We had a fire!

[dagunnut]

Hello all!

Well spring has finally arrived in Wisconsin sort of (we had some more snow showers today). Thank you for all your prayers and kind words. The building site is a total mess and clean up is going to be a total nightmare. The insurance company is fighting with the uncle every step of the way. Our stuff was not covered at all under his policy or our homeowners, seeing as we did not have storage coverage under our policy. I was able to locate the partially burned bin of my Iraq bring backs and recovered some silk scarves, cashmere scarves, and a silk kimono that I brought home for my daughter. I was able to recover some of my medals off of my partially burned dress green uniform. I lost the rest of my military gear 6 foot lockers and 5 duffle bags (you name it and I had it). I also lost all of my law enforcement gear. Going up there and seeing what remains of our valuables well it just makes my heart turn inside out and then I get mad. I just keep trying to tell myself that no one is sick, injured or worse and that we (I) will recover. It just sucks, its the little things. My kids first fishing poles and tackle boxes were in there. Unless something else is buried under the debris along the walls or under the 5 inches of ash on the floor there is not much left to find. Its mostly just clean up and rebuilding left to do. The uncle wants to hire me to do the clean up but with my medical issues I don't think that I can do it. The debris is over ten feet deep at the far wall and will have to be cut apart to be removed. My family and I would both suffer if I do as it would aggrivate a lot of my other problems. I understand that he wants to try and help us out to try and replace what we lost any way he can. So in a nutshell that's where things are at right now. I tried to post pictures but I have been unable to post them.

Thanks
Mario
dagunnut



I have not been very active on the site lately!

We had a fire on February 6th at my wifes uncles garage. Its a 40'x60' two story with a storage up above. With us moving in with my mother-in-law we had almost everything that we own up there. We lost so much in the fire its disheartening. We lost family heirlooms, photographs, our wedding stuff, our fine china, the camping gear including a coleman multi-fuel stove and lantern, fishing gear including the kids poles and all the tackle, turkey hunting gear, turkey deep frier, my twenty years of military gear including my dress greens with all of my medals, my Iraq mementos, furniture including two antique dressers and a bed frame, bedding sets and bedding, tools, gunsmithing equipment and AGI videos, gunstocks, guncases, and the list goes on and on. My list is over 5 pages long and I am just scratching the surface. The uncles list has to be at least as long as mine. I know that I will not remember everything that we had up there.

The uncles insurance will go good for the policy on the structure and a small percentage of the contents. The money will not be enough to even cover the repairs to the structure. The lower level is still mostly intact but the weight of all the water and the 8" of blown in insulation caused the ceiling to collapse on the lower level. So most of the remaining items are buried under the frozen insulation. The clean-up is going to take forever and who knows what may have survived. The Fire Department use an excavator to scrape the debris off of the upper level floor so its in a big pile around the building. I know that I should be happy that no one got hurt but its hard when we lost so much. We still have a roof over our heads and clothes to wear! I guess I just needed to vent off some steam.

Thanks
Mario
dagunnut

[w5pv]

My friend my sympthy and prayers go out for you,my wife and I lost everything except the clothes that we were wearing.I wish I was in a sitution where I could help you.

[dagunnut]

w5pv

Thank you for your kind words. I hope that you have since been able to recover from your loss!

Mario

[Hamish]

Mario, as a Fireman, it always broke my heart to see folks go through this. As you said, all are safe, you have shelter, and clothes to wear,,,,,,we come in this world with nothing and we leave the same way. Loving and taking care of each is really all that matters in between. Prayers for an easy clean up and peace of mind for all,,,,,,

[AlaskanGuy]

I am so sorry this happened to you... I do want you to know this... When it warms up enough for you to start cleaning up, and you begin to sift through the remains, you will be surprised what you will find that has survived. You will be excited with each find, and the things that you find will be like small gifts. Dont loose heart my brother caster.... Who knows... Have hope... And you will be back on your feet sooner then you think... After a while, you will be able to look back and be blessed with the thought that nobody was hurt, and at you were able to recover some of your things. I understand that it looks like a mountain right now, but take the climb up that mountain one single step at a time sir.

