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??? house fire??

M

mlh29

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Feb 28, 2008
472
1
45
Lafargeville, NY 13656
Guys, I just lost my complete home toiday,
firefighters kept things cool, but things got wet.
I have a ton( probably around $1 in ammo and reloading supplies..
What would you do?
Yes I am serious this isnt a BS post..
I need to know, I have powder, and primers that got wet in original cartons
etc that was removed

lost around .5lbs of smokeless, and somewhere around 2 rds of reloads and factory ammo..
some delivered yesterday by the brown truck

I am lost , ever rcbs presses melted....
 
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Sorry for you, assuming nobody was hurt? Trash any wet powder, the ammo might be good, factory ammo should be fine, reloads might be less fine, I would keep them and try them out.
 
Would sealed powder containers be OK ? Primers would be junk for sure. You didn't say hopefully everyone is ok ?
 
Start making a list/inventory of what was in your house. Call your insurance company. There are limits to items that are lost to Fire/theft but they will replace contents of your home based on your policy.

Don't sign anything with your insurance company lightly . . . you do not want to get cashed out because they offered you some quick buy-out. Make sure you are made as close to whole as possible.
 
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First, hope everyone was okay. Powder good if dry and sealed and it didn't get real hot. Primers, sorry to say, those are likely shot. Lucky it didn't go up, each brick of primers is equivalent to a hand grenade and that much powder won't deflagrate in an enclose space with primers too, it'll detonate.

I'd test the ammo using random lots. Be on the lookout for bore obstructions though in case one fizzles out on you. I guess it'd depend on the state of the mess were it me.

I'd also let insurance handle it.

So sorry for you, that sucks to high heaven. I'd donate you a couple of cans of H335 and BL-C(2) powder and a brick of primers but thanks to the gubbmint, I can't do that.
 
Sorry to hear about this man. I really am, I hope nobody was injured. I also hope that your firearms were protected in a decent safe, or you have a separate policy for them. Insurance companies are keen on only giving a certain amount for a certain lot of firearms. My home policy only covers about $5000 altogether for firearms and related.
 
update: no one hurt, family got out fine, lost our house cat, no firefighters injured, house total loss, do have home owners but they have caps on everything, 90% of firearms were in a liberty washington, unsure as condition as cannot open it. primers, powder, most for sure is gone, thousands of factory loaded ammo and reloads went bang along with quite a bit of powder and primers. Lost everything, rcbs rockchucker master kit, redding t7, rcbs pro 2000, so so so much I cant even begin to list. 3 generations of reloading/firearms/ literature etc including signed elmer keith novels and a few by jeff cooper. Thought I was good to go by having fire proof ammo boxes( cheap and pretty much made large bombs similar to pipe bombs going off... very very not cool)
News tried reporting me using things to thaw frozen pipes,,, when in fact it was faulty heat tape installed by manufacturer of home...
Watertown Daily Times | LaFargeville home catches fire after attempt to fix frozen pipe

at a loss for words, probably losing 250,000 if insurance has thier ways and the firearms in safe are lost.. anyone know where to get a mint 1895-7 era colt saa in 44-40 with original box and ammo? I hope that one makes it out of safe GTG all others can be replaced...
 
You might want to get your own insurance adjuster to protect your rights under the contract. Most importantly Glad everyone is okay. In the future store things that go bang in wooden boxes.

mlh29 said:
update: no one hurt, family got out fine, lost our house cat, no firefighters injured, house total loss, do have home owners but they have caps on everything, 90% of firearms were in a liberty washington, unsure as condition as cannot open it. primers, powder, most for sure is gone, thousands of factory loaded ammo and reloads went bang along with quite a bit of powder and primers. Lost everything, rcbs rockchucker master kit, redding t7, rcbs pro 2000, so so so much I cant even begin to list. 3 generations of reloading/firearms/ literature etc including signed elmer keith novels and a few by jeff cooper. Thought I was good to go by having fire proof ammo boxes( cheap and pretty much made large bombs similar to pipe bombs going off... very very not cool)
News tried reporting me using things to thaw frozen pipes,,, when in fact it was faulty heat tape installed by manufacturer of home...
Watertown Daily Times | LaFargeville home catches fire after attempt to fix frozen pipe

at a loss for words, probably losing 250,000 if insurance has thier ways and the firearms in safe are lost.. anyone know where to get a mint 1895-7 era colt saa in 44-40 with original box and ammo? I hope that one makes it out of safe GTG all others can be replaced...
Click to expand...
 
