[missymay]

Five members of a Connecticut family died Christmas morning after ashes removed from the fireplace and placed in a bag by the back door caught fire. The three children and two Grandparents perished in the fire. My heart goes out to the Mother. What a tragic accident! It's a great time to remind people that fireplace ashes remain hot long after the fire goes out, sometimes for days. Always dispose of ashes properly in a fireproof container, away from the home and anything flammable.

[tinas]

That is terrible but I have to wonder since I hate to sound like a jerk but I never thought that was the way you removed the ashes? I thought most times people used something like a steel bucket to remove the ashes?

[sunny37]

Oh my that is terrible. I feel for the family too.

I am with tinas on this one (not trying to sound like a jerk either). We remove ashes in our house and place them in a metal bucket. They are then put outside to cool off. We would never put them in a bag or plastic garbage can.

[TheJames]

I'm certain no one here is trying to be a jerk, but I think we all see the error of their ways immediately, and appreciate how senseless of a tragedy it was. We have an ash bucket specifically for ashes, and when the bucket is emptied, it gets emptied in our fire pit outdoors. I can tell you that many house fires start from a lack of common sense, unfortunately. I'm sure that Mother is torturing herself over the whole thing. My heart goes out to her.