Workplace burned down, lost all my tools.

[buco]

Hi guys,

Roughly 2 weeks ago my workplace exploded (literally) killed 2 of my coworkers, injured 23 and an ensuing fire destroyed all my tools. Now i have the task of rebuilding my tool set through company insurance.

Has anyone been through this?

 

[dartsportsteve]

Yikes... I don't have any advice, but good luck and thank God you're ok...

 

[Busted_Knuckles]

Sorry to hear of the loss of your co-workers, and the injuries to the others.

As far your property, or tools, call your insurance agent, and ask them if you had any coverage, being that your up north, not sure how your home owners work, or personal property etc.

I think over the years, there have been several on this forum that have incurred losses.

 

[Dillithium]

man, thankfully you weren't there. How much did you get from the insurance?
What are you looking to do with the tools?
Automotive, aeromotive?

 

[BillK]

bu,

Geeeze, sorry to hear about your friends and like the others said so glad you are ok.

I would think the biggest problem is trying to remember what all you actually had. Do you have access to your tools at all ??? I cant imagine them actually being "destroyed" to the point that you could not at least do an inventory. Unless the entire building was destroyed

I think that is going to be your biggest challenge.

 

[Jim B]

I lost a large portion of my tools to a burgler a number of years ago. They were replaced by my homeowner's insurance. They paid me a percentage of the value of the tools and gave me the rest of the money when I presented receipts for the replacement tools I bought. Hard to know how your employers insurance is setup. I do know that the hardest part was remembering everything that was lost as I had no records or photos. Also they gave me some flack about the Snap On stuff I lost. I guess everyone that loses a dime store wrench claims it's Snap On. I had to give them the name of the dealer I bought the tools from.

Good luck with this difficult task and my thoughts go out to those families that lost loved ones in the accident.

 

[buco]

Thanks fella's,

Happy i wasn't there as well. I work a compressed weekend shift, Fri, Sat, Sun. The disaster happened on Monday night.

Here is a link

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Second+worker+dies+Lakeland+Mill+fire/6506971/story.html

Video - http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/video/raw-video-massive-fire-at-bc-sawmill/article2412140/

How dust explodes - http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...tragedy-how-does-dust-explode/article2416699/

 

[buco]

No access to my tool's. Building is deemed unsafe to enter, have to go off the top of my head.

 

[2oolhound]

Having lived in PG for 15 years I was shocked to hear of the Lakeland Mill explosion. My condolences. Hope you come out of this OK.

 

[cide1]

If your thinking this is more than about 5k worth of tools, it might be worth calling a lawyer. If its less than 5k, I would call your home insurance company, and I would inquire about what type of insurance the business had.

 

[Lone_Wolf]

Gubitak alata nije lip, ali se more nadomistit, ali dva ljudska zivota se ne mogu bas tako nadomistit! Kako se nosis s time?

 

[buco]

thanks again guys,

my employer has told us to make a list and the company willl replace what we lost.

Zivot ide dalje vuk, sto mozes.

 

[Alchymist]

Thanks fella's,

Happy i wasn't there as well. I work a compressed weekend shift, Fri, Sat, Sun. The disaster happened on Monday night.

To je memorija ćete nositi zauvijek ....

 

[Maexle]

Hi guys,

Roughly 2 weeks ago my workplace exploded (literally) killed 2 of my coworkers, injured 23 and an ensuing fire destroyed all my tools. Now i have the task of rebuilding my tool set through company insurance.

Has anyone been through this?

Sorry to hear that, my condolences.....tools can be replaced though.........

 

[buco]

ziva istina.

Thanks again fella's.

 

[rockchucker]

That is horrible. Sorry for your loss of co-workers.

Just go back drawer by drawer in your mind and whenever you think of something don't forget to write it down. You might want to carry a little notepad with you for the next few weeks. I am sure you will be reminded of what Tools you had through everyday living but if you don't write them down you may forget.

 

[Roots]

My condolences to your lost and injured coworkers. Prayers and best wishes to their family and friends.

It sounds like your employer and their insurance are just going to replace what you lost, give them a chance. Just make a list of everything you had with brand, model numbers, and current msrp. Be honest, it's not worth that bad karma of trying to pretend gear wrench sockets were Snap-On, when you have dead and maimed friends.

 

[luvit]

.
buco,
PM me your address.
I can send you a gift card for wherever you want to get tools from.

edit: or PM me your Paypal email address..
.

 

[buco]

Thanks again fella's

What's to say, we all often hear that life changes in the blink of an eye, and how true that is. I went to my co-worker Glenn's funeral on Thursday and it was heart wrenching to see his widowed wife and 12 yr old son walk behind his casket.

There wasn't a dry eye in the church when his son requested that Simple man be played by Leonard Skynard.

@luvit, I will be ok, thank you so much for your offer. Spend your gift card on your loved ones

 

[MN4x4]

So sorry to hear of your experience, but glad you're OK.

