Hey guys. Sorry for the disappearing act........
 

I have been going thru a lot lately and have been trying to figure everything out since I got laid off back in July. Im going to college to get my CDL so I can get a job driving truck. I already have 2 job offers with really great benefits and pay.

Anyways, it has been a bumpy ride since the lay off and now it just got a little worse. I was awaken at 2am of the 23rd to a house fire. Everybody made it out safe and sound including the animals. The house was pretty much saved by the quick reaction of the fire fighters. They were on scene within 5 mins and had the fire contained in around 30mins.


Here are some pics of the damage......

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/v...2009/pic10.jpg

Yes this is a GAS water heater right next to the burnt wall...

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/v...a2009/pic7.jpg

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/v...a2009/pic6.jpg

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/v...GEDC0138-1.jpg

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/v...GEDC0143-1.jpg

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/v...GEDC0144-1.jpg

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/v...GEDC0139-1.jpg

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/v...a2009/Pic1.jpg

HOLY CRAP ,DENNIS !! Fire is my HIGHEST fear. Glad ya'all got out and safe ! Are you able to stay there or you in a different dwelling now ? Looks like the damage isn't so bad it can't be repaired. Wow .... :shock: :shock:

Thank god everybody is ok it could have been MUCH worse.

Currently we are in a hotel paid for by the red cross. Also we cannot retreive ANY of our belongings until the owners insurance comapny does their investigation. We cant stay in the house due to all the damage. The fire got up into the rafters for the roof and there is a good size hole in the roof where the vent is coming out of the roof. It can be repaired but is gonna have to have a major rebuild done to get it back to code. The fire got some wires that were going thru the walls for the vent stack. Its gonna have to have a completely new roof installed including the trussels all the way across. The fire marshall said that it is gonna take prolly 6-8 months till it is done. They estimated the deamage well over $30,000. The realtor is doing all they can getting us into another house. The thing that scares me the most is in the pic of the damage that looks like a bedroom. Her daughter and boyfriends bed was right there with their heads against that wall. They only had 1/2" between their heads and the fire.

The fire fighters didnt one helleva job. They were on scene in 5 mins and had it contained in 30. They even saved the flag we hang outside and my girlfriends dads flag that was draped over his casket and the only pics that she had of him.

I'm so sorry to hear of the fire. Did the fire marshal give a reason why the fire started ?

I went thru with the fire marshall and the first thing they said was that the fireplace was a gas fireplace and not a wood burning one. He said there was no negligence on our part at all. Other than that I dont know what his conclusion was.

Sorry to hear that man.

Damn Dirk!
Glad you and yours are OK, materials items can always be rebuilt or replaced.

I hope things go smooth with your insurance company.

Glad to see you back on the board!

The thing that sucks is I didnt have renters ins. I had to let it lapse cuz I couldnt afford it after I got laid off from my job in July. So right now we are at the mercy of the house owners ins company which is USAA.

From what I can tell after going into the house afterwards was that everything has smoke damage. There is no changing that. The main things that got water damage are the things in the living room. As far as that it looks like we can salvage I wanna say about 99% of everything else. The fire fighters did an AWESOME job keeping the amount of damage to a bare minimum. They actually had to cut those holes in the wall to get access to the fire. The drywall actually did its job and kept the fire contained within the wall and didnt let it spread outside of it.