Heartwarming: Firefighters Serenade 93-Year-Old Woman After Cooking Mishap

Geraldine from Smithfield, North Carolina, was spending her birthday at home when she had a cooking accident that led to a heartwarming serenade.

On May 16, the 93-year-old left a pot on the stove while she went outside to check on her plants. At some point, smoke began to fill her home and she realized something was wrong.

The Smithfield Fire Department arrived to take care of the situation. Thankfully, it was just the pot that was the source of the smoke, and no major damage had been caused.

Upon finding out that it was Geraldine’s birthday, though, the firefighters decided to mark the special occasion with a rendition of the traditional birthday song.

The Smithfield Fire Department shared a video of the serenade.

“Mrs.Geraldine had an [eventful] birthday this morning,” its Facebook post read.

“She left a pot on the stove a little [too] long and smoked up her home while she was in the garden. To make her 93rd a little better, A-shift serenaded her with Happy Birthday.”

The video was picked up by multiple news outlets, and as a result, whether she knows it or not, Geraldine got hundreds more well-wishes in the comments left on the video.

Perhaps not the most peaceful way to start a birthday — but after 93, this one was certainly memorable!

On Tuesday, the Smithfield Fire Department had another birthday experience while making a house call.

“We just must have stumbled upon a unique trend!” it shared on Thursday.

“While crews were out testing hydrants and answering calls, Fire Marshal Holloman had the opportunity to follow up on a resident that was not home during our recent Smoke Alarm Saturday.

“The visit was well worth it as we quickly discovered that it was also Ms. Linda Warren’s Birthday! We were able to upgrade her home to brand new 10 year smoke alarms.

“Although our ‘singing fire crews’ were not available at the time, we shared some good laughs and said a quick prayer for Ms. Warren for a Happy Birthday, safety, many more of God’s blessings!

“Happy Birthday, Ms. Warren from all of us at Smithfield Fire Department!”

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Amanda holds an MA in Rhetoric and TESOL from Cal Poly Pomona. After teaching composition and logic for several years, she’s strayed into writing full-time and especially enjoys animal-related topics.

As of January 2019, Amanda has written over 1,000 stories for The Western Journal but doesn’t really know how. Graduating from California State Polytechnic University with a MA in Rhetoric/Composition and TESOL, she wrote her thesis about metacognitive development and the skill transfer between reading and writing in freshman students.
She has a slew of interests that keep her busy, including trying out new recipes, enjoying nature, discussing ridiculous topics, reading, drawing, people watching, developing curriculum, and writing bios. Sometimes she has red hair, sometimes she has brown hair, sometimes she’s had teal hair.
With a book on productive communication strategies in the works, Amanda is also writing and illustrating some children’s books with her husband, Edward.

Location

Austin, Texas

Languages Spoken

English und ein bißchen Deutsch

Topics of Expertise

Faith, Animals, Cooking