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The original was posted on /r/tifu by /u/SpreadIllustrious558 on 2025-05-29 21:32:45+00:00.

I live in a townhouse with very thin walls. My neighbor’s dog barks at everything, so I wear noise-canceling headphones when I clean. Today I was deep-cleaning the kitchen and had music blasting. Like, obnoxiously loud Britney Spears kind of blasting.

Midway through scrubbing the stove, I smelled smoke.

I turned and saw a faint haze, the kitchen towel I had tossed too close to the stove (which apparently I’d accidentally turned on) was smoldering. I freak out, rip off the headphones, toss the towel in the sink, run water. It’s out. I’m relieved. Crisis averted.

Then I hear the banging.

Apparently, the smoke set off my alarm, I didn’t hear it, and my neighbor, thinking I’d died in a fire, called the fire department. So now I’m explaining to literal firefighters that the emergency was “just a towel” while covered in soapy water and wearing fuzzy pink socks that say “Hot Mess.”

They were kind. My dignity was not.

TL;DR: Noise-canceling headphones stopped me from hearing a fire alarm. Neighbor called the fire department. I met them in Britney mode.