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I don't know all the iddy-biddy details like I knew when my Dad had his stroke, but here's what I know about the FIRE that absolutely gutted my Dad's shop.
The fire started some time around 3 or 3:30pm. They noticed the plume of black smoke and called the fire department. Three fire trucks arrived very quickly and put out the fire.
MORE DETAIL: My Dad's "Shop" was a room about the size of a single-car garage that was a part of the two-car garage that is adjacent to my parents house. Structurally speaking, it looks like maybe it had been a three-car garage that somebody modified in to a two-car garage with attached workshop separated by a nice, thick wall and its own private lockable door instead of a standard garage door.
The first thing we did when they moved in was to install a window for him. Over the years he has turned that shop in to his private clubhouse, with all sorts of "modern" conveniences. A mini-fridge, a TV, a working sink (run via garden hose), an old-fashioned cast iron pipe stove, carpeting. It also had standard shop equipment such as three HUGE tool chests full of new and vintage tools and a work bench. And of course there was his Wine Making Supplies, along with about 80 bottles of home-made wine.
Then there were the things that were unique; about 40 different vintage fishing poles and reels plus tackle, a vintage/antique art deco writing desk that has been int he family forever, an antique "old west" crank phone (they type you'd see on Little House On The Prairie), cook books and personal journals.
And then the stuff that was worrisome. A hot plate. A wooden box being used as a mini-coop for 6 baby chickens. A full propane tank connected to a propane burner that was commonly used as a space heater inside the shop.
The Fire Marshal and The Insurance Adjuster still don't know what the cause of the fire was. There's talk of it being chalked up to a recent string of arsons in the area since there isn't any one clear indication of what could have started the fire. The wooden box that had kept the chickens warm is the only spot of floor that isn't charred, so it didn't start there. The propane tank, though blackened from the fire, never exploded so it's not that. The Hot Plate remained unplugged at all times, rarely ever used because it was so much easier to just put the pan over the propane burner/heater.
The fire completely DESTROYED the shop and everything in it (pictures to come soon), and it's truly miraculous that a fire that bad and completely apocalyptic would not have spread to the rest of the garage or on to the house.
LITTLE MIRACLES: Right there in the middle of the fire, that full tank of propane never exploded. My Dad's car, which was parked just on the other side of the wall in the garage, is completely untouched as is the rest of the contents from the garage (need to check the Christmas stuff that was stored on that side of the garage, see if any of it melted). Everyone was home and NO ONE was hurt.
A million little miracles can make a disaster look like a blessing :)
The fire started some time around 3 or 3:30pm. They noticed the plume of black smoke and called the fire department. Three fire trucks arrived very quickly and put out the fire.
MORE DETAIL: My Dad's "Shop" was a room about the size of a single-car garage that was a part of the two-car garage that is adjacent to my parents house. Structurally speaking, it looks like maybe it had been a three-car garage that somebody modified in to a two-car garage with attached workshop separated by a nice, thick wall and its own private lockable door instead of a standard garage door.
The first thing we did when they moved in was to install a window for him. Over the years he has turned that shop in to his private clubhouse, with all sorts of "modern" conveniences. A mini-fridge, a TV, a working sink (run via garden hose), an old-fashioned cast iron pipe stove, carpeting. It also had standard shop equipment such as three HUGE tool chests full of new and vintage tools and a work bench. And of course there was his Wine Making Supplies, along with about 80 bottles of home-made wine.
Then there were the things that were unique; about 40 different vintage fishing poles and reels plus tackle, a vintage/antique art deco writing desk that has been int he family forever, an antique "old west" crank phone (they type you'd see on Little House On The Prairie), cook books and personal journals.
And then the stuff that was worrisome. A hot plate. A wooden box being used as a mini-coop for 6 baby chickens. A full propane tank connected to a propane burner that was commonly used as a space heater inside the shop.
The Fire Marshal and The Insurance Adjuster still don't know what the cause of the fire was. There's talk of it being chalked up to a recent string of arsons in the area since there isn't any one clear indication of what could have started the fire. The wooden box that had kept the chickens warm is the only spot of floor that isn't charred, so it didn't start there. The propane tank, though blackened from the fire, never exploded so it's not that. The Hot Plate remained unplugged at all times, rarely ever used because it was so much easier to just put the pan over the propane burner/heater.
The fire completely DESTROYED the shop and everything in it (pictures to come soon), and it's truly miraculous that a fire that bad and completely apocalyptic would not have spread to the rest of the garage or on to the house.
LITTLE MIRACLES: Right there in the middle of the fire, that full tank of propane never exploded. My Dad's car, which was parked just on the other side of the wall in the garage, is completely untouched as is the rest of the contents from the garage (need to check the Christmas stuff that was stored on that side of the garage, see if any of it melted). Everyone was home and NO ONE was hurt.
A million little miracles can make a disaster look like a blessing :)
