garage fire

well i suppose it would be alright to post this here.

i guess im just looking for any helpful hints..

I am currently a jr. in college for mechanical engineering, back at my grandparents i have a garage that i have personally built for mainly tractor restorations and working on anything and everything. It used to be my paps garage and he pretty much let me take it over, i have since added on and invested in tens of thousands of dollars of tools and parts and supply"s...yet alone my blood sweat and tears...

with me being 2.5 hours away from this garage for a week at a time, i gave permission for a close friend or group of friends to use the garage. they would always be nice enough to work on things for me while im not there, and still have time to work on there own projects.

as we all know its cold, so we hooked up the old pot belly stove, the same one that has heated this garage for years.

as one of my friends was waiting for the coals to die down before leaving another friend stopped and asked for a hand down the road, what with the stove cooling down and no prior problems to make him think otherwise he went to lend a hand.

on there return a short while later the garage was totally taken over by flames...this was about 3 hours ago by the ways..

now i"m 150 miles from home and left with a pile of ashes, i have no anger towards my friends, we are all very close.

my question is there any tips i should know before dealing with this type of garage fire situation..

its been a rough night and i"m sorry if my grammar is poor. thanks for the tips.

been thru a house fire that said get a pocket note pad and everytime you remember an object from the shed write it down

Wow, that sucks.
Hopefully the insurance will reemburse you for all things lost.

I'm sorry to hear about this. Do you perhaps have renter's insurance for your college residence? A renter's policy may cover items you have "in storage".

I'm guessing the garage is covered under your grandparent's homeowner's policy. Coverage for outbuildings and their contents is typically ten percent of the home value.

I'm not experienced enough to give advice, but I'm sorry about the fire. Hope everything works out OK for you. Jim

gather any tools found and put in a bucket of oil or deisel, you'd be surprised at how many you can salvage, some may have fallen under something and not have gottin hot enough to hurt,..i too had a fire in 2003, am still useing tools from that....

I knew a fellow who had his shop burn and the wrenches (Craftsman) were replaced under the warranty. It may have just been that the clerk at Sears was just especially generous and the replacement was not the official policy. Some wrenches still looked pretty good to me but probably soft from the heat. Finish had turned blue.

So sorry about your fire. Most steel tools can withstand up to 800F before they get hot enough to soften the steel in them. Of course plastic parts are gone and the finish may not be so good. Most springs, such as a ratchet, would not be softened, but would take a "set" in their installed position so the tool might not function well. Don't give up hope, a lot of your stuff may be very usable.

Thats why I only build all metal buildings when you build back you'd be way ahead to build 100% metal.Hope you can salvage some stuff probably hand tools like wrenches,chisels and the like will be all thats worth saving and drop them into a barrel of burnt motor oil for awhile.

sorry to hear that bad news,

Tyler, Very sorry to hear of this accidental fire. It happens more then we realize and it can happen fast.

I would suggest that no one touch anything until your insurance adjuster can get there and make the assessment. They should have someone there in 24 hours, weather permitting.
Allow them to see what all was there. Any receipts or other documentation as to specific and expensive tools and stuff will prove helpful.
That does not get your garage back today but it allows you the finances to get it built back.
Good luck and keep us posted.
The best news is that no human was injured or killed.

know you feel bad, but what's done is done. As others said, focus on documenting everything. Many insurance policies have "replacement cost" for property. Check the policy on the building. This means that you can replace the property at today's prices. Since you probably don't have receipts for most of your stuff, make a list of everything with the cost of the item today. DO NOT THROW ANYTHING AWAY. The adjuster will take pix of everything and you should too. Under "replacement cost", if you replace it right away or have it repaired, they'll pay the full amount. If you don't submit a receipt for replacement or repair, they'll take the "replacement cost", deduct depreciation and cut you a check. Then, you have a period (180 days in most cases) to replace it and get the depreciated amount. I'm going through this right now on a lightning strike claim.

I've heard that some insurance companies won't pay if you didn't tell them you had a wood burner. Perhaps others can add to this with their experiences.

thanks for the tips, yeah id imagine most hand tools are salvageable, cant say much for 3 welders, plasma cutter, 2 sandblasters, brand new dewalt chop saw, 80 gallon air compressor i spent all my high school graduation money on, milwaukee power tools out the wazoo...husquvarnia xp pro series chainsaw that i bought yesterday and had my uncle pick up cause it was a good deal, didnt even get to see that one....04 polaris, 88 honda, 79 f150, parts room full of wiring, plubimg, bolts, all organized to size......i better just stop...could go on forever...

ill start makin a list in a few, and yes block and steel building with minimal wood is in the plans...

thanks guys

In our area (western NY) we have independant fire adjusters that will work for the person that had the fire. They come on site and go through the remains with a fine tooth comb and always come up with a list of losses that far exceed what the insurance company"s adjuster does. Their fee is a percentage of the insurance company"s payment to you and is well worth it.
National Fire Adjustment Company is the company here.
There may be others.
These companies here are listed in the Yellow Pages under "Adjusters"

One thing you don't want to do is lie to anyone about who owns what. I know someone who tried that in an apartment fire and just about did jail time for fraud.

Sorry for your loss, hope it was insured somehow.