"As a mom, I really thought that we had done a thorough job teaching our kids the dangers of fire. This whole [incident] with our fire showed us that they really did not get that."
-Kelly Bates
Following a fire that broke out in their laundry room when Judson (6) and Jeb (4) got a hold of a lighter, the Bates are forced to spend a couple weeks in a local hotel while their house is cleaned and the damage repaired (see photos below). Gil and Kelly Bates say they plan to revisit the topic of fire safety with their little ones. Have you ever had a fire in your home or business?
Take a look at the clip below. More videos and photos coming as we approach this week's new episode of Bringing Up Bates (airs Thursday at 9pm ET/8pm CT).
These snapshots show the damage done to the Bates' laundry room:
Photos/video courtesy of UP
To be honest, I think the wake up call that Gil and Kelly need to get is that they need to be home more and not rely on their older children for childcare, particularly at certain times of day. From what I gather, the fire happened when the older kids were still asleep in the morning, so the parents either should have either been home or had an understanding with their older children regarding someone always actively keeping an eye on the boys. I really hope the older kids weren't blamed for what happened!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous....get real...kids play with lighters doesn't matter if parents are home or not. Bates family...I am glad no one was hurt.
DeleteYou are so very rude. Maybe Judson,Jeb were sleeping then woke up before the older ones woke up.
DeleteGil was at work and Kelly went to visit Michaela.
These things happen every day and only take a second, no matter who is watching them. Curiosity is part of human nature. I guess Adam and Eve are to blame for our nature.
DeleteI am so happy to hear that you are a perfect parent. There are definitely times that parents need to be away from home and leave their children in the care of a sitter or a sibling.
DeleteWho are you to say they need to be home more? Do you stalk their schedule to know when they are and are not home?
Children will be curious and adventurous. I don't care how you raise them they will find mischief.
As a parent of 10 year old twins and a 9 year old I can tell you from experience that it only take a minute for things to happen. You can not have your eyes on them every second of the day.
When my son was that age I was in the living room and he was in the, kitchen. Just a half wall divided us. I could see him playing in a box. I started smelling something I ask him do you smell that? No. He had watched my dad start a chimney fires so our heater was there. He,took paper and put it in the box and I turned around and fire, was licking out the box. I had to make a quick decision and grabbed it had to run thru two doors to get it outside. I disiplined him hard. But didn't break him. He caught my parents house on fire and that broke him. He had nite mires for for a long time. So kids can do regardless.
DeleteI agree. This happened to my friends. Sadly 2 of her precious children died. People shouldn't be so quick to judge
DeleteWhen I was around ten years old we had just moved into this duplex. My mom was expecting my youngest sister and my dad was working night shift. I remember my mom waking us kids up at around 10 at night saying the house was on fire. Oh that was so scary! Apparently the floor heater had blown up which was in the living room. Thankfully the fire was only in the living room and didn't spread. We weren't too far away from the fire department. We couldn't live in that space but the other duplex was empty so we ended up moving into it. We only lost a few pieces of furniture but we are grateful our lives were spared. There was also the fire I mentioned a few posts ago my youngest sister and brother started in the car because they were playing with matches.
ReplyDeleteWow! Glad y'all were ok :-)
DeleteSo glad everyone is ok!!!
ReplyDeleteSo glad everyone is ok!!!
ReplyDeleteI really think the parents should spend more time at home. When the fire happened, Kelly was on holiday leaving the youngest ones with whom exactly? Whenever I read about the Bates, Kelly and Gil are on a trip.
ReplyDeleteGil was at work providing for his family. Kelly was gone trying to visit a few of her children..one of them about ready to have a baby. Gil met up w her after the fire happened. And those kids are very well loved and taken care of by there parents and one another
DeleteI think it is all too easy to assume small children of that age have the developmental capacity to absorb everything we tell them. They are naturally inquisitive and impulsive and not very adept at anticipating problems. They likely won't forget this hands' on lesson about how quickly fire can get out of control.
ReplyDeleteSo glad everyone is ok. Things can be replaced.