Chin up sir.. Hang in there. I have been where you are now... So I understand...

AlaskanGuy

[dagunnut]

Hamish

Thank you for your words and for your service. I know its not always easy doing what you do, but you sure are appreciated when things go wrong.

Mario

[Sweetpea]

Mario, sorry to hear about this!

Remember, MOST things are replaceable, with time, and money.

PEOPLE are not replaceable. (Okay, some are, but those ones would just be better off disappearing)

Best of luck to you and yours.

Brandon

[dagunnut]

AlaskanGuy

Thank you for comfort that your words bring to me. I have spent a few days out there searching and I know what you mean by the little treasures that have been spared. Our wedding champagne flutes survived, as well as some of our china. There were seven firefighters with a hose up top standing atop a piece of plywood knocking down the hot spots. When things were said and done and the crews left the scene I was able to search. I was going to use the plywood sheet to cover some of the holes in the floor joist. I lifted up that plywood sheet and low and behold there was a bunch of our china intact but badly charred and the plastic packing envelopes for shipping melted to them.

Thanks again folks this means so much to me!
Mario

[DLCTEX]

So sorry to hear of your loss. I lost all my reloading equipment in a fire 23 years ago, along with tools and other equipment and some family stuff. The house was damaged to the extent it was unlivable. We had been looking at our current house and trying to decide whether to bid on it in the auction that the church was having. It was the parsonage and the church was closing. The auction was the next day and people that had intended to bid on the house would not bid against us due to the fire the day before. We got the house for a small percentage of it's value.God can turn a bad situation into good. I'm praying for Him to do the same for you. Bless them Lord!

[Multigunner]

I lost thousands of collectable books newspapers and comic books when a high wind pushed in the doors of my storage building and blew the structure up like a balloon before depositing the shed cocked at an angle against the wall of my house.
Lost a huge number of family photos when the damaged roof let water into a bedroom. But luckily these turned out to be the touched up restored copies were had made a few years earlier and I found the originals and some negatives still stored safely in another room.

You can sometimes restore water damaged photos.

[dagunnut]

Brandon

Thanks, I know time will heal and that we can recover from this. It just takes time and we are still searching to see what else may have not been up there. Thankfully all of my reloading, casting, and ammunition was not located there. That would have posed a significant threat to all involved. It took four fire departments to fight the blaze in 13-below temps. The water sources from the local streams were frozen solid and the river source had to be used. Its over a half hour round trip just to get to the river and back. The crews worked hard to do what they could to save anything but the building was fully engulfed before they arrived and the roof collapsed within 15 minutes of arrival. Thank heavens no one was injured or worse!

Mario

[dagunnut]

Thanks all we have been doing what we can to keep our chins up. I take advantage of every warm day we have had to get out there and search for anything that is recoverable. The military is going to replace my medals so I can someday pass them on to the kids. It appears that some of the stuff that was at floor level to about six inches up may have survived. Its just all buried in the ash and ruble from the excavator moving it.

Mario

[missionary5155]

Good morning
I will pray God guides and helps you recover what is possible. When I went into the Army all my stuff disappered but you have lost so much more. I do know God replaced everything with what is 10x better. He will not leave you, He will be close by ready to help.
Mike in Peru

[buckwheatpaul]

Mario, What can we do to help you and your family......you all have my prayers......

[DLCTEX]

After our fire I had salvaged some tools that were still usable, wrenches, pipe wrenches, sockets, etc. That night someone stole those, adding insult to injury.

[Bad Water Bill]

Keep us posted as the weather warms up.

I know this OLD man has more STUFF than I will ever use.

A kid without camping or fishing equipment is not tolerated on this site. :)

[freebullet]

I'm so sorry for you and your family. I have some fishin poles & camping odds and ends, if you pm me an address I will send some out- at no cost to you.

