House Fire

Well Fellas, My house burned to the ground on Monday.:CRY: Momma, Daddy and I lost everything but the clothes on our backs.(Daddy and I still have our vehicles and tools since they were in a separate building.) We have had a ton of family and friends come to our aid to help us through this:) , but it is tough. I would like to hear about anybody else who has been through this, and how you dealt with it. One piece of advice, that I just learned the hard way, is spend the money on some sort of fire-proof safe, even if you can't afford it, to put your photo albums, home movies,and heirlooms in. I kept putting off buying a safe, and now have nothing left to put in one.:(

Adam

Oh Man Adam, that is really tough. :( So sorry to hear of this happening. I know this is of little consequence, but at least you all escaped with your lives. Living in Florida, we have seen thousands of our neighbors lose everything they have with one Hurricane, so we can sort of understand how you must feel.

I really wish you and your Mom and Dad well. Anytime you need to talk, please feel free to come to us, we are your friends. As for your keepsakes, yep, that is tough, but start right now building new memories with lots of pictures and videos from today on.

Take care.

Don

Tough deal Adam... Just be glad everyone is ok and nobody got hurt in the fire... All that "stuff" can be replaced...

As for the fireproof safe, good idea. Got one of them, plus a safe deposit box at the bank for the way kewl stuff!!!!

Adam I am so sorry to here about your family home.

Man that really sucks. I wish you and your family well and hope you get back on your feet quick, At least nobody was hurt

My sincerest and deepest condolences. Please keep us in the loop as you rebuild and recover. Know too that our thoughts and prayers are with you. As funny as it may seem, there is a special bond that forms among people who participate regularly in this forum. Even though few of us have met "face-to-face", the respect, admiration and friendship is obvious from reading through the posts.

Remember that "tough times don't last, but tough people do." My insides tell me you're one of us "tough ol' boys" and you and your folks will come through this one.

If you're comfortable with doing such, you could give us an address or set up a P.O Box where we might be able to send along some help.

Regards,
Glenn

Adam,

Went through it back in 1998, at least you have your health (and your tools :D ) and your family is safe.......Hang in there and do not let yourself get down.


Bill S.

Not much we can say except that we all feel really bad for you and the family, Adam. That has to be a real kick in the head, and the three of you must feel really lost right now.

Hold on to each other and your close friends. The worst of times, and this is definitely one of those times, eventually pass.

Jim

I am sorry to hear this. While the photos and remembrances can't be replaced, at least you and your family have survived and will rebuild. It has never happened to me tho good friends had it happen not once but twice. The first was a new TV that shorted, the second was a brand new refrigerator and they lost everything both times. They have gotten over it and moved on and have rebuilt with lots of financial aid from the appliance manufacturers both times.

I, along with everyone here wish you well - and keep us in the loop. Prayers are with you

sorry for you and your family's loss. Glad you were able to at least save your vehicles and tools. Both will be valuable assets in the days ahead. As Don said, thank god you and your parents are safe. If it helps, we have found this company is very good and an inexpensive good quality fire safe provider. We have two safes from them, one for guns, with a one hour fire rating, and one for small stuff and documents also a one hour fire rating. As you guys hopefully rebuild your life, maybe you can incorperate one into the new house, http://www.safeandvaultstore.com/
Again I'm very sorry for what your going through. My Aunt and Uncle lost their photos to a fire, and called all the relatives for copies, and other old photos we had. It certainly didn't replace everything they lost, but it did provide them with some great old memories and even a few wedding photos!

I’m sorry to hear this, as a child that was always been my worst nightmare. I would be in class as a young kid and hear the fire alarm; I would pray it would not be our house.

Like people have said the good thing is you were all lucky to get out safe. Just yesterday I moved a steel box that I’ve had for years, just for that very thing to keep important papers in that would be hard to get by in case of a fire. Now I’m going to get it in the house and use it for what it was intended for.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you, and the family to get through this and try to get back to a normal way of life. You’re all safe, and you can rebuild, it will be hard loosing the pictures, that’s always what people say is what they will miss. You can try starting new with today’s memories. Good luck to all of your family, and friends that are helping, if you need us, we are here like was said before.

Richard

Been there, and feel your pain.

Here is my .o2. focus on what's important. No lives were lost, and your hot rod is safe. But seriously, no lives were lost. changed a little maybe, but not lost.
Everything gone is just stuff, and can be replaced. some of it was irreplacable, and you will eventually find some irreplacable stuff to take its place. The rest of it you will just replace in time.

