EDUCATIONAL INCUBATION & HATCHING CHAT THREAD, w/ Sally Sunshine Shipped Eggs

[canadachickens]

Any advice for things to prepare do in case of a fire now that you have been through one? Sorry to hear that happened along with health stuff. I have not hurt my ankle again knock on wood, so my plans for the big vacation are in full swing along with spring chores.

Glad to hear the ankle has been resolved and the vacation is on track. My knee woes continue, manageable but irritating, but that is the price I am paying for the follies of my youth.

 

[kwhites634]

Quote: Still seeing your physical terrorist?

 

[daxigait]

No injuries to family or critters thankfully. I noticed the smoke coming through the attic vent on the garage early in the evening Christmas Day. Called Fire department, they arrived within 20 minutes, but I am 15 miles form the nearest town. by then the barn and shop were involved, and they did their best to protect the house, and they kept the barn damage to mostly siding and some roofing. Can not thank them enough!

Dax, the best advice I can give is take lots of photos of everything you own or have in any building once a year. keep a list of the items and a brief description with the photos somewhere off site (bank deposit box, friend, family). I was lucky, I had lots of video of all three from the past years and it was the only way I even got close to claiming most of the contents. The structures were fairly obvious, but boy did I have to provide information on the content, especially tack and tools. I know there were lots of tools and tack that I forgot, but I am satisfied with the way the Insurance company has covered it, so far.
 Still do not have a garage or shop rebuilt, but I managed to salvage and repair the barn.  

Since I live in tornado alley and have been through two EF 5 tornadoes in the last ten years I did a major inventory and sent it on DVD to my sister near Chicago a few years ago. I need to redo it and the barn stuff though. I even shot my wood stacks since I have a 10x14 ten foot high loafing shed full plus the 2.5 cords closer to the house. I will need to document all my new fencing and this year's shed too.

 

[canadachickens]

What started it?

According to the fire inspector, pyrolosis.
The wall behind the wood stove over the years had become tinder dry from the heating and cooling cycle of the wood stove. He compared it to holding a lighter to a 2 x 4 for a minute. the 2 x 4 will be scorched but not in flame. then hold the same lighter to a toothpick, that is what pyrolosis did to the wood after 12 years, lowered the ignition point of the studs in the wall to next to nothing.
I had used the stove the previous evening, the stove was stone cold the day of the fire. The inspector figures the studs had been smoldering in the walls for an extended period of time before it managed to get enough oxygen to ignite. it was the strangest thing i had ever seen. when he was moving debris during his investigation, he showed me the two studs where the fire originated. One side of each stud was charred and burned, the outer side of the studs were pristine, like the day they were installed. I could still read the mill and grade stamp on both of them. it smoldered up the studs until it finally broke through into the attic. the rest was history at that point.
The stove had a metal heat shield behind it, as well as a firebrick shield with air gap between the metal and the wall he thinks a spark got under the wall covering and just smoldered with out breaking through the wall covering.

 

[canadachickens]

Still seeing your physical terrorist?

Yep, and I thinks she has been test driving a new Mercedes as a result.

 

[Beer can]

Banty... look no further than Trudeau, Harper, Mulroney, and Chretien in Canada. The US has Trump, both Clintons, all of the Bush clan, not to mention the Kennedys, they are all alien to us little people. 

Lol! I'll agree with you there

Just popping in and skimmed, ...
Had a fire, hope everyone was ok.
Had one ourselves shortly after we moved here, wouldn't wish it on anybody, unreal monster.
Insurance replaces some, not all. Told many, 4wheelers, snowmobiles, classic cars, anything that can be insured, not covered on homeowners fire ins. Then the sentimental stuff, deer mounts, old bottle collections, anything, unreplaceable... We lost our garage week before Christmas that yr, sucky..
Ins valued the garage at $26,500, we got $18,500 to rebuild, $10 first, rest when seen progress or done. I rebuilt it myself better and bigger for $5, not finished yet. After I claimed it was done, they sent out a inspector, OK'd it, sent the other $8,500. Because it took me two yrs to rebuild, the Govt sent me a bill for capital gains, taxed our loss...I was ins sent $18,500 for a garage assessed at $26,500 and the state of NY claimed I had capital gains, and was taxed thousands of $$ even though I was still at a big loss.
Wonder why our governor is known as the U-Haul salesman of the yr...
Hope you have a more pleasant experience than I had.

 

[BantyChooks]

Yep, and I thinks she has been test driving a new Mercedes as a result. 

 

[kwhites634]

Quote: That's about the strangest one I've ever heard.We have regular brick behind the stove, hearth to drop ceiling, extending about a foot beyond the stove on both sides. Behind the brick is block wall.

 

[canadachickens]

That's about the strangest one I've ever heard.We have regular brick behind the stove, hearth to drop ceiling, extending about a foot beyond the stove on both sides. Behind the brick is block wall.

It was strange. I never would have expected to see that either, but the inspector showed me and explained the process very well. I have nothing but respect for those guys and the fire fighters.
New shop and garage will have in floor radiant heat, from an outdoor boiler in a separate building, far enough away from house, shop, and all other buildings that if the boiler shed catches fire in the future, that is all that will be lost.
Lessons learned I guess, we were going to install a wood stove in the house this summer. not anymore. Luckily the boiler system I am looking at has enough capacity for the house, shop, garage, and even the tack room in the barn for radiant heating. Will be nice not to rely on electric heating in the future, so some overall good did come out of the whole tragedy.

 

[BantyChooks]

cc were the horses ok?