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Some high end home had outdoor roof sprinkler system. We cannot have those since it will freeze up.
At this level of fire even N2 or Co2 system cannot prevent from burning down.
I saw the costco, pets mart, chuck e cheese etc and their structures were okay.
No one thinks when they leave the house that morning it was for the last time.
Appreciate what you have when you have it.
Bug out plan isn't just for zombies.
When I was looking for a gun safe I was advised to buy the largest/best fire rating I could afford. Several family members have had to evacuate their homes over the years, being able to toss stuff in the safe and walk out was an emotional help on them.
I realize I'm not in easy commuting distance but I've got the space to store stuff and animals if people need.
I don't think is a moveable gun safe on the retail market designed to withstand the complete house combustion scenario seen in these events.
My wife and I had that conversation yesterday. We determined that there is no way our safe would survive what we saw out there. 3k Sq ft homes burned down to their slabs in minutes. That's some extreme heat.Quote:
Originally Posted by .455_Hunter
Quote:
Originally Posted by Seamonkey
WORD TO THE WISE: Many many homeowners have learned "fire proof" safes don't mean HEAT PROOF. Too many folks returned after the Black Forest fire ... opened their fire proof safes ... and found globs of melted polymer with steel components sticking out of them.
[Fire]
I lived in Castle Rock. Hayman was so close it was "snowing" ash on our house ... but the winds just barely kept it away. We were on-notice that we might be evacuated, and were not....Quote:
Originally Posted by hollohas
We moved to a property 1/2 mile south of the Black Forest Fire's damage after THAT fire. The previous owners didn't mitigate for way too many years. So I've been thinning trees on the property for seven years.
The Fire Station is 1/2 mile from me. I asked the Chief what makes him try to save a property. With zero hesitation he answered, "If I can get my people and my equipment in and out safely."
I immediately got to work. Seven years ago he'd have let my house burn...!
Being just south of the Black Forest Fire, we still drive through whole neighborhoods which look like ... moonscapes.Quote:
In any case, the scene will forever be in my mind. It's was absolutely surreal. Purely apocalyptic.
AMEN!Quote:
Praying for the folks in Superior and Louisville. What they are going through is extremely hard and will be with them forever. Even more so because of the speed that this happened. They didn't have time to prepare themselves emotionally like folks had in many of the large fires in the past.
The Sheriff's press conference today is on the Boulder OEM page. Loss estimates reported are 553 homes destroyed and 45 damaged in Louisville; in Superior 332 homes destroyed and 60 damaged; in unincorporated county (from Marshall east) 106 homes destroyed, 22 damaged. Total of 991 destroyed, 127 damaged.
Three persons are unaccounted for and may be found as casualties when conditions allow search of their homes; 2 in Superior and 1 in the Marshall area.
As for insurance questions goes (for people who got affected).
I know some insurance company only covers rebuilding (my insurance at amfam) vs purchasing a new home.
Also how does ALE works?
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a..._insurance.asp
Fire and casulty guys, please elaborate. 🙏
I helped "clean up" two of my co-workers' homes in Black forest about a week after the fire. It was absolutely heartbreaking.... Both of their homes looked like the ones in the video above - just a foundation with 1-2ft of ash and a bunch of twisted metal from ductwork and pipes, with the occasional appliance (hot water heaters, dishwashers, laundry) still somewhat intact. One of them had a Liberty Fatboy (48 gun?) safe in his basement and all his guns were a total loss. He had some family antique silverware (pure silver) in the safe and they were heavily deformed and ruined, but not completely melted, so the inside of his safe got HOT. (FYSA, the melt point of silver is like 1800 degrees) The safe looked more or less okay on the outside - just charred. The problem wasn't the extreme temps - it was the length of time it was exposed to the temps. In the Black Forest fire, many of the homes collapsed in on themselves and continued to burn and smolder at 1500+ degrees for 3-4 days...... no gun safe is going to be able to resist that much consistent heat. One of the Insurance guys we talked to said that he saw a few gunsafes survive with their cargo intact - and they were all positioned close to exterior walls (not in the basement) where the walls burned around them, but the heat source was gone in a relatively short amount of time. He (the insurance claims guy) also said placement near exterior walls is also good for regular housefires because firefighters can more successfully get water to that area to control the temp. Not sure if that matches anyone else's experiences, but it makes sense to me.
