It’s perfectly normal to fear fire. The last thing a person wants is to lose their home, life or the life of their loved ones to a fire. Fire can be a very scary thing, but those with Pyrophobia have a very abnormal fear of fire. The fear quickly begins to interfere with daily routines and can eventually take over their entire lives. A person with Pyrophobia is scared to leave their homes, because they’re scared it may burn down while they’re gone. They’re scared to go to sleep because the house may catch on fire. There’s also a constant fear that the smoke detectors will not work correctly if there is a fire.
I’ve suffered from Pyrophobia for about 12 years now. It’s always worse in the winter because of the Christmas lights and heat lamps for our dogs. I didn’t just wake up one day afraid of fire. We lived a house away from my grandpa and I awoke at 3a.m with our neighbor screaming and banging on our door. She said my grandpa’s house was on fire. I looked out the window and saw the flames. I ran to his house and there were firemen and police officers everywhere. Luckily it was only his storage building burning, but it was enough to traumatize me. A day or two after that an outlet in my bedroom shorted out while I was sleeping and burned the inside of the wall. Then a couple of years ago there was a gas leak in my home and the heater caught on fire. I thank God everyday that only the heater and a portion of the wall burned. The scary thing about that one is that we were not suppose to be home that day, but a strange set of circumstances kept us there.Although I do have reasons to be afraid of fire, my fears are still irrational most of the time. If I had it my way I would have smoke detectors in and outside my house and I would sleep with a fire extinguisher all the time…I’ve only done that once or twice. It’s not fun being this afraid of something. Ironically, I’m afraid of being afraid.
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16 comments:
That is awful what happened to you as a kid. I am curious as to whether people with pyrophobia are afraid of lighters or matches. Is there such thing as a pyrophobiac who smokes?
aww dats terrible!
i suffer from pyrophobia to :(
its reali gay haha.
a tiny thing happened to me ages ago that my brother set a bit of the floor on fire once wen i was younger and i ran out of the house screaming and since then ive bin terrified of fires!
i lose sleep because i think theres going to be a fire and i ALWAYS have to check the smoke alarm and make sure EVERYTHING is plugged out before i go to sleep :(
i used to have nightmares about my house going on fire aswell.
and when im cooking i get really nervous and i constantly gave to tell myself that nothings going to happen if im careful.
which is kinda ironic because i want to be a chef when im older :)
i no how bad it is living with the fear of fire :( XXXXX
Thank you for this post. I, too, have Pyrophobia. I was traumatized when I was ten when I saw a school movie about what the inside of a house looks like in a fire. Four a year, I slept with my parents and was afraid of going upstairs or downstairs alone.
Also, just yesterday, one of my neighbour's houses was on fire.
Im so happy to know there are other people out there with this same fear. I had a house fire and lost my entire home. Since then i worry about every little thing in my house. If i smell something funny..i instantly think its on fire. When we first moved into our new home i was using the oven and had to leave the oven light on and watch through the oven door the entire time :(
I have to keep telling myself that the chances of losing my home again are slim but i'm still very afraid. When i leave my house to go to work...im thinking to myself "did i unplug that..is that off" it could be something i didnt even use that day.
Any advice?
I am exactly the same. I have an intense fear of fire to the point that it drives everyone around me insane. I had a house fire in 2006. It will be 4 years this Feb 2010. Yet it still affects me on a daily bases. I wake up every night over and over and check the enitre house. I have to unplug everything. Any crackle sound I hear I assume is fire. Whenever I smell anything strange, I think its fire, which is absolute torture in the winter because my neighbors are using their fireplaces and such and I can smell it. I hate the smell of the oven, grill, birthday candles, heaters. I am paranoid of everything. It seriously affects my everyday life to such intensity that I have constant anxiety. I am affraid when I leave my home that it will be in flames when I return. I am afraid of hot water heaters, dryers, ovens or anything else that can or has caused fires in the past. I cant stand candles or matches. I wish I wasnt this way...I just dont know how to over come this or what to do. Anyone have any good success stories of how to overcome this fear??
I know how it feels!I may only be 12 & i shouldnt really be reading this. I have just been to the doctors & he says i have got a stomach pain cause i am worring about somthing or growing pains. I am worring about somthing house fires! I have been scared of them since i was 5. I try to tell my mum but the words dont come out of my mouth.
I understand exactly how you feel. I've had pyrophobia for as long as I can remember, and the strange thing is that I never experienced any sort of fire related trauma; the fear seemingly came out of nowhere.
I've never used a lighter or matches in my entire life, and something as small as a candle can terrify me. The smell of smoke literally makes me feel naucious.
