fire in shop

[gskaz]

small fire in the shop 24 x 24 garage mostly smoke damage ..things i need to alert the insurance company about?
the hanging gas furnace is going to be replaced after inspection,i'm worried about my big compressor .garage door opener ,fridge, overhead fan,any tools that have electric motors,lithium batteries on my bench ?ceiling walls need cleaning ,electrical panel ,outlets i,m i missing something obvious that might come back to bite me ..it started in a garbage can that had stain rags in it ...thanks ................(been a member for awhile just new email now )

 

[cvairwerks]

Need to go thru anything stored above about 2 feet from the floor and evaluate for smoke and heat damage.

I think staining work rags and oily rag storage are the top reasons for home shop fires.

 

[nadogail]

Claim everything, the bigger you make your list the better chance they will allow you enough to start your new shop.

 

[Leon bee]

Claim as little as possible. Helps to preserve being insured next time.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Your insurance company may want a fire report. Contact your local department about out and possibly doing a small investigation with a follow up report.

Contact your insurance company about the claim. They may want to send an adjuster and/or investigator out.


And pictures, take plenty of pictures.

 

[NUTTSGT]

small fire in the shop 24 x 24 garage mostly smoke damage ..things i need to alert the insurance company about?
the hanging gas furnace is going to be replaced after inspection,i'm worried about my big compressor .garage door opener ,fridge, overhead fan,any tools that have electric motors,lithium batteries on my bench ?ceiling walls need cleaning ,electrical panel ,outlets i,m i missing something obvious that might come back to bite me ..it started in a garbage can that had stain rags in it ...thanks ................(been a member for awhile just new email now )

I believe @Ryan had a similar event a few years back.

Sure a 30/55 gallon plastic drum makes a cool and huge trashcan and Rubbermaid makes some nice stuff. If you want to protect your investment, metal trash can with a metal lid.

 

[gskaz]

fire investigator has determined caused by rags (linseed oil in the stain),insurance company has a restoration company coming tomorrow to see what if any needs replacing,starting with the furnace,i just dont want to overlook something simple

 

[PCustoms]

fire investigator has determined caused by rags ,insurance company has a restoration company coming tomorrow to see what if any needs replacing,starting with the furnace,i just dont want to overlook something simple

Why the focus on the furnace?

 

[gskaz]

none... that was the only thing the restoration company has sent someone to inspect smoke damage inside it

 

[DGersic]

I believe @Ryan had a similar event a few years back.

Sure a 30/55 gallon plastic drum makes a cool and huge trashcan and Rubbermaid makes some nice stuff. If you want to protect your investment, metal trash can with a metal lid.

He did. Same cause, posted the video of the can going up. And got lucky that it didn’t get the wood rack stored next to the can.

I bought a steel can, with steel lid, that I keep closed.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Why the focus on the furnace?

Probably highest single cost item in the garage (SWAG) and if there's an issue and needs replaced, a replacement unit could be months out.

 

[SouthernIllinois]

Terribly sorry to hear about the fire.

I sincerely your insurance company makes you whole but what a PIA.

Rags and battery chargers scare me.

For rags I coughed up the money for one of these "fire cans"



Behind the Gator between doors #1 & 2

 

[cvairwerks]

Even in fire cans, oily rags, stain soaked rags and any two component compound waste that is even slightly exothermic, needs to go outside after the end of the shop day. I've seen the fire cans catch fire when someone dumped some two component adhesive that is quite exothermic, in on some rags. Gets everyone's attention real quick when the dumb schmuck tries to open the can and see why there's smoke coming out of the edges of the lid.....

 

[gskaz]

Luckily the car only has smoke damage

 

[58Yeoman]

Terribly sorry to hear about the fire.

I sincerely your insurance company makes you whole but what a PIA.

Rags and battery chargers scare me.

For rags I coughed up the money for one of these "fire cans"



Behind the Gator between doors #1 & 2

Hey, another Corvair owner. I sold my blue sedan, still waiting to paint the cream coupe.

 

[58Yeoman]

Luckily the car only has smoke damage

Sorry about the fire, but you've got a nice '61 Impala. You don't see many of those.

 

[Metal-Marc]

Claim everything

Claim as little as possible

Gotta love the internet.