It's all just stuff, don't fret too much over it. I'm assuming you DID have insurance, that will help much. Give the Red Cross a call also, they are a good organization.

What I did: I had a 12X24 shed on the property.. it used to be a country store. It has hardwood floors, insulated walls with paneling, and an insulated drop tile ceiling with flourescant lights. At the time it also had a reach in cooler. I spent the next week or so in my spare time after work, installing a tub/shower combination, water heater, sink and toilet. Plumbed it all in to the existing septic tank. Got a nice king size bed from the red cross, and we moved in. Lived in that shed for near four years while I rebuilt the house.

I used the insurance $ to pay off the property, and the personal property insurance $ to rebuild.

That was a rough four years ( at times ) but it's all behind us now, and the house is nicer ( and bigger ) than it ever was.

good luck.

Adam sorry to hear of your familys loss. As has been said thankfully no one was injured or worse.
My cousin and his family lost their home this past weekend in one of the California fires...Sad part of it is he lost his beloved Porsche Spyder that he's owned for the past 30+ years and just finished restoring, his tools, etc. and his youngest daughter lost all of her preparations and dress for her upcoming wedding on DEC 6. They didn't even have time to grab anything before they had to get out. They also lost their 3 cats.

Adam, I'm sorry to hear about this. There's not much more I can add to what already has been said, yes some things can be replaced other things can't. I'm just happy no one was injured or lost their life...joe

Prayer's are with you and your family .

Adam,

I am so sorry for your trouble. I cant imagine. I agree with what everyone has said....you all have your lives.

I couldnt imagine losing all of my pictures...but really thinking about it....my fondest memories are in my head without pictures.

You will all bounce back. You'll have family and friends with pictures and I'm sure they will make duplicates for you.

God bless you and your family and I hope the best for you all.

Dave G

Hey, If I can be of any assistance, let me know. I'm not that far away (Knoxville). Sorry to hear of the fire, thats rough! Glad you are all ok! If you need something, ASK! Don't let your pride rob you of help! Good luck, Donny

i have had to deal with a small housefire that destroyed the living room and the dining rom ceiling but not a whole house with heirlooms i somewhat knwo what your going through, i hope you get through this tough time during this tough time of year.

I'm so sorry to hear that. I know you have heard it a thousand times but be truly thankful that your all ok. Whenever I hear of a house fire it brings me back to when I was a kid and a family in our neighborhood had a house fire and they lost their 3 year old son.

i tried all summer long to buy this house from my ex .. the deal just could not go thru .. my son moved in and a week later this ..he lost all he had and barely kept his life thanks to a freind who was there and not asleep .. had i been there i`m certain i would not be typing this .. the house had been enpty for 2 or three years so it had no coverage ..

Adam, real sorry to hear of your trouble. Lucky that all of you made it out safely and were able to have some important things left. It is a disturbing and frightful time but hopefully you all will manage to get thru it and get a good start on a better life. Prayers for you and your family coming your way.

Adam, this is terrible. I'll make sure to get your name on our church prayer list.

Adam,

Very sorry to hear of this loss for you and the family. Good that you are all safe. Hang in there and you will get through this. You all need to help one another. Great to hear the family and neighbors are coming through for you.

Best wishes and prayers for you.

Pat

I am also very sorry to hear this news, That is my biggest fear right up there with drowning. Thank God we have not had to deal with this thus far, and I am sure nobody could ever understand unless they have been there. I hope it gets sorted out for you and your family.

Adam. Real sorry to hear of your loss. I can't imagine what that would be like and hope that I never experience it myself. You all escaped with your lives and that's the main thing. Personel things are sad to lose but others can take their place.

Thanks to everyone for the prayers and encouraging words, I really appreciate it! We will all make it through this, and be stronger from it. We are being flooded with donations of money and clothes from family and friends, and suprisingly a lot of Daddy's customers are offering building materials and services for the reconstruction.

A couple of things I've learned from this: After going through something like this, a lot of the problems and aggravations in my life have actually turned out to be rather trivial.
2nd...pull out your insurance policies and go over them with a fine toothed comb to make sure they will take care of you in case of a disaster. Turns out ours wasn't as good as we thought!
I also encourage everyone to donate to the Red-Cross, they were on the scene before the fire went out to give us a few necessities and a debit card to buy some of what we needed.
Thanks again everybody!!!:)