You need to get that safe open ASAP!! The item used in "Fire Proof" safes is gypsum (dry wall). When heated the gypsum releases water which keeps the safe cool. If you look at a graph of temp rise in a safe it will get to about 275 internal temp and then level off this is when the gypsum starts to release the water it contains. After some time (depends on how much gypsum the safe has) the temp will start to rise, then about 350 degrees internal temp it will sky rocket fast this is when all the water in the gypsum is gone. The expanding seals on safes that keep the heat out, also keeps the moisture in. Even if they did survive the fire they are rusting in a high humidity environment right now. Also you have to seriously look out for looters. They come out of the woodwork after a disaster no matter how small.

Gypsum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Read physical properties
 
I'm glad no one was in there. Yeah man, watch out for people digging through what you have attempted to salvage. My buddies family home burned down and they lost just about everything. The day it happened they dug around for anything sentimental or not destroyed. That night someone came and stole anything of value. The things some people will do is surprising, especially when a family just lost it all.
 
I went through this a few years ago. I hate it for you. Your life will be upside down for a while.
I lost animals, pictures, sentimental items, ect. You have to let it go and start your life all over.
I can still vividly remember the smell of my burned house. I wish I could erase that memory. Nobody can understand how bad having your house burn down sucks unless it happens to you.
 
I lost fish, a cat and everything else, the safe is a high end liberty, I am trying to get it opened asap.
The powder and primers were in 2inch thick wooden boxes, that didnt help as fire started under floors, then burned through subfloor and laminate hard wood.. yea I am screwed
Thanks guys
 
I might want to keep the amount of primers and powder you had, on the down low, if it's not too late. It's been a long time since I had anything like this to worry about but, from what I remember there maybe some nasty gotchas concerning the amounts you had on hand.
 
Geezus man, I am really sorry to hear about this. I hope you can recover the contents of the safe. Thankfully you and your family were unharmed.

Scumbag news reporters trying to make a story by blaming you...what a bunch of BS man.
 
So sorry to hear about your loss. So were you not trying to thaw a frozen pipe?

"Responding were fire departments from LaFargeville, Clayton, Depauville, Brownville, Dexter, Chaumont, Three-Mile Bay, Fishers Landing, Redwood and Plessis. Thousand Island Rescue Squad also responded."

Sheesh, gotta justify the costs of fire equipment somehow I suppose.
 
nope was not thawing any pipes, LOL. This home actually had a factory installed winterization package, had electric pipe heaters on all pipes. Never a need to thaw pipes. Official determination was undertermined electrical fire in laundry room.
Safe got opened last night.
Lots and lots of soot damage, some items fared better than others, still trying to figure this all out. Many handguns mainly stainless are yellowish under the soot, thinking I need something more than wd 40. all plastic in safe was GTG, papers were fine but wet. All the sights on my rugers were very rusty, need replaced.
Rifles are in fair to ok shape, looks like after a clean bill of health from the local smith I will be contacting Shortbus and others for alot of ceracoat work.
Insurance isnt answering calls or questions yet.
All powder and ammo were stored to code and noone was hurt. I think that some of the bullets may be salvageable( wet unburned, ) Powder and primers are all toast
Cant get to do much as weather in my area of Northern NY is nasty today and my entire house now is covered in about 6 inches of ice from the road to the house...
Working on a rental for a few months nearby , liberty looks like they will help with a new safe.
So far everyone contacted in the shooting industry has been wonderful to deal with, I just wish it were on another topic or situation
 
Sorry for the loss of the house, fish, and cat. I am sure you have enough to deal with but as it has already been mentioned, you may want to "under-estimate" what you may have had on hand depending upon what the state rules are. While you may have stored it properly, the amount may exceed what is legal to have on hand. In CA, we are limited to 20 pounds of smokeless and 1 pound of black powder. Anything above that is a felony. Not saying you will have an issue but insurance companies are going to take any angle they can for not paying out on a claim.
 
California Blows like a cheap hooker. Guess about 1/2 this forum would be a felon in that shit hole.
 
Hairball said:
In CA, we are limited to 20 pounds of smokeless and 1 pound of black powder. Anything above that is a felony. Not saying you will have an issue but insurance companies are going to take any angle they can for not paying out on a claim.
Click to expand...

The International Fire Code which is widely adopted across the USA has specific language limiting quantity of propellant and primers. For those of us in single family dwellings our houses are classified as an R-3 occupancy. The code is as follows:

3306.4 Storage in Group R occupancies. The storage of small arms ammunition in Group R occupancies shall comply with Sections 3306.4.1 and 3306.4.2.

3306.4.1 Black powder and smokeless propellants. Pro*pellants for personal use in quantities not exceeding 20 pounds (9 kg) of black powder or 20 pounds (9 kg) of smokeless powder shall be stored in original containers in occupancies limited to Group R-3. Smokeless powder in quantities exceeding 20 pounds (9 kg) but not exceeding 50 pounds (23 kg) kept in a wooden box or cabinet having walls of at least 1 inch (25 mm) nominal thickness shall be allowed to be stored in occupancies limited to Group R-3.
Quantities exceeding these amounts shall not be stored in any Group R occupancy.

