Attached garage fire, ugh

[908Jim]

I am sorry to hear this but I am thankful that nobody was injured. While I am fortunate enough to not know fire, we experienced a very large flood about 15 years ago. 5 feet of water does some damage.

Just remember that it's only stuff. Your insurance company will probably work with a 3rd party restoration firm that will either clean or disposition items as a loss and you'll negotiate values. My coworker had a fire and they went item by item remediating smoke damage from things like china and offered replacement values on others.

As a flood "victim" if you will, I would suggest picking up a gallon cans of WD-40 and getting your metal tools washed off to prevent rust. If they sit in water logged drawers, they will start to rust. Grab an aluminum half tray, pour in WD-40, get some rubber gloves and a tooth brush and just scrub your sockets and wrenches. Sort them out later. Let insurance handle any electric power tools. They are probably a loss after the water.

 

[four.cycle]

And that’s why it’s 25’ away from any shed or combustible thing I care about.

I wish I had 25 feet. I can only go 8 feet out or I'm on the lawn.

 

[Poe34]

Very sorry to hear this. Thank you for documenting it for many to learn from it. So the AC unit that was making a strange noise wasn't the cause but was making the noise due to the electricity?

Correct, the line burned down on top of my truck. I'm wondering if the neutral possibly broke before the main line causing an excessive amount of power.

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

An ultrasonic cleaner should do a good job of cleaning tools.

 

[DeeDubz]

Lots of smoke damage inside, and every drawer of my tool boxes (5 of them) were filled with black soup because the drawer liners prevented them from draining. The fire happened on 6/5 just after 2am and I wasn't allowed to touch anything until the inspector finished his investigation yesterday. I went in right away and at least tried to rescue my socket drawer and wrench drawer. I put them in a bin and took them to where I am staying. I am going to head out in a bit and put them in a bucket of diesel (unless someone else has suggestions). I have well water, no power = no water. The garage is going to be a complete tear down. I have always wanted a third bay, the meter on the side of the garage was a huge cost deterrent, now that is not a factor. I hope to add some funds to build back "bigger and better." I have a TON of clothes and shoes. I'm wondering if I should attempt to clean clothes myself, let a company take them or just toss them. The more I am reading about how toxic the smoke is, I wonder if I should try to salvage tools that have plastic/rubber handles. The third pic is after I tossed the socket drawer in a bin, you can see how quick the rust is forming.

Is your local fire dept volunteer or Paid professional? Im not very familiar with what area you live in. My experience with garage fires they usually dont leave much to salvage. Did they do any salvage during the fire? My former dept would request an investigator once it was confirmed working fire. Most of the time depending what part of the county your in theyd be there once we could call fire undercontrol. Usually doesnt take investigators long to finish their work after that its back to the home owners as long as theres no IDLH. Sometimes our crews would assist property owners with minor clean up. Sorry you had to experience this.

 

[PoorUB]

I don't even put paper towels I've used with Gumout, Brake Cleaner, BLO, paint thinner or any other chemical into the trash can.
They're tossed on a strip of crushed gravel 8 feet off the corner of the house. I just leave them there on the ground until trash day, then pick them up, put them in the can, and roll it out to the curb, by which time usually the stuff has dried or evaporated.
"Oily rags" was something they warned us about in kindergarten - like "look both ways before crossing".

I take the chance, and just open up paper towels with questionable solvents and hang them on the side of the garbage can. I figure if they can "air out" they won't get hot and start a fire. My understanding is the potential fire is caused by towels that get balled up, tossed in the trash and can not air out and evaporate off the solvents.

 

[four.cycle]

I take the chance, and just open up paper towels with questionable solvents and hang them on the side of the garbage can. I figure if they can "air out" they won't get hot and start a fire. My understanding is the potential fire is caused by towels that get balled up, tossed in the trash and can not air out and evaporate off the solvents.

^ correct. "spontaneous combustion"

Having suffered second-degree burns over large areas of my body twice in this lifetime, my apprehension about fire should be understandable.
I don't take chances if it involves potential of fire.
Sometimes I'll drape a BLO-soaked rag over the top of the fence so I can use it the next day.
Otherwise: on the gravel, out in the open.

 

[LXCam]

I’m so sorry for you Poe. I’ve had one car fire in my shop fire but no real damage to the shop to deal with.

@drmarkr could probably give you some great advice. Mark went thru a major fire event too a couple years back.

Best of luck bud, I hope your insurance is sufficient enough to make you whole again.

 

[Shiftless]

I wish I had 25 feet. I can only go 8 feet out or I'm on the lawn.

I believe that if you spread them out flat and single layer you’ll be fine at 8 feet away from a structure.

 

[AC-WC]

For insurance purposes-get your notebook and write down every tool you can remember. Think of what was/is in each drawer and log it. Once you get better access and a little more time take digital pictures of each tool you cannot/should not save. This gives you much more leverage with the adjustor.
Example-hammer if the wood handle is burned away it's safer to assume the head lost it's temper and should be tossed/replaced.

 

[drmarkr]

I’m so sorry for you Poe. I’ve had one car fire in my shop fire but no real damage to the shop to deal with.

@drmarkr could probably give you some great advice. Mark went thru a major fire event too a couple years back.

Best of luck bud, I hope your insurance is sufficient enough to make you whole again.

While there are probably people here that would like to hear my response and advice, I don't really have time to type it all out right now. But what I do want to do is tell Diana, the op, that she should call me. If you have a few minutes, I can give you some very important advice regarding the investigation and insurance related issues. I can also probably give you some moral support because I know what you're going through.

The picture below is my carport attached to my shop, burning to the ground. That's my motorhome in the middle, a side-by-side to the left and my Jeep to the right. Although you would not be able to tell any of that. I'll post some more pictures when I get to the the computer, but some will remember this fire that occurred in 2019.

OP I will message you my cell number in case you would like to talk.

 

[Skyman]

We don't know what caused Diana's fire, but as posted upthread, one of these is a very good idea: