The fire at my house, which could have been calamitous but due to the coincidental (from Heaven ) appearance on the scene of my niece, turned out to be not a big deal.

Spontaneous combustion: Everyone reads about it and oil based products always have warnings on the can, but few people think it is real, even though there is conclusive evidence, because it happened to a drummer of the band, Spinal Tap.

I have always been meticulous about oil-soaked rags, taking care to put them in a neighbor's trash or a mailbox (metal container ideal for containment), but just this once I was careless. The stain on the deck is oil based. I tossed a few rags into a plastic trash can filled with small off-cuts of wood. About 24 hours later, poof. Plenty of kindling, insulation (small pieces of wood) to contain the increasing heat, and fuel for a bonfire.

My wife was at work, I was an hour away in Marana. My niece, who lives in a dorm at the University of Arizona, called and asked if she could come over for a while. She walked over and arrived just as the flames were getting away. 911 was reasonable responsive. Had Geena not arrived when she did, we almost certainly would have lost the house and  my carelessness could have also killed my cats, who now have only seven lives apiece.