Our house was about 1/2 mile south of the fire, just across a small bit of grass from the Black Forest - we were really smoky, but saw no damage. We were very blessed.
ETA: It's probably a good idea to change out your HVAC filters right away if you had a lot of smoke or ash in or around your house.
One important thing to add:
If you or your loved ones are involved in cleaning up the remains of people's property, make sure you all have properly fitting and adequate respirators and other PPE! Lots of things release really nasty stuff when they burn, especially a lot of household chemicals and materials - much of which is associated with lung cancer later in life.
^ I agree. An industrial ones, not those home made covid 19 cotton mask junk.
However
Let them have freedom to inhale low molar house hold chlorine and ammonia vapor.
Also from Sheriff Joe's same presser:Quote:
Originally Posted by Hummer
Downed power lines not the cause. Search warrant has been executed. More news soon.
Translation = a.r.s.o.n.?
Source here:
https://www.dailycamera.com/2022/01/...mes-destroyed/
ale covers you while your home is being rebuilt. Renting a place. Paying for extra commute or budget differences. ADDITIONAL living expenses.Quote:
Originally Posted by MrPrena
On total losses there's 10% above the structural amount for debris in amfam if I recall correctly.
If you lost above policy limits you start to earn back deductibles.
The reason you cant purchase a new home elsewhere is the dirt isnt covered in your homeowners policy. Structural is for the structure itself, lot prices are not covered. A home that you paid 500k for could have a structural policy of 300k if it were on a view property and be properly insured.
Station someone to take photos of everything. This is hugely important in contents claims. Give an elderly person or young person a camera and put them next to the dumpster with instructions that nothing should go in that doesn't have a picture. Film is free.Quote:
Originally Posted by HoneyBadger
My mortgage people send me a letter every few months because of that. They say "your mortgage is for $x, but you aren't insured for that". Guessing their computer isn't smart enough to know that my 38.5 acres of dirt really isn't going anywhere, short of an atomic bomb, but I'm a really shitty target.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wulf202
ALE will vary by carrier and policy. The cheap home polices will have caps on ALE. State Farm has a policy that is ?actual loss sustained? so they will pay any increased expense (rent, mileage, food ordered out)Quote:
Originally Posted by MrPrena
Replacement cost will also vary. Some carriers will require you to build on the same dirt, some will let you purchase elsewhere (but not pay more for location or quality of build upgrade) and the carrier will get the deed to your burned out lot.
This where many people will learn the difference between a $800 and a $2000 homeowner policy.
That is exactly the area I saw, but it was closer to 11 than 12.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ramsker
Based on my experience writing state farm claims it's the same ale as elsewhere. They have caps on ale. Its typically 10% of the dwelling coverage.Quote:
Originally Posted by SSChameleon
A friend of mine lost his house during one of the California fires. His gun safe was intact, his firearms appeared to be OK. Until he attempted to manually cycle them. The slides were warped on most of his semi's. I would assume polymer framed guns would be a pile of goo.Quote:
Originally Posted by 00tec
I have a friend who often volunteers for Samaritan's Purse. He went to Paradise, CA after a fire completely wiped that city off the map a few years back. All of the volunteers were housed several miles from where the fire occurred and before they began work, and several times throughout the day they had to gown up in tyvek coveralls, gloves, boots, goggles and high quality masks. Their job was to sift through the remains of homes to try to find anything left worth keeping for the homeowners. As Honeybadger said, the amount of toxic material in these destroyed homes was huge and sifting through the remains put a lot of that material into the air.Quote:
Originally Posted by HoneyBadger
Quote:
Originally Posted by Duman
There was a guy on CO4x4 who lost his home in the Black Forest fire. He lost all of his guns that were in the gun safe. Most of his guns were loaded and cooked off rounds in the safe.
