My husband and I owned a 150-year-old farmhouse

My husband and I owned a 150-year-old farmhouse that we used as a weekend getaway.

One Friday night, we arrived, turned everything on, and went out for dinner. When we got back, my husband asked if I smelled something burning. I didn’t. So, we went to bed.

The next day, he said the smell was even stronger. He checked around the house but didn’t find anything unusual.

On Sunday, just before we were about to leave, my husband went into the basement one last time. He touched the center beam of the house—and it was hot. Right away, he called our carpenter. The carpenter took one look and told us the beam was burning from the inside!

Without hesitation, he grabbed my husband’s Sawzall and cut into the beam. The moment it hit the ground, sparks flew everywhere. The house was now being held up by sheer luck! The carpenter quickly put in a temporary support and promised to come back the next day to fix it properly.

We never found out what caused the fire. But if my husband hadn’t noticed the smell and tracked it down, the house probably would have burned down after we left that night.

EDIT: Thanks to everyone guessing what might have started it! This happened in the late 1980s, and we never figured it out. Since we didn’t call the fire department or make an insurance claim, only the carpenter looked at it.

(One of you suggested a poltergeist—we think that’s a pretty solid guess!)

Thanks again!