It may be a little late, but as you're rebuilding you can do this. I keep a list of all my tools in an Excel Spreadsheet. I have the columns labelled like this

Qty Brand Part Number Description Year Purchased Price
1 S-O FL-80 !/2" Ratchet Wrench 2012 $19.99

You can then divide them into groups that make sense to you, etc. Excel will total them up for you, and your list is instantly available

I have been doing this for years, and send a copy of my file to my insurance guy every so often and he just keeps it in a file. That way, should I experience a serious loss I at least don't have to start from scratch.

Also, since most receipts these days are printed on thermal paper, I scan all of my receipts into my computer and keep those images in a special file. I can print out any receipt at any time, and never worry about them fading or becoming unreadable.

 

[chris142]

my boss has been on me to inventory all my tools incase of a fire

 

[SeattleKent]

Sorry about your co-workers. How does one begin to pick up the pieces after something like that?

A tool inventory sounds like a good idea. I think I'll just grab my camera and take a picture of each tool draw. Not perfect, but a start. I would take 3 minutes and hold me until I can do a real inventory.

 

[softailgarage]

Good God man, glad to hear you werent hurt as well. Had something like this happen back in the 80's when I was a Goldplater. One of the kilns exploded, severly burning 6 guys. The companies insurance will cover it (as you now know). To bad that $10,000 Epiq rollaway containing $25,000 worth of tools was completly destroyed

 

[472scout]

Sorry for the loss of your coworkers. I'm sure it's tough.

If you can get some tool catalogs go through them page by page and circle everything you own.

 

[buco]

Thanks for the words again gentleman,

Word is that the company wants us to pick up a acklands catalog and write down the tool and catalog number and email list to them. If acklands does not have it in their catalog (ie Gray, Craftsman etc) then we are supposed to get the tool number from the website and put it in as well.

Is it just me or does everyone else think that this will take a long time? there are about 25 guys who lost their tools. Millwrights, welders, electricians, sawfilers.

 

[472scout]

Thanks for the words again gentleman,

Word is that the company wants us to pick up a acklands catalog and write down the tool and catalog number and email list to them. If acklands does not have it in their catalog (ie Gray, Craftsman etc) then we are supposed to get the tool number from the website and put it in as well.

Is it just me or does everyone else think that this will take a long time? there are about 25 guys who lost their tools. Millwrights, welders, electricians, sawfilers.

Yeah it will take a long time, but seems fair to me. How else could they do it? What's going to happen with your job?

 

[buco]

Some outfits will cut a cheque on the value some won't. I am fine with either i just don't want to be waiting for a long time.

Job's gone. They may rebuild but we are talking about a good 2 to 3 year wait for the construction. Put the house up for sale and moving to Toronto as the wife has a job there.

 

[BD1]

WOW ! Really sorry. This is about the worse news I read in awhile. I can't imagine what you and your family are going through. Tools can be replaced, but fellow workers, really sad. Hope all will work out. Man, that really ,really ,*****.

 

[ianguilly]

Sorry to hear of this, glad you are ok and I hope all works out.
I make sure about every month or so to get pictures of all my tool box drawers incase something like this happens.

 

[Twiggss]

wow...

 

[buco]

I'm still on the right side of the Grass and not burned. I'm fortunate, there is a guy whose glasses melted into his skin and flatlined 2 times last friday. Another guy 30 yrs old has a wife 7 months pregnant and he is burned real bad. Another guy on a ventilator...

I know i wasn't there, still so hard to process.

 

[NJHandyGuy]

OMG that ***** i"m sorry to hear of this

 

[Holt]

Did you ever take pics and post them here on show us your tool box?

Sorry to hear about your coworkers and job.

 

[cotjocky]

Talked to my brother today. We live in the Southern US. He works part time at Lowe's. He was told at work that the cost of "white wood" was going to skyrocket due to a plant exploding in Canada.

It was odd to hear that from him after reading this story 2-3 days prior.

Sorry for the tragedy and loss of the workers and their families.

I hope you have luck getting your tools sorted out and find a good job in Toronto.

 

[buco]

Always thought of taking pictures, never did though.

Yep, I expect studs in the US to skyrocket as that was the plants main export.

Hope i find a good job too:

 

[1320stang]

Used to work in a cabinet shop. They shut the place down one week every year to clean the dust from the rafters and everyplace else.

We've had grain elevators blow up in the past from dust as well.

 

[magova1104]

My condolences to you and your co-workers families. I hope you can recover from all this soon. God will keep blessing you.

 

[gsmornot]

Buco, sorry to hear of the news. I can only imagine what it must have been like. We had a small furniture factory explode about a half mile from my parents house when the dust was sparked in one of the collectors. It shook the windows, the dishes in the cabinets and about anything not nailed down and this place was tiny compared to what you are dealing with. No suggestions past what you have been given. Just take the time they allow and try to recall everything you had. Good luck, best wishes.

 

[softailgarage]

Not to derail the thread, but how does wood dust cause an explosion and what does beetle infested wood have to do with explosions as well ?

 

[Hawk]

Fine wood dust will burst into flame at a relatively low temp. Where wood beetles are will also be wood dust sifting in the air. A spark can set of a flame burst.

for an example