[dagunnut]

I apologize for not getting back to this until now. I spent a good part of the day at the VA getting some help for myself. I just recently found out (tonight) that my mother is having health issues. She was diagnosed as having pneumonia last week and had been on the up swing but now she is having breathing difficulties to the point of passing out Monday night. She was at the doctors office all day today-lungs are clear, oxygen level at 95% but having labored breathing. Her blood work is good as well as an EKG, and catscan, no sign of a clot or stroke. She has an echo-sonogram schedualed for tomarrow. I am worried about her! My mom and my dad didn't want to say anything to us because we have enough on our platters. So please if you could include her in your prayers that she is okay.

Mike in Peru
Thank you! I know that the Lord has a plan and I am so appreciative that no one was hurt.

buckwheatpaul
I guess that I really do not know what can be done to help at this time. Many of the items that we lost are superficial and can be replaced. Its just the family photos, and other sentimental items that we have to accept the loss of. I do greatly appreciate you asking, and the outpour of support from the members of the castboolit family.

DLCTEX
I am so sorry to hear that you were victimized and lost what little you were able to recover. It has been a concern for us as well so we have game-cameras up around the site to give us a little security (not that there is much to be recovered).

Bad Water Bill
I will definitely update has things progress. Thank You for your offering! The fishing poles and tackle were going to be our first order of business followed by the camping gear. Everything else can wait!

freebullet
I PMed you back and I do apologize for it being so long winded. Thank You so very much!

[dagunnut]

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Well here is the aftermath! It took me awhile to figure out how to post these pics but I got it done. Those are our china bowls with the top two being after 3 hours of trying to clean them.

[Bad Water Bill]

What a loss.

I am sure that there are several ways you may be able to clean up your chinaware.

The internet can truly be a great place to find your answers on many items pulled out of that disaster.

Many years ago a neighbor had a fire in his basement.

I am probably only 1 of 4 folks that can even remember there ever was a fire there.

3-4 families have lived there since and not a one has ever mentioned any smell or other signs of a fire.

That was over 30 years ago so I am sure there are even easier and better ways of saving items that are not burned to a crisp.

[smokeywolf]

So sorry to hear of your loss. Very glad no one was hurt. Although they are just objects, we work so hard to accumulate these things, they are very meaningful and important and it's so heartbreaking to lose them.

Any clue as to the cause of the fire?

Hope your mom's condition improves rapidly.

smokeywolf

[dagunnut]

Thank you for your responses, thoughts, and prayers! Thanks to the graciousness of a member here we will have some fishing and camping gear coming our way. We have also been given some tips on the clean-up and how to keep ourselves safe while doing it. A friend of the family that worked doing fire restoration for 8 years has given us a few tips to save what we can. We purchased several plastic storage bins to put the salvaged items into to keep it safe outside until warmer weather. The ash and smoke smell make it difficult to do any cleaning inside the home.

The fire inspector determined the fire started in the space between the ceiling of the lower level and flooring up above. The wiring shorted out from having the sheaving chewed off by a squirrel or mouse. The heat generated started the blown in insulation smouldering and that eventually built up enough heat to spread to the floor joist. Once the floor joist were burning it was only a matter of time until it burnt through the flooring to the open space up above. With all the dry hardwood flooring, magazines, books, and furniture there was no shortage of fuel. The neighbor up the hill called our uncle to ask him what he was up to, with all the smoke. Its surprising he even awoke to answer the phone, as he usually doesn't answer. He got dressed went outside and looked in the lower level, no sign of anything wrong. He then saw a puff of smoke off of the back of the building and decided to go up to the top and check. Upon opening the door he was met with a wall of dense smoke. The fire department was on scene 20 minutes later and the building was fully engulfed. It was 13 below and our uncle just sat there on his deck watching the blaze apologizing for not keeping our stuff safe.

Bad Water Bill and smokeywolf Thank you for your posts.

