Fire Safe

If you're like I was, you probably think that getting all kinds of high security gadgets for your home is not a sign of prudence so much as one of paranoia. I live in the suburbs, and the biggest news we generally get is the cops being called to bust up a high school party, or perhaps a screaming match from the couple down the block. So, when my cousin – a security professional – got us a fire safe for Christmas, I simply thanked him and did me best not to chuckle. He seemed to pick up on what I was thinking. “Trust me,” he said, “ with grandpa's coin collection, and those old baseball cards, you may thank me for this fire safe one day.”

I was blessed with many years of not having to thank him for the fire safe at all. I mean think about it – how often does your house go up. Well, as I was to find out, once is well more than enough. I had over the years put all sorts of valuables in the fire safe including wedding photos, the manuscript of my novel, baby pictures, and a variety of important records. I seemed to know that something terrible would soon disrupt the perfect life that we were all living in our pleasant home.

According to the firemen, what happened was an electrical fire in the wall. The irony is that we were just starting to get the wiring redone, going from the upstairs down. Apparently, the new wiring in some of the house increased the load on the old grid in the basement, resulting in a short in the wall. Fortunately, the firemen got their very quickly, and the house did not completely go down, but the basement, with all my old paper records, was badly damaged. Everything, that is, except for the most important ones tucked away in the fire safe.

When he came months later to check out the additions and improvements we had made repairing damage, old cousin Joe was kind enough not to rub our nose in the fire safe business. Instead, he offered us a good rate on installing more fire safes in the basement and the bedroom, to protect both against the possibility of future fires and of burglaries. The house is back in shape now, and, thanks to the fire safe, our most precious possessions are intact along with our brand new rec room.