Almost a tragedy!

[nursecat9]

My 28 babies arrived on Fri. of last week, having been hatched on Wed. We've kept them in our bathroom in a big rubbermaid tote. We got out our rather large dog kennel yest. afternoon, hosed it off and got it clean. While it was drying, we decided to go to TSC and Lowes to price some fencing for their new run husband wanted to finish up. Long story short, we came come, and apparently the trying to fly chicks, knocked the warming lamp over and into their brooder. We smelled the smoke as soon as we walked in the house. We ran up the stairs and found a smoldering brooder which had melted into our lenolium! We cut that up and the subflooring was black and smoldering as well!

We could have lost our HOME!!!! I can't tell you how upset I am that this happened. I feel so stupid!

Believe it or not, all of our babies are absolutely fine, and loving their Condo style dog crate/brooder!

Now, how do we get the smoke smell out of home? It smells so bad upstairs esp. in our bathroom and bedroom.

We've been keeping both of these door closed since the chicks came, so most of the smoke was contained to these 2 rooms. Any suggestions would be appreciated. So far, I have vinegar in open containers sitting around both rooms, wiped the walls, ceiling, and floor of bathroom down 3 times with the vinegar, have coffee grounds sitting open in both rooms, sprinkled baking soda on carpets and letting it sit for 24 hours, and are using 2 box window fans to draw smell out. Any other tried and true remedies? Thanks so much in advance.

PS-my wonderful understanding husband, who is not thrilled with the chicks in the first place has been so wonderful and helpful! They bring me and the kids so much joy, and we've only had them for 7 days!

 

[briana1975]

Maybe check with your insurance company?

 

[Robin'sBrood]

Are the chicks okay? Thank God your house didn't catch on fire!

Charcoal is supposed to absorb odors. Maybe you could put some plates of it around... I don't see how it could hurt.

 

[ranchhand]

Glad no one was hurt! We had a house fire years ago, and a company came out and sprayed the whole place with a mist. Then one day I got some Febreze air freshener, and it smelled a lot like the same thing!

Try the aerosol for the air and hard surfaces, and the one for fabrics, too.

 

[trishok8]

Oh my gosh--that would give me nightmares and daymares too for days to come. I'm so happy that nothing terrible happened to your home and family.

 

[Judy]

Buried among all the "air fresheners" (read cheap perfumes) there are usually a couple of products that are actually odor eliminators. I keep Orange Mate or Lime Mate, but have to buy it online, can't find it around here:

http://www.orangemate.com/

 

[nursecat9]

Thanks for the advice. The chicks are doing great....I am however exhausted washing all our clothes that were hanging in our closets and in the linen closets. Still with an awful smell though...any other ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

[m2wandc]

Call Service Masters

 

[tryingtohaveitall]

That's so scary! Thank God you're all ok and found it in time. We had a similar thing happen earlier this week but it was out in the coop. I suspect our bigger girls knocked the lamp off the post it was clamped on as well.

 

[farmerjill]

Nature's Air Sponge Odor Absorbers (you can order online, and they come within a day or two...) are GREAT. They actually seem to absorb odors, instead of just layering a horrible perfume on top of them. I've used them for years in rooms with cat litter pans and they work very well. I imagine they'd really help with the smoke.