3306.4.2 Small arms primers. No more than 10,000 small arms primers shall be stored in occupancies limited to Group R-3.

To the OP, I'm really sorry you are going through this hell. I can only imagine it's going to get worse as the information above will be used by the local fire agency and your insurance company in their investigations.

Everyone else should look at your quantities and storage methods to determine if you are in compliance. You can damn well bet the insurance companies will do everything possible to deny claim if you can't respond intellectually about what's acceptable by code. And keep in mind a local ordinance that's even more restrictive might be in affect.
 
mlh29 said:
News tried reporting me using things to thaw frozen pipes,,, when in fact it was faulty heat tape installed by manufacturer of home..
Click to expand...
Carefully document this to the highest standard of proof you can. This person should pay you for what insurance does not.
 
Sorry for your loss, man. Slightly different, but I lost a truck in a flood, and the stuff that was inside it that insurance wouldn't replace was quite a blow, thought it amounted to more like $10-15K, not what yours is likely to total. Thank God, no physical injuries!

To all you others on the Hide, I really suggest we take a lesson here, and be sure to look into alternate sources of insurance. I have extra Firearms Insurance through Lockton Affinity, an NRA sponsored insurance, no questions asked, you tell them total value, you only list pieces with individual value above I think, $2500, and then only by brand, model, and accessories/modifications. Might also want to consider storing powder/primers differently, from a standpoint of storage codes. If one has secure outbuildings, possibly the stash could be divided, and thus offer more compliance with totals in one place, as well as less likely-hood of losing it all in one incident.

Mlh29, may God watch over you and provide for you as you move forward. Tough time now, but "all things work together for good to those who love God, and are called according to His Purpose," and He has called us all, the choice to answer is up to each of us, so no one need feel excluded in this promise.
 
If you depend on Insurance company's for help , even though you have paid years worth of premium's , you are SOL in most cases , its a good thing shit like this does not happen to many of us , you will probably have problem's with the law , as most of us would in this same situation . Makes you think, don't it !!! '' Hoarder's Beware ''.
 
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I will say I did not think I was hoarding, I have a lot less than many, and I reloaded for family and friends,. My biggest take on thi s is when I rebuild the guns if able t9o be saved will be in a safe, in a vaulted room
In addition anything that is reloading items like bullets or primers will be in ammo cans stored differently.
All I can say to everyone is keep records outside your home, practice and rehearse exfil routes. My 5yo was simply told we have a fire we need to leave the house. He dropped all he was doing and walked to the car. Only asking help once outside and I realized he had no shoes on and we had 10 inches of snow on the ground.
Get smoke alarms and check them weekly
Check and monitor thermostat batteries, sounds silly but I have been told that 3 local fires were caused by furnaces with shorted thermostats due to old alkaline batteries
Do not put all your eggs in one basket. Will definately be renting storage in the future, off site, with emergency supplies, as going without simple shit like your own socks and drawers suck.
Last thing I will say I learned which I have always known just got a little side tracked from. Get the fuck out and stay out stuff can be replaced lives cannot. Guys have a good night
 
My advise to you at this point is to focus on getting all the insurance money you can. If your insurance is like mine you have a certain amount for the house and another amount for the contents. You will probably have to list every item down to each pencil and can of soup to get compensated. They typically don't give you all the money unless you can account for the value of everything you had. This was a pain in the ass. Make sure you have a generous ink pen when you do this.
 
This was mentioned, but to reinforce - GET AN INDEPENDENT INSURANCE ADJUSTER.

Powder in modern plastic container should be OK, if not over heated.

Primers are probably damaged, but I would try some.

Loaded ammo that is intact, is probably fine.
 
I have barn and outbuildings to store things now but want to point out most storage facilities will have language against flam able/explosive materials storage so this is a problem we all have to deal with locally.

When I had my fire no storage facility would take materials that they felt were "hazardous" and we had to destroy it -- couldn't find a place to store what was not damaged :mad: when I had to live in an apartment for a year.
 
What a horrible way to start the new year. Sending some prayers from AZ to you and your family.
 
KUSA said:
My advise to you at this point is to focus on getting all the insurance money you can. If your insurance is like mine you have a certain amount for the house and another amount for the contents. You will probably have to list every item down to each pencil and can of soup to get compensated. They typically don't give you all the money unless you can account for the value of everything you had. This was a pain in the ass. Make sure you have a generous ink pen when you do this.
Click to expand...

A good reason to occasionally walk thru the house with your camera and photograph everything. A cell phone will do it and most have Cloud backup in case the cell phone is also a casualty.
 
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