We are truly at a loss of words to express our gratitude for all your thoughts, prayers, words of sympathy, and kindness.

Thank You!
The Zanoni family

[txnative1951]

I saw a house get gutted a few years ago due to a fire that started in the detached garage. From the burn pattern, it looked like the fire probably started as a fuel leak on a car, then spread to the garage, and then traversed through the breezeway attic area into the house. This was in a fairly nice area of town with houses in the $400-500K (i.e. about 3 times the median home price in that city) or so range where most people own fairly new upper scale luxury cars (Mercedes, BMWs, Porsches, etc). Sometimes "excrement" happens. Fuel lines leak, the fuel hits a hot part of the engine, and it catch fire -- even on cars that are very new.

I've also seen a house catch on fire because a lazy renter did not ever clean the dryer filter or the exhaust piping on it and then it overheated and caught fire.

[Bad Water Bill]

For most of my life I have lived under the building codes of Cook Co Il.

All electrical wiring must be run thru thinwall tubing.

After mom passed away I finally learned the reason behind the tubing.

Her home was built in a different county shortly after the war.

All of the wiring was 2 strand romex which no longer can be in a home if you want to sell the home.

Over 2K feet of wire was pulled and replaced.

Sorry that I did not save the many places where mice had chewed thru the insulation between the 2 strands and in some cases 6-8" of naked copper wire was just hanging there between two walls.

Yes mom attended church EVERY DAY till her 95th birthday but shortly after that she went to join her husband (my dad) of 64 years.

[Sweetpea]

But... But...

That must have been cellulose insulation, which is not supposed to burn...

Seen it happen myself, and they keep selling the stuff!

[txnative1951]

For most of my life I have lived under the building codes of Cook Co Il.

All electrical wiring must be run thru thinwall tubing.

After mom passed away I finally learned the reason behind the tubing.

Her home was built in a different county shortly after the war.

All of the wiring was 2 strand romex which no longer can be in a home if you want to sell the home.

Over 2K feet of wire was pulled and replaced.

Sorry that I did not save the many places where mice had chewed thru the insulation between the 2 strands and in some cases 6-8" of naked copper wire was just hanging there between two walls.

So, the rats from Cook County have escaped? :)

So, 2-conductor Romex is no longer allowed. How about 3-conductor?

Some of us are old enough to remember houses with the bare wiring in the attics that was routed through / around insulators.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/Knob_and_tube_1930.jpg/300px-Knob_and_tube_1930.jpg

Apparently the proper term for it is "knob and tube wiring".

[dagunnut]

Ha Cook County IL. I spent seven years there as a kid. Yes I am a FIB but moved north at the age of seven to Capones up north getaway.

txnative1951 that wiring in your picture looks familiar did you take it at my parents first house up north. The house was over 100 years old when we moved in in 1977. It was a boarding house that was owned by the lumber mill founder in the iron mining town of Norway, Michigan.

Sweetpea it actually didn't burn the cellulose insulation smouldered would be the response that they would give.

[txnative1951]

txnative1951 that wiring in your picture looks familiar did you take it at my parents first house up north. The house was over 100 years old when we moved in in 1977. It was a boarding house that was owned by the lumber mill founder in the iron mining town of Norway, Michigan.

Nawh, it was just a link to an image on wiki that I found. I remembered seeing that type of wiring, but didn't know what to call it in my Google search, so I ended up getting some rather strange search results. :)

[Bad Water Bill]

So, the rats from Cook County have escaped? :)

So, 2-conductor Romex is no longer allowed. How about 3-conductor?

Some of us are old enough to remember houses with the bare wiring in the attics that was routed through / around insulators.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/Knob_and_tube_1930.jpg/300px-Knob_and_tube_1930.jpg

Apparently the proper term for it is "knob and tube wiring".

Cook Co wants 3 wire inside of thin wall tubing. A designated ground to ALL receptacles and switches.

