The cause of the fire

"Jacynthe the shop is on fire"

Saturday, January 5th, the beginning of the year and the new moon. We're not at home. The girls were arriving to open the shop, our first beautiful little boutique in La Prairie and also our main office. They first alerted the firefighters, who demanded that no one enter. We don't hear it often enough; an air intake, an opening door, or a broken window can cause the place to flare up, or even explode. They tell us about an intense black smoke that darkens the entire interior, then broadcast live the arrival of the firefighters, and quickly their findings. What happened? Is it the heating? An electrical problem?

We know (thanks to our annual events) the firefighter investigator on the scene, Marc-Antoine Geoffrion. The fire started the day before around 10 p.m. in the clean load of laundry left on a chair. It spread around the furniture to the curtains and then extinguished itself due to lack of air. The smoke completed the devastation by taking up all the space and seeping everywhere.

In the wash load you ask?

Are you familiar with the principle of linseed oil, which is applied to wood as a shine and protection? With all vegetable oils, we are faced with essentially the same precautions and dangers of use. From olive oil in cooking to oil blends used for the face or in massage. Thus, salons and spas have tasted the flames before us. But this knowledge is not widespread among individuals; a master firefighter with 25 years of experience admitted to us that he had never seen anything like it before. Hence this sharing, reviewed and supported by a mechanical engineer and fire research director.

Vegetable oils give off heat (linseed oil being the one that poses the greatest risk). If they are unable to evacuate this heat upon contact with the ambient air, by conversion, for example when they are placed on a porous support (towels), folded or "in a ball", this exothermic phenomenon accelerates until it carbonizes the fabric and ignites it, going from self-heating to self-igniting. All vegetable oils, to varying degrees, must oxidize upon contact with air. The exact and favorable conditions must be present to cause a fire (a smoker who throws his active cigarette in a trash can does not automatically start a fire). This is not common but the danger exists. Using the dryer has surely amplified the probability of self-heating even if it already activates at room temperature (I remind you that the wash load was clean, the cycle ended at 4 p.m., the risk of self-heating lasts up to 10 hours). The support must also be soaked but the starting point can be microscopic. Despite our ecological inclinations, we now turn to an enzyme soap to destroy the flammable aspect of vegetable oils. Another solution to avoid all risks by promoting oxidation, simply lay flat, on a rope or a support, which allows the most contact with the air. We avoid piling in the laundry basket. So, if you pick up an olive oil spill on the floor with a washcloth, hang it so that its front and back surfaces are in contact with the air, for about ten hours, to avoid any danger.

Now, what a surprise that has made this event become a powerful symbol for us, imbued with protection: the fire goes out by itself due to lack of air. What incredible luck. Our wooden buildings could have survived, even the animals.

Second chance, no one opened the door while the fire was dormant. Everyone is safe.

The loss is total inside, but this little barn of our beginnings, which is so dear to our hearts, has remained strong and intact (despite, I repeat, the fact that the curtains caught fire). We are only turning the page on a chapter of the past, leaving room for grandiose possibilities. The best is yet to come, after the rain the good weather!

The most moving thing was having our team mobilize on Saturday and Sunday, without even having to be asked, so that by Monday, staff, merchandise, and personnel were already relocated and our wonderful activities could continue without delay. A rare devotion. Firefighters, inspectors, and investigators, as well as our friends, family, and colleagues from elsewhere, had never seen so much before.

So this story becomes all the more richly magnified, touched by solidarity and, I must mention, by support as invisible as it is magical. Now, I cherish these days when several are in our house working. Family. Heart. Bonds. Our child greeting and playing with one another. A beauty that touches and makes us cherish life.