this is not the kind of thing you want to need at 5:00 on Sat. afternoon. Dinner was on the table and Kevin saw vapor/steam/smoke? rolling off the roof of the shop. at first it looked like steam, but by the time I stomped my feet into my boots and ran out the door it was rolling out from under the eaves of the lean-to's..I could hear things expolding inside and I screamed to call the fire dept. all we can think is it was an electrical fire, but the fire marshal will have to determine that tomorrow when he comes. No one was hurt, no one was in the shop, nothing of value was damaged other than the shop. We were able to get most everything out from the lean-to's by the time the dept arrived, which was far more valuable than the structure it self. now it is just an enormous amount of clean up and rebuilding All the debris is the stuff from the ceiling. My head hurts.
Oh wow, that's a terrible scare. Just very glad that it was during the day when you could catch it before more buildings and your lives were endangered!!!!!
Bad things should not happen to good people! I'm so sorry about your workshop, but thank heavens the equipment was saved, and no one was hurt. Will insurance help replace the lean-to's?
Yep, to everyones safety. We are thankful. It could have been much more expensive. there were tools and equipment worth far more than the structure and none of that stuff was damaged to speak of. The men borrowed one of my folding tables to do some work back there and it was folded up sitting near the hot spot, but it was only melted a little. There was a roll of teflon tape sitting on top of a tool box that wasn't even melted, the skid steer was sitting directly in the middle of the shop and we drove it out after the fire was extinguished, all the damage traveled up the wall to the ceiling and roof, it appears to have started where the tool boxes are at. the only thing (that I can think of and know for sure) that is there electrical is a retractable extension cord. We were all safe at the end of the day but we are exhausted thinking of everything that needs to be done now.
Oh my gosh!!! I'm so glad you're OK....that must have been really scary! So, is the shop close to your greenhouse? I keep thinking of the huge assortment of plants you have and how awful it would be if the fire got to them...I know they didn't, but the thought of that upsets are almost as much as if you or Kevin had been hurt as a result.
I'm just so glad no-one was hurt and that the fire happened in daylight or it could have been so much worse. I'm so happy the damage was limited but you're going to have such a lot of work to do clearing up and rebuilding. Take care when you're getting things sorted as we don't want you exhausting or hurting yourself.
Thanks Frank. ronni, the greenhouses aren't close to the shop so they weren't in any danger. the biggest problem was the fire dept had no idea where to go once they got here because the shop is behind the house and they couldn't see it or any smoke due to the direction of the wind and it was drifting rather than rising. I ran to the driveway to move my van since I park close to the one house and at the curve of the driveway. I didn't want them having to swing around my van knowing they weren't familiar with our address and I was able to direct them to continue around the house to the back. Eileen, You are so correct. We had gone shopping earlier in the afternoon and for greenhouse stuff about 1/2 hour drive from here. I am sure we were gone 2 hours and Adrian came home went to the shop wound up a cord, picked up some towels tossed them in the trash and came in the house. nothing out of the ordinary for any of us and he didn't notice anything unusual when he was picking up the stuff.. We are wondering if there was a short in either that cord or the battery/light charger that was plugged in there. I had made dinner and was just pulling the cornbread out of the oven. Had I gotten Kevin something to drink he would have never been looking out the window while he was filling his glass, none of the neighbors can really see the shop, you can't see it from the road, no one would have seen the smoke, No other window in the house faces the shop. Fire marshal came today and I guess his job was more to determine it wasn't arson more than anything else. It wasn't of course. We were very blessed, it could have been so much worse.
Sorry to see the big mess you had Carolyn, glad it was noticed early and nobody was hurt. It must have been a real scary and exhausting experience. Take care.
Oh my gosh Carolyn!!! Fire terrifies me, and I don't think I would sound as calm as you were! Thank goodness no one was hurt. WOW!
Not real calm in the midst of it. I coughed for the next 24 hours. I think it must have been the cold weather and the screaming... not that it really helped. No one can understand a thing you are saying. I was just praying a lot. It just could have been so much worse. After the fire marshal (do you know he is a real police officer... as in a marshal? duh, that escaped me until yesterday when he was there with his gun on in full sight. can you imagine what a dangerous job he has because his job is to determine if the fire is arson or not) I stood in the driveway flagging the fire dept in and to the back because they would have had no idea where it was at ( and they told me afterwards they didn't know where to go when they got here because they didn't see any smoke. It was drifting sideways through the trees not rising up.) We did find out this morning that the questionable item that was plugged in had a recall on a different colored model... for melting. Uh, I think they have a big problem.
I'm so glad that no one was injured. That's the most important thing! Being able to get your tools and equipment out is a special plus. I would suggest that you invite all your friends and family for a picnic lunch...and tell them to wear old clothes...and make a party of cleaning up!
Just awful. I send my well-wishes to you and yours. I am so relieved to hear that none of you were injured. Dear me what a drama.
Yep... It was. as of this afternoon the flashlight that we believe to have caused this has already been pulled off of shelves nationwide. We will see what the fire investigation finds in the following days. We were pretty positive it had to be electrical as no one had been in the shop but for a moment earlier in the afternoon ( to pick up an extension cord and re roll it and the throw away some shop towels left on the floor from cleaning something in a truck.) and nothing was amiss then. It was a pretty crummy week weather wise and they had been cleaning. The shop was probably cleaner that day then in the past year or more. fat lot of good that did. the cleanup can't begin until all of the investigation is done. The whole rest of the structure will have to be demolished. The fire damage was too great to try to fix/repair the burned rafters in the main part and the I beams in the one lean-to.