When I was younger, I got very little sleep, because if I saw any reflective surface in the dark I'd automatically assume it was fire and have toget up and check it. Even after being wrong hundreds of times, I'd still have to check.
I'm also weird in the sense that things like smoke detectors and and fire trucks only make me feel more anxious, because my brain associates them with fire and just hates them all the more.
Trust me, I know how messed up this can make your life.
hmm... i feel really bad for all of the people who commented....but me...lol i am a pyromaniac, i actually likes fire, but not to the point that i'd burn a house down. i can't understand much, but i hope they'll find help
I'm 14 and when I was 12 I was driving to get my parents hot air balloon tested and the car set on fire. With about 160L OF PROPANE in the boot and a hot air balloon in the trailor. Now if im going on a long journey and towing anything heavy I fear the entire way that it will happen again. But next year were taking the balloon to farnce whitch is a 14 hour drive .any ideas to help me please.
I was afraid of fire for as long as I can remember, I wouldn't get close to a lighter, or the oven even. Even the smallest flames could get to me.
A few months ago,I went on an overseas school trip and stayed at a youth hostel in the foreign country. I woke up at 3 a.m. To my roomate yelling "fire!" Only to wake up to a burning room. The curtains, the ceiling, the hardwood walls, and the bed were all caught on fire. It was immediately extremely difficult to breathe, but luckily we made it out safely.
There were no fire extinguishers available, and so we helplessly watched the hostel burn until firefighters showed up. Our belongings, clothes, cell phones, passports were all lost in the fire, but the important thing is no one was hurt.
The fire started from bad wiring from the air conditioning system, and until today I cannot sleep without a fire extinguisher in the room.
Every siren sounds like a fire alarm. Images from that night haunt me everyday and I can't seem to get over it. People sometimes think I'm exaggerating but my fear really affects me on a daily basis.,ß
I response to the question does a pyrophobiac smoke.. I am a pyrophobiac, I work right down the street from my home, which is an apartment complex that has caught on fire twice in the 3 years i've been there. I watch all day for fire trucks headed that way. I have $500,000 of insurance, in case it does happen again, I will be covered. Some nights I can't sleep. I get up and check the stove, lights, fridge, outlets and outside all through the night. I have trouble being at work because I constantly think about "did I leave that on? did I turn that off?"
and yet I am a smoker. I control that ember, it's the ones I can't control that drive me insane 24/7. I don't like other people throwing their cigarette butts on the ground, I have to put it out immediately. It is so frusterating ):
I have this too. I remember thinking it was going to happen when I was 8. I dont remember if there was a f that to set the condition off but I think my mother set the kitchen alight and flooded it with the washing machine a few times! I get it mostly if I am on my own. I know my dad lost a house in the war thro bombing and 3 different psychics have told me I was a native American who had seen their wigwams burnt. I did not mention the fire thing to them. I went to 3 to see if they all said the same thing about something else!!! They did!!! Magnesium helps. Company helps. Bush fires season does not help. I could not live in fire prone areas.
I have a fear of fires, I smoke... It's the fear of smoke detectors not working when you need them to... I got woke up at 3am the night before holiday because the smoke detector went off... I had a light in my room (a christmas train) where the 'smoke' picture on it had lights around the edges which made flashing orange. I woke up and was in so much shock I couldn't move. Thankfully there wasn't a fire, and the smoke detectors needed changing. I have to check everything, and like right now it's 4:35am and I won't fall asleep until I can't stay awake any longer - I'm waiting for a fire to happen. Any advice?
I have a fear of fire and I dont know why! As a child we had a coal fire in the house, we had a lot of bonfires as we lived in the countryside. I have never had a bad experience with fire...I just know how it can ruin everything. I'm a car mechanic and because of my phobia I cant use the fire axe or anything :( I can just about tolerate lighters now but thats it. Any tips? I really want to get over this to help my career,
Many Thanks,
Emma.
I am. But I only smoke outside, with a metal bucket of water as my ashtray.
I have been afraid of fires since I was 8. Im 16 in october. before I tell my story My dads my sisters dad but my moms not her mom we all are a loving family btw. My sister who is my elder sister had her hair dryer plugged in when she was sleeping over in my room. Before we went to bed she unplugged it and said if you dont unplug it your house might go on fire. I have ocd so that was mean and now even now I unplug everything in my room before I go to bed. She scarred me and I have been a pyrophobiac for quite some time. I have thoughts about what if my house goes on fire, what if I lose everything, what if. Im tryin to stop these thoughts though but it wont flippin work! Im also worried because I dont wanna lose my pets or my prized possesions I have so many memories with! I might just try to get my parents to install sprinklers in my hallways and stuff
Im a wreck!
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