Woman Says She's "Traumatized" By Her Apartment Smoke Detector After Trying to Use Oven

Ahh, the struggles of living in an apartment! From astronomical rent prices to limited and sometimes extremely awkward parking spots, and to having a creepy building maintenance man who keeps inviting you over to his crib, living in a rented unit introduces you to a whole slew of new problems.

Take it from this woman who made a TikTok video illustrating what is probably one of the most common, yet infuriating issues of being an apartment dweller. I'll give you a hint. Have you ever tried to cook something in an apartment? And did it result in the smoke detector going absolutely feral? Prepared to feel seen and heard.

TikTok creator @thatsmybaileyg shared a video from her apartment kitchen. "POV: You live in an apartment," read the video's text.

She explained that she just put a tray of what looks to be some type of fried, bite-size appetizers in the oven for 10 minutes at 450 degrees Fahrenheit, just as the instructions said.

"The little crispies are burning. You see all the smoke coming out so I know that the f------ smoke detector is going to go off," she says as she goes to retrieve the tray.

@thatsmybaileyg places the hot tray on the stovetop. "I'm sorry, don't! Please, no! Please don't" she yells as she uses her ovenmit to fan the area.

After a few seconds of silence, she remarks, "Oh wow, they're not going off. Surprise surprise!"

But unfortunately, she spoke too soon. The smoke detectors begin ringing as she ends her video.

In her caption, she wrote, "Every day I’m traumatized by the smoke detectors."

@thatsmybaileyg's video struck a chord with users right away.

"I’ve never seen a more relatable video ever," wrote one user.

Another person said: "Happened every time I used the oven in my on-campus apartment."

A third user said: "1000 percent. We can’t even boil pasta without ours going off from the steam. It’s ridiculous."

And several others began to detail the foods, like toast, that they could no longer prep in their apartments without setting the smoke detector(s) off. One person even claimed that she couldn't take hot showers in her apartment because the smoke detector was outside of her bathroom.

Meanwhile, a bunch of other folks shared how they avoid setting their smoke detectors while cooking in an apartment.

Some blatantly admitted that they either took the batteries out of the detectors or ripped the device from the wall. However, we do not recommend this as it is crucial to have a working smoke detector in your home to help detect a fire in its early stages.

Fortunately, some users had some better ideas.

"I’ve started opening the balcony door and turning the fans on before i even open the oven," wrote one user.

Others claimed they angled fans directly at the smoke detector, turned the air conditioning on, opened windows, and did whatever else they could do to prevent smoke from gathering near the detector.

One person also shared that they were advised by their maintenance man to cover their smoke detector with a towel when cooking.

Bottom line: Smoke detectors can be a nuisance in the kitchen, but they're essential for our safety.