Crook County rats are way to big to get between your walls.:eek:

[Sweetpea]

You can call it smouldering all you want, but if it lights up other flammables, then out was burning!

[txnative1951]

Cook Co wants 3 wire inside of thin wall tubing. A designated ground to ALL receptacles and switches.


I've helped friends add lighting or outlets to older houses before and some of the stuff that you see up there, you have to wonder about. I've seen lighting wired so that there is still a hot wire in there when the light switch is turned off. If it is wired *correctly*, you can turn off the light switch and then put your finger in the bulb receptacle and you won't get shocked. I've been shocked by power that was on the *ground wire*. Even without unwanted 4-legged visitors chewing your wiring, there's plenty that gets done up there that is dangerous enough already.

[Bad Water Bill]

Just as we will never be without "shade tree mechanics" we will always have the same type of "ELEKTRICKSHINES".:bigsmyl2:

[txnative1951]

Just as we will never be without "shade tree mechanics" we will always have the same type of "ELEKTRICKSHINES".:bigsmyl2:

Well, if *everything* goes right, they can get away with some of the stuff that they do, but if something goes wrong, it's going to bite someone. Not running power to a light receptacle before the switch is just common sense. Sure, maybe you don't think anything about it the first time you do it, but the first time you change a light bulb and get shocked even though the switch is turned off, you should get a hint that maybe that wasn't a good idea.

And let's not get started on plumbers either. I had a water leak in a line that went through my yard due to some roots. I wasn't sure exactly where it went, but I suspected that it went to one of the water faucets in the yard. So, I figured I would just cut it at the leaking spot and cap the side where the water was obviously under pressure (i.e. the source of the water) so that I could give it a couple of days to dry out while still allowing the house to have water. Well, it turned out that *both* sides of the cut had water under pressure, so somewhere it was being fed from both ends of the piece of pipe. Reminds me of one of the labs I was working in at one time and we had moved some of the computers and such around. Couldn't figure out why none of the machines would come on. There were quite a few power cables and power strips under the tables and they were daisy chained together. Figured that one of them wasn't turned on or a circuit breaker had blown. Turned out that the power strips were not just daisy changed together, but they looped back on themselves and thus none of them were actually plugged into a wall. Yep, they were all plugged in -- just none of them actually plugged into a wall outlet.

[Bad Water Bill]

I was finishing a new apartment in the basement and I turned off the water to the home owners place.
Much to my surprise the owner had tapped into her renters hot AND cold water lines(every one had their separate meter)and was stealing water from the honest folks that were renting from her.

No she never paid me one dime for building the apartment complete with bathroom kitchen etc.

A CPO (her next door neighbor) escorted me out of the place and I was told to never return.

So much for a sweet old church going lady.

But sometimes that IS THE CHICAGO WAY.

[txnative1951]

I was finishing a new apartment in the basement and I turned off the water to the home owners place.
Much to my surprise the owner had tapped into her renters hot AND cold water lines(every one had their separate meter)and was stealing water from the honest folks that were renting from her.

No she never paid me one dime for building the apartment complete with bathroom kitchen etc.


That is one of the reasons that we have "contractor's / mechanic's liens".
http://www.rocketlawyer.com/article/How-to-Place-a-Lien-on-a-House-or-Other-Personal-Property.rl
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2254&ChapterID=63

Depending upon how it was plumbed and whether there were any check valves, it's also possible that the renters were getting her cold and hot water also. Sometimes, it is not malicious intent, but rather just cluelessness. On the other hand, given that you're talking about Chicago, malicious intent might be a somewhat higher probability.

[dagunnut]

updated post

[Bad Water Bill]

Deleted because off topic.

[DLCTEX]

I recently cut a new door opening through a metal covered wall for a customer. The metal was covered with spray on cellulose insulation that had been there about 30 years. The sparks and heat from the diamond babe we were using kept igniting the insulation on fore and it flamed, not smouldered. I had to stop repeatedly and dash water on the flames. It was a good thing there was no wood in contact with the metal.