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Just How Safe Do You Think You Are?

FCLinder

FCLinder

Turbo Monkey
Mar 6, 2002
4,402
0
Greenville, South Carolina
So around 3pm today I got a call from my mother telling me that my sister’s house caught on fire..... She didn't know how bad it really was. By the time it took me to dire from work to her house the house was burned to the ground. Lucky this didn't happen when anyone was home. All 3 of her children were in school and both my brother in law and sister were at work when they got the call. I am glad they are all alright!!!!

So my question is? Just how safe do you think you really are? The fire fighters said the roof came down in less than 15 to 20 mins after the fire started. What if they were all asleep at night? I know there are a lot of what ifs, but really. They lost everything they owned, but what they had at work and school in 15 to 20 mins. Even their $120K Mercedes AMG 600 SL convertible was in the garage. It’s gone too. Well of course Insurance will cover everything and plus some for their lose, but it will never cover their keep sakes they lost. The good news is they have been a ready building a new house and it will be done around Dec. so they will not be without a house long.

Here are a few pics of the house. I tried to get one of the car in the garage, but the fire fighter would not let us go to close to the house.











 
gonefirefightin

gonefirefightin

free wieners
Feb 5, 2007
11,252
4,926
Surrounded by Police in a hail of gunfire
it happened to me at the age of 15. there is no discrimination with fire, just hope you havedetection devices to get yourself out of the house in time.

make sure the red cross gets contacted. they were the biggest help over all.

my thoughts and prayers are with you and yours.
 
eric strt6

eric strt6

Resident Curmudgeon
Sep 8, 2001
23,289
13,568
directly above the center of the earth
What if they were asleep at night?

The million dollar answer is having a 7 dollar smoke/ carbon monoxide detectors with good batteries in every bedroom, in the hallway and in the kitchen.

best way to keep everyone alive

Plus talk with the family and go over where to go and what to do when the alarm goes off.

The only thing that could have saved the house [with water damage everywhere] is a residential sprinker system that included the attic tied into a monitored system but most people will not spend the $$
 
douglas

douglas

Chocolate Milk Doug
May 15, 2002
9,887
6
Shut up and Ride
My house caught on fire, I put it out before the firemen arrived...some dingdong firefighter dude wanted to put a new skylight in for me via his chainsaw until his supervisor told him to stop as he was headed up the ladder.
 
Jeremy R

Jeremy R

<b>x</b>
Nov 15, 2001
9,698
1,053
behind you with a snap pop
Vang_9tuzz said:
I like to watch the extreme makeover house thang, with that tyyyy dooood, and look at the sh!tty way americans build their houses..haha...Also after hurricanes and storms, when houses are shreded like cartboardbox's, looks sick...
...
Click to expand...
Hey Vag Fuzz,
I like to watch World War II footage where your entire country gave up in two hours.
This is a thread about a family's house burning down.
A family that I know.
Not exactly a good place for your America blows crusade.
Especially while you are hanging out on American MTB boards, and watching crappy American TV shows.
2 hours.
It took one house longer than that to burn down.
 
highrevs

highrevs

Monkey
Oct 13, 2005
827
0
NC
Wow that sucks... Glad to hear no one was injured though. It was not that long ago i replaced the batteries in my detectors, but i think I'll check them again this afternoon.
 
FCLinder

FCLinder

Turbo Monkey
Mar 6, 2002
4,402
0
Greenville, South Carolina
Jeremy R said:
Hey Vag Fuzz,
I like to watch World War II footage where you entire country gave up in two hours.
This is a thread about a family's house burning down.
A family that I know.
Not exactly a good place for your America blows crusade.
Especially while you are hanging out on American MTB boards, and watching crappy American TV shows.
2 hours.
It took one house longer than that to burn down.
Click to expand...
Thanks man!!! That was a D!ck thing he said!!!!
 
FCLinder

FCLinder

Turbo Monkey
Mar 6, 2002
4,402
0
Greenville, South Carolina
Link to the Greenville News Today. We have yet been able to walk through the house to try to find anything. They started on the investigation this morning. We hope to be able to do the walk through tonight. Right now it looks as if the fire started in the Kitchen area and then spread through the attic then dropped back down into the house when the roof came down.

http://greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070824/NEWS01/70823026
 
Greyhound

Greyhound

Trail Rat
Jul 8, 2002
5,065
365
Alamance County, NC
FCLinder said:
Link to the Greenville News Today. We have yet been able to walk through the house to try to find anything. They started on the investigation this morning. We hope to be able to do the walk through tonight. Right now it looks as if the fire started in the Kitchen area and then spread through the attic then dropped back down into the house when the roof came down.

http://greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070824/NEWS01/70823026
Click to expand...
Hey Cecil......I couldn't tell from the pics, but was the roof stick-built or were they enginered trusses?

