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:

 

[kaehlin]

So sorry to hear about this, and thank you for being open about it on here so we can all learn.

 

[545_days]

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

Unless the wind blows them up against the structure, rolling them up as they travel across the ground.

I just throw all my solvent soaked rags into a no. 10 can covered with poultry cloth and set them on fire. Once the fire is out I stir up the ashes and I know things are safe.

 

[four.cycle]

^ If there is any possibility of that I just toss a few rocks on top of them to keep them on the ground. Not rocket science. The wind here blows continuously - particularly at twilight when the wind comes up the Narrows.

 

[finn]

Unless you have an unusually strong sentimental attachment to some particular tools, let the insurance company deal with them. ”Restoring “ them isn’t going to bring them back to their previous condition, and it’s likely that many of them were well worn anyway.

Although nothing of the scale you’re experiencing, I have a pair of linesman’s pliers that somehow ended up at the bottom of the burn barrel (remember them? Every back yard had one of them in my rural neighborhood in the sixties, since there was only garbage pickup once a month).

I “restored” them, but can’t get past the flashback of what those pliers looked like in their pristine condition prior to being burned up sixty two years ago. They’re still around somewhere, but I just can use them.

The previous owner of my shop had a chimney fire when they lived across the street in the old family house. State Farm funded a teardown and replacement build, albiet not without some resistance. They ende up with a brand new, modern, fully furnished house, and garage.

Just suggesting that you move on and not try to salvage what once was.

 

[drmarkr]

Spoke with Dianna on the phone for a good bit. My heart goes out to them, because I know what she's going/is going to go through to get this behind her. But I'm going to post a few pics of my fire, and the rebuild, to give her some positive vibes/examples of how a place can "rise from the ashes", as ours did. Starting back in 2005 with what the shop looked like when we bought this place, then moving forward through the initial shop remodel, the addition of the carport and pre-fire pic, the fire, day after the fire, a few pics of the clean out and rebuild, and finally the completely rebuilt structure.

Apologies if this seems like a hijack, but I really intend this to be a positive thing for Dianna.

 

[Cobra5150]

I'll second getting a restoration company involved. We had a fire years ago and the company had the the resources and equipment to go through and salvage what could be saved. You will have enough on your plate without the hassle of washing clothes and cleaning the house. In our case I considered all the tools a total loss. Even if you get them clean you don't know how the metal has been affected. Also consider a personal adjuster. We didn't use one and still wonder if we would have been better off if we had.
Good thoughts and prayers hopefully you'll be sorted out as quick as possible.

 

[WisJim]

Related to oily rags starting fires--I worked at the local university in building maintenance, and they have a program in hotel management with a commercial kitchen used by students to get experience in the kitchen/dining phase of operations. They had a washer and dryer for laundering dish rags, towels, napkins, etc used in the kitchen. One night after serving a meal, someone laundered, folded and stacked the towels and dish clothes, fresh from the dryer, on a metal cart. Even though they had been fully washed, there was enough cooking oil or other oils in the cloth that they caught fire and severely damaged the kitchen. The building is sprinklered and the fire was discovered soon and caused no structural damage, but it was a lesson to me in the flammability of oily rags. Now, at home, mine get clothes pinned to the deer fence around a garden bed by the garage.
Best of luck to Dianna. My sister-in-law lost two houses to fires about 30 years apart, so I have some slight idea of what you are going through.

 

[Jackfre]

Really a devastating loss and so much to deal with. You may as well try to save some of the hand tools as these kind of rehabs tend to drag on. Insurance, design, permits, the build, your emotional state.
As to spontaneous combustion, I have been getting my 10 & 12 yr old grands in the shop with me. The 10 yr old spent quite abit of time on the shaving horse with draw knife and spokeshaves making a hiking staff. Wipiing it own with a cloth and a combination of DNA, BLO and Arm-r-seal he took the rags and pitched them in the trash can. Fortunately I saw it and we had the discussion. I dumped an old partially covered coffee can of screws & put his rags in it and set it out on the pea gravel. First day it got hot. Next day I had him over and he almost burned himself picking it up. He got it. I have a small metal garbage can with a tight lid I use for questionable…stuff, but mostly I’ll go out in the yard and burn these things.

 

[Hohn]

How awful, I'm so glad you are OK, even if rattled.

 

[pcmeiners]

As to smoke smell...... Spray undiluted vinegar on any thing which was hit with smoke. It must be thoroughly wet,dripping wet or it will not kill the smell. Had my parent's house go up, used about 25 gallon of the cheapest vinegar 5% I could buy. Might take 2 rounds of spraying but it will remove the odor, also I purchased a cheap fogger and ran vinegar through it. After a few weeks you will not know there was a fire by smell as long as you treat everything hit by smoke. Ozone did not work as well.
I documented every last thing the fire hit down to the last pencil, my parents came out of it very well. Hope you have "replacement" insurance with the upgrade for code compliance. Good luck

 

[JohnX14]

Almost 25 years ago, I tossed a couple of Penofin soaked rags in an empty trashbarrel, in my garage, next to a brand new car, somewhat aware of spontaneious combustion. I'd have never put them in a barrel with trash. They went up, but we smelled the smoke quick enough that nothing bad happened. I laughed at myself for putting it out with an extinguisher, when I could have dragged the barrel 15' to get it outdoors. But I was mildly panicked.

OP, sorry for your situation. I'm in the camp of letting insurance buy you all new 'everything'.

We had a relatively minor kitchen fire. (Kitchen Aid double oven caught fire internally, not in the over). Relatively small was stil $45K in damages and all new appliances, large and small. Insurance company was great, although I had to answer questions from the investigator as if I was a suspect in a major arson case. I guess the questions remain the same no matte the situation. Everything from who built the house to who installed the oven to whether I am employed, to whether I'm late on any payments.....Oh, and my rate doubled after that, which I was aware would happen. I have the highest deductible bc I'm only putting in a claim in a bad situation. This was bad enough to warrant it.

 

[sjvicker]

I’m helping someone who has just gone through a very similar situation. Here’s my advice.

1. Take detailed notes in a journal with dates and names.
2. Keep conversations with insurance on email as much as possible
3. Keep a detailed record of when and what any remediation work is done.
4. If you are entering your own personal property claims, consider everything in the house a loss and file it with a reason (smoke, water, rust, mold, fire, etc) for the damage. Even if the fire dept broke something in their work, file it. Let the insurance push back on if something is cleanable.
5. Save all receipts. You’ll be filing for reimbursement against personal property or temp living for the next few years.
6. When you replace property to support your temp living situation, buy the quality of stuff and items you want to go back into your house.
7. Insurance will usually pay a diminished value on items based on age and will pay the difference when you actually replace it. If you file something as a loss, they don’t seem to really care if it goes in the dumpster or back to you. It’s just considered a loss. I cleared the house of the person I’m helping by posting stuff on a local “buy nothing” group for free. Insurance paid for the furniture and someone else did the heavy lifting

I have about 40hrs into documenting, moving and filing personal property claims for the person I’m helping. It’s a lot of work and tedious but insurance will pay on even the smallest thing and you have more damaged stuff than you realize with the smoke. Anything with a motor or circuit board is now on borrowed time. Anything soft absorbed more smoke than you realize.

With that much damage it’s possible your house is a tear down and insurance will pay the policy max for a rebuild. I hope you know a GC.

PM me if you want more information