Trying to burn down the house

I have never had this happen to me until now. I have had friends do it. And yes, I have mistakenly turned the wrong eye on the stove at times, only to catch it. But this is the first time I actually caught something on fire.

It was around 11:50am. I was not drunk, nor had I had anything to drink. But it was post Sunday morning preaching and worship service. I was tired, and perhaps not as alert. My head was congested and still is, like it has been for about a month now. The kids were distracting me, demanding this and that, as usual.
Mistake number one: Having something on the stove that didn't need to be there, a non cooking item.
Mistake number two: turning on the wrong eye of the stove: instead of turning on the one under the pan of water, turning on the one under the glass plate with paper plates on top of it.
Mistake number three: turning my back to the stove.
The next thing I hear is a loud pop and shattering of glass, the cats and dogs scattering and then the obnoxious sound of the fire alarm. I turn around and there is glass everywhere, the paper plates are on fire. I am frozen in time for a moment and can't remember where the fire extinguisher is. The kids are now screaming. I turn off the eye and pour the water from the pan on the fire. it puts it out temporarily and then I have to pour more. Finally I get it out.
The kids want to come see it, but I yell at them to stay out because there is glass everywhere. I honestly don't know how I didn't get cut with the glass or the cats or dogs. The house has this great room of kitchen, dining room, and family room. The kids are all the way in the tv room away from the scene. But if I had not been right there and put it out I would have burned down the house. I then spent the next hour and half cleaning up glass and burnt paper. That may be one of the good things that came out of this was that the kitchen and stove got a good cleaning. The best thing was that no one was hurt. Just scared to death. I was so scared and shaken I called Bob on the phone, broke down and cried. (Bob was at work.) He was so supportive and soothing, even asked if I wanted him to come home. I told him no, I just needed him to listen to me. The kids were extremely good after that.
Now I was totally embarrassed that the glass plate had been sent to us with cookies, and I had not returned it. At a party that afternoon, I told the giver what had hapened and she laughed at me. She then told me that I had burnt and broken my own plate, she had given it as a present. On top of that it was a $2.00 plate from Wal-Mart. I thought it was an expensive Christmas plate. Ha, a joke on me, and no big loss. We had a good laugh and she told me I wasn't the firts one who has done something like that.
The party was for the Fiftieth Anniversary of a couple who are members of the church. He is the head Trustee, and the Assistant Chief of the fire Dept. I sideled up beside him and told him the story. He asked if everything was okay, and I said yes. And he justwent backt to the party. I was relieved.
I hate this stove, and how they have the controles. I am constantly turning on the wrong one. And it is electric, so you don't always know until later. I am going to have to be more alert and less distracted. And I am going to have to learn this stove. Lesson learned.