Fire, fire, fire! Not!

Today we thought our house was on fire. Doug called me to ask if I would go and check and see if our house was on fire, since he was at work downstairs. I quickly looked outside, checking to see if someone was maybe burning something. I couldn't smell anything. So, I went downstairs and checked all the rooms and couldn't find anything. I checked the place that made the most sense...the utility room where the water heaters and so forth are located. I couldn't see smoke, but it sure smelled of smoke. So, I went to tell Doug that I could smell smoke. He was in the middle of teaching a class. So, he told his class he had to leave that our house was on fire. His office smelled of smoke and the utility room smelled of smoke. We couldn't see any smoke or flames, so we didn't know what we should do. I was afraid of a fire in the wall or something. So, I called 411 to get the non-emergent number for the fire department. When I called them, they told me I should call 911. So, it was like I called 411 to get the number for 911! (Sorta! LOL) So, they told us to evacuate and wait outside until they went in to inspect and give us the all clear. They showed up with their HUGE new fire truck with the driver on back. They took their infrared equipment inside and checked everything out but didn't find anything. It turns out that some neighbors a few houses down were burning leaves and things and the smoke came in through an outside vent and in through an a/c in the window of Doug's office. So, it all turned out well and everyone is okay. It just made for some excitement in the Bassett neighborhood for a few minutes. I am thankful for our firefighters and their willingness to help. I felt a little dumb afterwards, but it is better to be safe than sorry!