ReplyDeleteI lost my home in a fire my step-father set when I was 14. He made me help him and then left me inside, on the 2nd floor...And just this past Saturday, my home church (in Temperance, Michigan) burned to the ground
ReplyDeleteGale I sorry what you went through I glad your ok and got out ok.
DeleteOh dear Jesus I hope your mother left him after he set that fire and left you inside!! If she didn't leave him then I am speechless as to what would possess her to choose a man over her own innocent child and your safety! So sorry that you had to go through that Gale.
DeleteGale, do you think your Stepfather, might have burned down the church too?! I feel for you, I HOPE, you will get some help, because counselling, has helped me a lot, because my Father and I, have had a terrible relationship with him, but I got A LOT of counselling, and now he and I, are getting on, and I now have a way better relationship! I even (with my Mother), visited him last year in his home on Vancouver Island, Canada, it was 4 days, and we never fought! I just hope your Mother dealt with that appropriately!!!! Take care, I mean this, take care of this, and am VERY SAD for you!!!!!!
DeleteI am sure that they are home more than they are away. Not only that, but parents cannot be standing over their children 24/7. That is why we try to teach them about certain hazards & dangers. Then we trust they have learned a good lesson. Even with that, things still happen. Thankfully no one was hurt & only material things were damaged.
ReplyDeleteMy sisters home burned last month and she and her family stayed with me her sister and her family four weeks before moving in to a temp.home till there house gets fixed.thank God no one was hurt.yes they lost there family dog though.
ReplyDeleteAs if none of you have left your children with a babysitter....please. Where they are, or what they're doing is none of your business. Just be thankful that noone was hurt.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter is six, and I have never left her with anyone but myself or my husband (her dad). So, maybe you should stop being so judgemental about people who you don't even know.
DeleteSo thankful everyone is OK. Praise God!
ReplyDeleteGil was at work. Lawson,Trace, Tori, Carlyn,Josie were at home sleeping with the little ones.
ReplyDeleteNever had a fire in my home. We never had lighters or matches in the house.
ReplyDeleteI never even touch a lighter or matches to this day.
Anonymous March 6 2017 at 9:32 pm. Your parents were smart not to have matches or lighters in the house.
DeleteYou must have grown up with good parents.
Yes Thank you
DeleteI am curious. Did you never have candles on your birthday cakes? I can't imagine not have a lighter or matches... between birthday candles and lighting candles. I just love the smell of candles. We have never had a fire in our home and have always had matches or lighters put up in the house.
DeleteYears ago, my one year old was climbing from my night stand onto my bed having climbed out of his pack n play that I thought he was napping in. My night stand lamp fell onto my bed and, from the evidence, he must have climbed on it. When he did the glass from the bulb snapped off, a clean break, leaving the filament exposed since the lamp shade had twisted to the side. He then, from the evidence, must have started turning the on/off knob and set the sheets on fire. By God's grace and providence, my older son walked down the hallway and saw the fire. When I raced there, my one year old was laying on the bed watching the flames that reached up to half the height of my headboard. He did not seem scared at all and was not harmed at all (miracle!). After pulling him off the bed and getting the kids in the livingroom, I put the fire out with the fire extinguisher. There was a hole the size of a dinner plate in my mattress. Needless to say there were a LOT of tears and hugs on all my kids that day! So thankful for God's protection over my little guy.
ReplyDeleteGet a life. Children can do this in seconds.while you are in bathroom, cooking etc.. none of us are perfect. Don't. Judge others unless you are in their shoes. Things happen. I'm so glad there are so many perfect people out there
ReplyDeleteWell said. Some people just don't understand how life with children can be. Some seem to think that someone should have been watching the boys 24/7. That is just not possible. Everyone has to sleep. There were several adults in the house. It was a terrible accident that thankfully injured no one. For some reason some people want to blame Gil and Kelly and call them inattentive parents. That is NOT true. They are the most grounded people and loving parents that I know. If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing.
DeleteI'm not perfect and do NOT pretend to be but the family is so large such as Bates family ; there is some adjustment parent need to do.... There is only so much pressure you can put on teenager / adult kids for looking after their younger sibling.... I remember seeing Jana freaking out as Josie was taking to ambulance...... Please stop thinking we are haters - people like me aren't .... But concerned for the children !
