When Grandma Was A Little Girl - #53

53-The closet, the match and the fart!

Have you ever farted and lit a match to see what happens? Don’t try it! It’s too dangerous!

I think my twin brother Gayle and I were between 8 and 10 years old when this incident happened. My three brothers shared the same bedroom. Their bedroom closet did not have a door on it. Instead, a curtain was hung there. My mom had made a curtain and it was hung on a curtain rod. You could pull the curtain or slide it back and forth to get into the closet. When you pulled the curtain back there were shelves top to bottom on the right side and also on the left side. The boys were assigned shelves to put ‘their things’ on.

This one particular time my brother Gayle was in their bedroom and my parents and I were out in the family room. I don’t remember if the other two boys were in the bedroom with him or not. Well, Gayle ran out into the family room with this wide-eyed expression and then ran back into the bedroom and then out to the family room again. We were all wondering what was going on. Then I think it was Geoffrey, our oldest brother, who ran out and said that the closet curtain was on fire!

We ran into the room quick and someone pulled the curtain down and put out the fire. The back wall of that closet was scorched and some of the ceiling. Fortunately the house did not burn down! Only a few things got ruined in the closet and there was a smoke smell for a while. My dad fixed the closet and repainted and my mom made a new curtain for the closet doorway.

We asked Gayle how the fire started. I remember how sorrowful Gayle was about the whole affair. We had all been told that we were never to play with matches. Gayle explained that he wanted to know what would happen if he lit a match after he farted. So he had gone into the closet and tried this experiment.

Well, he found out really fast that gas is flammable, even human gas! He said that the fire happened so fast. He ran out of the closet to get help but was too overcome to say anything. That’s why he just ran back and forth from the bedroom to the family room. In seconds the fire caught the curtain on fire and then up to the ceiling and along the back wall of the closet. I can remember the black in the closet and the smoke smell. It’s something I’m sure we all will remember for a very long time!