV turned around on its wall mount my first thought was "What have those cats been up to now?"

I'm doing some genealogy stuff too, MMM. Fascinating, isn't it?

[red]

1. the memory box of things from my son's childhood
2 the box of important papers
3 our musical instruments

[Derry]

my friend Charlotte has a bag packed with essentials, its her 'omg my house is on fire quick grabbit' bag =D

i think id take...
handbag, it has the essential stuff.. keys/purse/polo mints =]
my new trug, cause i had it for my birthday and its adorable and i named it Arnold
my craft boxes, because i loves them =D


...so not really anything useful or life saving =]

[MuddyWitch]

We had to seriously confront this senario, but in a different way a couple of years ago. Due to 'works' on our local stream our house, a dorma bungalow, was in serious danger of flooding. We carried the things upstairs to our (not huge) bedroom those things you can't replace:

photos,
the fire screen that my grandma made,
the water colour that was my Mum's (it's not worth anything, but was painted by a family friend)

So I susspect they'd be on my list.

MW

[KathyLauren]

1. the cats
2. my backup hard disk
3. the fireproof box containing insurance documents and other valuable papers

The cats because, well, because.

The disk because it has everything of value from both my wife's and my computers, including photos. Insurance will buy me a new computer, but they can't replace the data. It's an external drive, so I'd just rip the cables out and run with it.

The "fireproof" box is allegedly fireproof, but even the manufacturer only claims it is good for 30 minutes in a fire. As a volunteer firefighter, I know it can be several hours before firefighters can retrieve valuables. It is more useful as a place where important documents are kept than for its fireproof properties.

[Mr and Mrs luvpie]

we would differ I feel, so I would take:-

The boys memory boxes, I'd also have to include bits for the next one in this so maternity notes and scan pics
the old hard drive (computer is currently not very well but all the photos are on there still)
favourite teddy for each of the boys

I wouldn't bother with my handbag, I can never find the thing so it would be a lost cause

I feel my rescue attempts would be hampered by Mrluvpie who would be trying to save his

12"s
7"s
cd collection

At least he was alway honest about the fact that they would be out the house before anything else was considered

Sarah

[mrsflibble]

external hard drive as it has all the photos from the past...well, i have scanned photos on there where the prints date back to the 1960s......erm................. nigel the plastic lobster which was one of the most important love gifts from James while we were dating. he handed it to me and said "because i know you don't have one". I pretty much knew then i was going to marry him lol! and..............camera. the big one. you know, the £500 one lol.

[growingthings]

erm...did anyone else fine this a mind boggingly difficult question to answer. Apart from all the sensible stuff I would save

My hand crank sewing machine

The wooden flower press that my grandfather made for me when I was (hang on doing math...) 7, which he decorated beautifully

and....the memory tins from my two girls.

Not to mention the books, the photos - I really have no idea how someone faced with losing their home deals with that though. I am by no means materialistic, and therefore the things that I am surrounded by are important by dint of the fact that they have sentimental value.

Brrr I'm shuddering at just the thought

[george]

Interesting thread. This did just happen to me (the apartment building was on fire) and I took:

my handbag which contains my camera and lots of other stuff
my laptop
a folder of important documents which included passports

We are currently living in another country so passports were top of the list! Also we don't have a lot of the sentimental stuff here as that is all back in NZ so I didn't have to worry about that.

[Wombat]

Mrs Wombat

Nev