DeleteAren't you judging the person above? It's the pot calling the kettle black.
DeleteChildren can and will get into mischief no matter who is watching them. Jana would have freaked out no matter if her mom had been home. Emergency situations freak everyone out. The adult Bates are adults, so there isn't anything wrong with them watching the kids. A lot of people have kids by their ages. Some kids are more curious than others and more prone to get into trouble. My son when he was three unplugged a lamp and poked a metal nail file into the outlet. Thankfully it only shocked him a little and the breaker flipped. I was at home when it happened. He did it so quickly that I didn't catch him until afterwards. Even moms have to use the restroom, cook dinner, do dishes, etc. where you can't see your little ones every second of every day.
DeleteGil was not out of town - he was at work. Truly, someone should have been tasked with watching the two little boys and it seems as if this was not the case. With the older girls getting married or attending college and moving on with life, the younger ones seem to have been left to their own devices when Kelly was away. I bet they won't be left unsupervised again! The Bates parents seem more responsive than other reality show parents.
ReplyDeleteGlad nobody was hurt. By the looks of those pictures, it's a miracle the clothing did not burn. Can you imagine replacing clothes for that many people?
Since we don't know all the circumstances, it's kinder to not make these speculations.
DeleteHow did a child that young have access to a lighter?
ReplyDeleteHow rude some of you are to pass judgements on this family during a very scary and tough time. I commend Gil and Kelly for sharing this story with us instead of having UpTV destroy the episode. It is a warning to all families that things like this can happen to anyone. And raising children is a process and some children need more coaching than others. I am glad everyone is okay because it is the people that matter not the things.
ReplyDeleteI'm so thankful that no one was hurt. God was watching over them. I couldn't believe that with all the clothes in there it wasn't worse. It truly was miracle.
ReplyDeleteGlad nobody was hurt. They need a fire safety plan which is practiced every few months. So the kids know what to do and which buddy to grab & get out of the house. Also who rescues the family pets. We did these fire safety practice drills at my house. I was the one who protected our cat. Every living soul out of the house!
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of tree trimmers working before the light of day. Cameras were already at the house and supposedly everyone else was still sleeping. This doesn't add up.
ReplyDeleteHere's an explanation that should help clear things up: Lawson returned home at 5am and went to bed. The fire started later that morning, while Lawson was still sleeping but others were awake (and Gil and some of the boys had already left for a tree job).
DeleteLily and Ellie
it was early morning it was Daylight. parents are not home They don't have to be there for filming. Watch the show and you would know
DeleteDepending on the time of year, we would be at work (tree company) before the sun was up. This meant we were ready to get to work (go to that day's job/s) once it was light enough.
DeleteIt was an accident they happen. Kelly was visiting her other children which she probably talked about withbGil and the children. Girl was at work to provide for his family. Glad to see you all can judge their family against your perfect family. Thank God no one was hurt and they didn't loose their home, the accident could have been a lot worse. Hopefully the little ones will pay more attention and understand better about not playing with fire
ReplyDeleteSo glad the family is ok after this accident!
ReplyDeleteI know of a couple house fires that didn't turn out so well. My sister & family have 5 kids. When the youngest was baby & oldest 7. The oldest put some paper in the log garage heater. Somehow it fell out & started the garage on fire with the gas being in there. My sister managed to get all 5 children out of the house just before the garage exploded with fire. They lost their whole house but thankfully no one was hurt!
The other friend I know of had a house fire. Sadly they lost 4 children & husband in that fire. Including a baby. Heart wrenching! It is some years later now & she has little boy now.
Oh my gosh -- so these are horrible stories. So sad. How did the second fire start?
DeleteDid they say how the kids got ahold of the lighter? Some lighters have a child-safe mechanism, but they're more expensive than the kind that kids can light.
ReplyDeleteHey, do you what is funny they said Hotel Bates, there is a show called Bates Hotel, which is vastly different!!!!!
ReplyDelete