I used to work in low income home weatherization, basically giving free shit away to help lower electricity and gas bills and make the home more comfortable to people who really needed it; installing doors and insulation and so forth.
One step in qualifying a home is testing combustion appliances to make sure they're not emitting carbon monoxide into the living space, because if they are and we seal up the house we could kill the whole family.
During a pre-inspection of a home on the outskirts of the city, I ask to see the owner's water heater. He tells me that it's in the basement, which is fairly normal, and I tell him I have to inspect it before work can start. So, he goes into the kitchen and starts moving the refrigerator. Turns out the entry into the basement is underneath carpeting beneath the fridge. I should note that I went and did thousands of homes over the years, and had never seen such a thing.
But, whatever, needs to be done regardless and so I pull out my flashlight and shine it down the stairs, to check out the layout but really to look for black widow spiders because fuck black widows. At this point I notice a dead cat, mostly down to a skeleton. Not my favorite sight but really common in crawlspaces and basements. I take a few steps down the stairs and continue my spider check, and notice another couple of small animal skeletons.
At this point I start to worry about gas, or poisons, or something equally dangerous, and start looking closer. There are animal skeletons everywhere, at least ten on a cursory look. Some of them are so degraded I can't determine what they used to be. I also happen to notice that this guy is waiting at the entrance a little too quietly, with his hand on the door.
Something clicks in my brain and I get this immense sense of danger. I'm about four steps from the door being clear to close, I have no partner on the job with me, there's death all around me, and I realize just how hidden the entrance to the basement really was.
I noped the fuck out, told the guy I needed extra tools and would be back, and marked the job as non-feasible for health and safety as I was driving away. I have no idea if I was actually in any danger, it could have been completely innocent; but I still remember the adrenaline rush and sense of doom, and sometimes you just don't take chances.