Reason I ask....and by the way, I'm awfully sorry to hear about the house.......but just as an FYI to those out there who are interested(I design roof trusses for a living) one of the main things that happen with a stick-built roof is that a tremendous amount of side-loading occurs on the ridge beam where the rafters attach at the peak. As a result, when the fire burns upward, it weakens the ridge beam quickly and the rafters have no choice but to succumb to gravity. On an engineered truss---since the load is transferred out more evenly due to the webbing---the burn times are often much longer, and the structure maintains its stability longer due to the steel plates that hold them together and the higher density lumber used to construct them. This gives firefighters more time and the ability to get onto the roof to fight the fire without too much fear of falling through. It also allows the occupants more time to evacuate the house safely. Obviously, since fire is a unique entity, this couldn't hold true exactly 100% of the time, but it's pretty darned consistent. We've done some demonstrations with the local fire dept. where we build a smaller structure and set it on fire so we can observe burn times and rate of deterioration to an unsafe point so that they better understand what they're getting into when they encounter a house fire with engineered roof trusses.

But like I said, I couldn't exactly tell from the pics if they were trussed or not(thought I saw part of a gable end, but couldn't be 100% about that.) but, if they haven't gotten to that point in the planning process, I would advocate for an engineered truss system on the roof.

Good luck to your sis......I know that's a devastating thing to have happen to your life.
 
FCLinder

FCLinder

Turbo Monkey
Mar 6, 2002
4,402
0
Greenville, South Carolina
Greyhound said:
Hey Cecil......I couldn't tell from the pics, but was the roof stick-built or were they enginered trusses?

Reason I ask....and by the way, I'm awfully sorry to hear about the house.......but just as an FYI to those out there who are interested(I design roof trusses for a living) one of the main things that happen with a stick-built roof is that a tremendous amount of side-loading occurs on the ridge beam where the rafters attach at the peak. As a result, when the fire burns upward, it weakens the ridge beam quickly and the rafters have no choice but to succumb to gravity. On an engineered truss---since the load is transferred out more evenly due to the webbing---the burn times are often much longer, and the structure maintains its stability longer due to the steel plates that hold them together and the higher density lumber used to construct them. This gives firefighters more time and the ability to get onto the roof to fight the fire without too much fear of falling through. It also allows the occupants more time to evacuate the house safely. Obviously, since fire is a unique entity, this couldn't hold true exactly 100% of the time, but it's pretty darned consistent. We've done some demonstrations with the local fire dept. where we build a smaller structure and set it on fire so we can observe burn times and rate of deterioration to an unsafe point so that they better understand what they're getting into when they encounter a house fire with engineered roof trusses.

But like I said, I couldn't exactly tell from the pics if they were trussed or not(thought I saw part of a gable end, but couldn't be 100% about that.) but, if they haven't gotten to that point in the planning process, I would advocate for an engineered truss system on the roof.

Good luck to your sis......I know that's a devastating thing to have happen to your life.
Click to expand...
House is like 20 years old. I really don't know.
 
crono35

crono35

Monkey
Feb 11, 2002
207
0
irvine
eric strt6 said:
What if they were asleep at night?

The million dollar answer is having a 7 dollar smoke/ carbon monoxide detectors with good batteries in every bedroom, in the hallway and in the kitchen.

best way to keep everyone alive

Plus talk with the family and go over where to go and what to do when the alarm goes off.

The only thing that could have saved the house [with water damage everywhere] is a residential sprinker system that included the attic tied into a monitored system but most people will not spend the $$
Click to expand...
When my parents built their current house about 10 years ago, it was a city ordinance that a sprinkler system had to be installed, but I doubt this is the case everywhere.
 
V

Vang_9tuzz

Chimp
May 26, 2007
53
0
Denmark
Jeremy R said:
Hey Vag Fuzz,
I like to watch World War II footage where you entire country gave up in two hours.
Click to expand...
Yeah Ron J,
like it would have done any difference to fight back....then our country would have been boombed the sh!t out of, just like Poland, who even had a better army than ours around that decade....

My bad about the reply, is all I can say...

And yes, it is a bomber to lose affectional stuff....
 
eric strt6

eric strt6

Resident Curmudgeon
Sep 8, 2001
23,289
13,568
directly above the center of the earth
Greyhound said:
Hey Cecil......I couldn't tell from the pics, but was the roof stick-built or were they enginered trusses?

