Gamers are always guilty of spending a ridiculous amount of time playing games, sometimes dead into the night. Well, a couple in Chico, California was saved from a deadly inferno, thanks to bingeing on Starfield into the night.
A Redditor with the handle u/tidyckilla posted under the Starfield subreddit to share his survival story. He was also full of praise for Starfield and Todd Howard, the director and executive producer at Bethesda Games, for literally saving him and his family.
“Starfield literally saved mine and my family’s life on September 1st,” the Redditor began. “I have waited for this game since the trademark rumors of 2015-2016. In anticipation, I preordered the premium [edition] waiting to play this game.”
The Redditor went ahead to describe how he stayed awake on August 31st to play the game “as long as possible to experience this new universe”. However, while he was seemingly engrossed in the game, he heard an explosion at around 2:26 a.m.
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The explosion came from a neighbor’s apartment downstairs. Upon pausing his game to inquire what was going on, he saw plumes of smoke rising up the stairs to his apartment. He quickly got his wife and cat, and they left the building for safety. Thankfully, they only sustained minor burns.
“If I hadn’t been up bingeing Starfield, I would have been asleep and we would have all died [of] smoke inhalation,” the Redditor wrote. “I want to thank this game [for] saving my family and me from a horrible fate. PRAISE GODD HOWARD.”
The Starfield survival story was initially slammed as a joke
It is sad that the Internet has become a cruel place where people just run with their opinions. Empathy has evaporated from the space and people are quick to hurl insults at others once opinions don’t align.
When u/tidyckilla shared his testimony about the September 1 incident, a lot of people made fun of him—notwithstanding that he attached a photograph to back up his claim. Only a few cared to know how the couple was coping with the aftermath of the inferno. Apparently, not everyone was lucky in the inferno.
According to a report by Action News Now, when the Chico fire department had put out the apartment inferno and was doing a search around the building they found a woman unresponsive behind the apartment. She was extracted from the fire and taken to Enloe Medical Center. Her current state is unknown.
Five other apartments in the surrounding area were also damaged. However, all the residents were able to escape to safety before the fire arrived. Although it was sad to learn about the number of people displaced by the inferno, it was comforting to know that there were no casualties—besides the woman who was evacuated unresponsive.
After people started doubting the legitimacy of his story, u/tidyckilla was forced to share other images showing the aftermath of the fire.
“People [have] been saying I’ve been bull***ting so here are a few more pictures, all except the first picture is the aftermath,” he wrote accompanied by 7 pictures of the charred remains of the house.
So, gaming late at night can save your life, but at what cost?
Not everyone was insensitive to u/tidyckilla’s Starfield testimony. Another redittor u/NeoMorph shared a similar story of how staying awake at night to enjoy his favorite title saved his life from an inferno presumably started by a jealous girlfriend.
No doubt, staying awake at night or finding a way to stay conscious of your environment at night can save your life, especially during a fire disaster. Besides those offering essential services that need to stay awake at night, others usually do so for entertainment.
However, sleep deprivation can lead to physical and mental health problems, loss of productivity, injuries, and even death. Therefore, even if you must stay awake at night to play Starfield, make sure to do it responsibly.
A smart alternative would be to install fire and smoke detectors around the house so that you will easily be notified whenever there is a fire incident. It is also a good practice to keep fire extinguishers at home to give you a fighting chance whenever there is a fire disaster.
Starfield is a large game and many people would likely want to be the first to beat it. While that can offer a boost to your streaming channel, always pause to think about the impact on your health. A good night’s sleep is usually underrated until a health disaster strikes.
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