As a Superior resident, it was a helluva ride. I just got internet back an hour ago, gas returned late last night (no heat for the 5 and 1 degree nights). I didn't evacuate but helped where I could in my neighborhood (mostly shutting off water since people couldn't return and watching for looter POS's). I couldn't leave for days because if I had, cops wouldn't let me back in. It's starting to calm down a bit here but still require IDs to enter. Here is some of the night:
Attachment 89047 Attachment 89048 Attachment 89049 Attachment 89050
Wow!Quote:
Originally Posted by sbgixxer
Glad you are safe and sound!
I understand staying. I went up and stayed at our family property in the 2010 Four Mile Fire while my parents evacuated. Good to lay low for a few days.
Thanks Hunter. This is the brand new Elements hotel, fully engulfed just before it started coming down:
Attachment 89051
It's interesting that the Element was the only large commercial building that went off to the races. What time was that pic? My Dad and I were at 95th & South Boulder at 2:00 pm, right under the plume after leaving his medical appointment.Quote:
Originally Posted by sbgixxer
That photo was at 3:56pm. There were other commercial buildings damaged but I don't know if they were complete losses like the Element Hotel. Costco, Target, and Whole Foods all took heavy damage.
Steel frame/siding or concrete tilt up vs stick build. Material flammability is key.Quote:
Originally Posted by .455_Hunter
Some of those buildings are a study in what you can do with 2x4's and strandboard. I am kinda surprised such construction is allowed for such facilities, but it seems to be the norm for apartments and hotels.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric P
Did the Element Hotel have that fake Stucco on it? The stuff that they trowel on out of a 5 gallon bucket on to styrofoam?
Not sure but the smoke smelled like fireworks that were freshly lit. I'm sure that was healthy.
I also thought the smoke had a weird smell. Almost more of an electrical fire or something. Kind of an acidic smell. I haven?t really been around fires that were consuming structures so I am not really familiar with whatever type of smell that is. It definitely wasn?t the usual campfire smell that I associate with a typical wildfire.Quote:
Originally Posted by sbgixxer
We got a lot of what smelled like burning tires. Probably the asphalt roofing.Quote:
Originally Posted by ray1970
Asphalt roofing, the cars, the Styrofoam from EIFS, polymer pipes, fiberglass tubs and showers. Lots of chemicals in today's houses as opposed to those built 40 years ago. Grocery stores, Big Box stores are basically HAZMAT sites for a few days until they get cleaned up. Anything with a pharmacy requires that they try to log the drugs (actual work of doing so is a joke). Lots of nasty thing to burn in a residence and a lot more in say a Home Depot.Quote:
Originally Posted by 00tec
Homeless set a fire today in Pueblo City limits. I got there before the Fire Department. I was shocked at the little huts made of tarps and pallets. People living in drainage ditches and culverts. The winds have been gusting to 35MPH. Humidity at 15%. Recipe for disaster.
https://www.koaa.com/news/covering-c...ions-in-pueblo
Yes, home firss have a distinctive fire. Melted electrical, plastic, paint, metal from duct work and appliances, pvc from piping. No where near a foreset fire smell, closer to a car fire smell.
I had an atypical raging sinus headache starting on Friday evening.
I wonder if I got some nasty smoke in Lafayette on Thursday afternoon?
I'm sure you did. I had to duct tape my dog door because we had so much smoke in the house out here. It was unbearable to walk outside.Quote:
Originally Posted by .455_Hunter
You guys are spot on about the air quality and health risks. They just issued a PSA regarding air quality in Louisville and are setting up monitoring stations. Of course once the snow is gone the next windy day will spread that bad stuff all over town.
Yep. The moment we realized what was happening, we turned off our furnaces for 36 hours for this very reason. House got cold, but we didn't pull much of the smoke into our house thankfully.