Reason I ask....and by the way, I'm awfully sorry to hear about the house.......but just as an FYI to those out there who are interested(I design roof trusses for a living) one of the main things that happen with a stick-built roof is that a tremendous amount of side-loading occurs on the ridge beam where the rafters attach at the peak. As a result, when the fire burns upward, it weakens the ridge beam quickly and the rafters have no choice but to succumb to gravity. On an engineered truss---since the load is transferred out more evenly due to the webbing---the burn times are often much longer, and the structure maintains its stability longer due to the steel plates that hold them together and the higher density lumber used to construct them. This gives firefighters more time and the ability to get onto the roof to fight the fire without too much fear of falling through. It also allows the occupants more time to evacuate the house safely. Obviously, since fire is a unique entity, this couldn't hold true exactly 100% of the time, but it's pretty darned consistent. We've done some demonstrations with the local fire dept. where we build a smaller structure and set it on fire so we can observe burn times and rate of deterioration to an unsafe point so that they better understand what they're getting into when they encounter a house fire with engineered roof trusses.

But like I said, I couldn't exactly tell from the pics if they were trussed or not(thought I saw part of a gable end, but couldn't be 100% about that.) but, if they haven't gotten to that point in the planning process, I would advocate for an engineered truss system on the roof.

Good luck to your sis......I know that's a devastating thing to have happen to your life.
Click to expand...
OT

but if you are referring to Glued engineered trusses or the ones held together with tack plates I gotta disagree those things lose structural integrity in fires rather quickly. We will not put a FF on the roof to do venting in that type of lightweight constuction if we believe there to be flames in contact with the truss.
 
demo 9

demo 9

Turbo Monkey
Jan 31, 2007
5,910
46
north jersey
Jeremy R said:
Hey Vag Fuzz,
I like to watch World War II footage where you entire country gave up in two hours.
This is a thread about a family's house burning down.
A family that I know.
Not exactly a good place for your America blows crusade.
Especially while you are hanging out on American MTB boards, and watching crappy American TV shows.
2 hours.
It took one house longer than that to burn down.
Click to expand...
*owned his life*
 
Red Rabbit

Red Rabbit

Picky Pooper
Jan 27, 2007
2,715
0
Colorado
Hey, thanks for sharing this. I went to my parents house for lunch and noticed they didn't have any smoke detectors.
I then looked around my apartment & noticed I had not one smoke detector.

I bought three for me plus a fire extinguisher & three smoke dectectors for my parents.

I hope we are all safer.
 
pinkshirtphotos

pinkshirtphotos

site moron
Jul 5, 2006
4,836
543
Vernon, NJ
my house has 1 smoke detector and no carbon monoxide detector because it kept going off even when there was no carbon monoxide. all my photos are backed up on dvds 1 set is at my grandmas house and 1 in my dads work office. if all my photos are lost it just wasnt ment to be. my bikes are in a shed 100+ feet from my house i dont worry about that, the only real loss would be the original family photos and knowing we live in a historic house.
 
C

Connundrum1

Monkey
Mar 11, 2005
336
0
Gold River, Sac Town, CA
i had set my house up in the last year with a carbon monoxide detector in the sleeping areas and 3 of them dispersed on the first floor and from any point in the house you can get to a fire extinguisher in no more then 15 seconds. good idea to have different kinds too since grease fires and electrical fires usually use different extinguishers. my condolences to your sister, its always sad to see a family home burned down.
 
FCLinder

FCLinder

Turbo Monkey
Mar 6, 2002
4,402
0
Greenville, South Carolina
stiksandstones said:
Fires suck, best wishes to all.
Curious how there was a $120k car in a house that looks to be worth the same???
Click to expand...
It was some deal my Bother In law worked out on a deal he did. He is in Landscaping and the work he did for someone the guys business went under and could not pay my Brother In Law. The guy gave him his car. The house they did live in brings $200K plus in that area, plus they are building a 7500 SF house up on Paris Mt. here in Greenville. He does well. The sad thing is he had to call his friend that was buying thier old house that bruned down and let him he could not move in it in Dec. like planned. Now they will have to build another house too to turn around and sell.
 
FCLinder

FCLinder

Turbo Monkey
Mar 6, 2002
4,402
0
Greenville, South Carolina
zmtber said:
any idea as to how the fire started??
Click to expand...
Electrical in the kitchen and then spread to a side deck with a grill on it. Once it got to the Propane Tank it was all over with. That is how the house came down so fast. The investigation is already closed and State Farm will be cutting them a check in a few days for the damage.
 
Red Rabbit

Red Rabbit

Picky Pooper
Jan 27, 2007
2,715
0
Colorado
FCLinder said:
It was some deal my Bother In law worked out on a deal he did. He is in Landscaping and the work he did for someone the guys business went under and could not pay my Brother In Law. The guy gave him his car. The house they did live in brings $200K plus in that area, plus they are building a 7500 SF house up on Paris Mt. here in Greenville. He does well. The sad thing is he had to call his friend that was buying thier old house that bruned down and let him he could not move in it in Dec. like planned. Now they will have to build another house too to turn around and sell.
Click to expand...
They should just take the ins. money
 
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