 

[dcg9381]

Claim as little as possible. Helps to preserve being insured next time.

Disagree.
I had a $0 claim one time because I called USAA and inquired about my "coverage". I had a shop with 4 skylight panels. Hail blew through them. My deductible was more than it was worth to replace them. Paid out of pocket to have it fixed. USAA dinged my CLUE report.

I made a LOT of drama about it and got it removed.

The only time I'll make a claim is if I'm not at fault and there is a "big" difference in what the insured's policy will pay and what my insurance says they will pay. In that case, there is going to be a claim either way and it's just about the difference. My insurance company will get their money back, but either way it's going on CLUE.

If you're going to claim it, go all in. Don't F' around. If you can afford it (reasonably) don't inquire, don't claim it. I won't TOUCH a comprehensive auto claim unless it's at least $6k in damage. Anything else, I pay out of pocket. Keep your "record" clean. Especially on home. Insurance companies are dropping states like rag-dolls.

 

[Junkdrawer Dog]

I think staining work rags and oily rag storage are the top reasons for home shop fires.

Or 13 year olds with a Gilbert chemistry set. Ask me how I know.

 

[captain14]

@BlueBomber and @Fireguy50 both had garage fires among others.

Read through their threads on their recovery and rebuild process.

@BlueBomber had an earlier vintage Chevy (1959,60?) I think. He ended up selling it and bought a similar vintage Chevy.

 

[drmarkr]

fire investigator has determined caused by rags ,insurance company has a restoration company coming tomorrow to see what if any needs replacing,starting with the furnace,i just dont want to overlook something simple

They're going to declare anything electronic at all a loss. The corrosion from the acidic smoke will likely, eventually, ruin all of that stuff. In my big fire in 2019 the restoration company "scrapped" tons of stuff I would never have thought of. Fortunately I had a 30 y/o, gold star policy with full replacement value. Thank God.

Most here have seen the pics, but this was attached carport (30x40) to my shop with the RV in the center, SxS to the left, and my Jeep TJ to the right....engulfed in flames. Cause? The multi-fuel fridge in the RV.

 

[Shiftless]

Sorry for your loss.

Let‘s further spread the word about oily rags.
Anything with organic oils, linseed oil, boiled linseed oil, Watco furniture oil, varnish, and similar products... Any rags soaked in those products have the ability to self ignite due to the exothermic reaction of curing.

I use them from time to time and for safety I ALWAYS lay the rags out single layer outdoors on dirt for a day or so until they harden up and then they go into the outside garbage can.
If anyone can’t go to the trouble of doing that, I recommend to NEVER use those products.

 

[DGersic]

I believe @Ryan had a similar event a few years back.

Surviving My Own Stupidity… – The Garage Journal

www.garagejournal.com

As a vivid reminder that oily rags can cost you.

 

[nadogail]

Gotta love the internet.

Opinions are Like A-Holes, everybody has one and most of them Stink.

 

[gskaz]

61 impala bubbletop just finished an 8 yr build only has 500 miles on it ! , interior smoke damaged as well

 

[Hooked]

Sorry for your loss.

Let‘s further spread the word about oily rags.
Anything with organic oils, linseed oil, boiled linseed oil, Watco furniture oil, varnish, and similar products... Any rags soaked in those products have the ability to self ignite due to the exothermic reaction of curing.

I use them from time to time and for safety I ALWAYS lay the rags out single layer outdoors on dirt for a day or so until they harden up and then they go into the outside garbage can.
If anyone can’t go to the trouble of doing that, I recommend to NEVER use those products.

I do this with with oily rags and any rags used for other chemicals gets left out until completely dried before being tossed in metal trash cans.

Sorry this happened to you. My only experience with this kinda thing was flooding during Ike.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Sorry for your loss.

Let‘s further spread the word about oily rags.
Anything with organic oils, linseed oil, boiled linseed oil, Watco furniture oil, varnish, and similar products... Any rags soaked in those products have the ability to self ignite due to the exothermic reaction of curing.

I use them from time to time and for safety I ALWAYS lay the rags out single layer outdoors on dirt for a day or so until they harden up and then they go into the outside garbage can.
If anyone can’t go to the trouble of doing that, I recommend to NEVER use those products.

I've been on atleast 2 dumpster fires from rags soaked in BLO.