AAR after a house fire

[EX11B]

My house burned down a couple weeks ago, all that was left are the walls and part of the floor. Nobody was hurt, my wife and I were away for a few days. I had a flash drive listing all my guns in case of a burglary. I didn't have a back up copy stored off site in case of a fire. My insurance has not asked for serial numbers yet. Don't have them if they do ask. The insurance company said there is no cap on firearm accessories other than the overall cap for house hold goods. The refinishing bill for blued and nickel guns will not be cheap. Then there is the mags and ammo. Over 20K rounds of ammo cooked off. I got home after the fire was out and they were still spraying water. Several fire fighters told me it sounded like the 4th of July. I also lost over 500 mags. I won't be able to replace it all at once. I only lost a few guns that were not in the safe, most of my guns were in a good safe but the smoke damaged the finish on many of them. I don't what I could done to prevent this. Papers and plastic flip up scope scope covers in the safe were fine. It kept the heat out. A couple of ARs I leave out for SD had the butt stocks and receivers melt.

Make sure you have a inventory of your guns and accessories and then keep an copy outside of your home. Get best safe you can afford. It is cheap insurance.

 

[Rotorhead1026]

My house burned down a couple weeks ago, all that was left are the walls and part of the floor. Nobody was hurt, my wife and I were away for a few days. I had a flash drive listing all my guns in case of a burglary. I didn't have a back up copy stored off site in case of a fire. My insurance has not asked for serial numbers yet. Don't have them if they do ask. The insurance company said there is no cap on firearm accessories other than the overall cap for house hold goods. The refinishing bill for blued and nickel guns will not be cheap. Then there is the mags and ammo. Over 20K rounds of ammo cooked off. I got home after the fire was out and they were still spraying water. Several fire fighters told me it sounded like the 4th of July. I also lost over 500 mags. I won't be able to replace it all at once. I only lost a few guns that were not in the safe, most of my guns were in a good safe but the smoke damaged the finish on many of them. I don't what I could done to prevent this. Papers and plastic flip up scope scope covers in the safe were fine. It kept the heat out. A couple of ARs I leave out for SD had the butt stocks and receivers melt.

Make sure you have a inventory of your guns and accessories and then keep an copy outside of your home. Get best safe you can afford. It is cheap insurance.

Really sorry about this.

What brand of safe?

 

[TX-Dennis]

Sorry for your loss. That's gotta suck.

 

[EX11B]

It was a Liberty Washington 50. They dropped the Washington line. The presidential is the closest one to it now. The thinnest steel was 1/4 " thick. The fire department almost could not open it with the jaws of life.

 

[S&W ucla]

Sack-ups have helped in fires. Made in North Carolina
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag5Qk5S_ooU[/ame]

 

[LVSteve]

That's terrible news. Glad no one was hurt. Any clue on how the fire started?

 

[EX11B]

The Fire Inspector thinks it was the breaker box that started it.

 

[Old 44 Guy]

That is one horror story I do not to hear much about. Myself I have gotten rid of most most of my guns in my old age. No pockets in a shroud.

 

[Class III]

An easy way to keep an off-site copy of your firearms inventory, pics, accessories... is to EMAIL the listing and pics to yourself. This way it is accessible from anywhere you have internet service.

Class III

 

[wood714]

Sorry about your house.

I have a list with serial numbers, and a short description of all my guns. I emailed my daughter in Ohio a copy she printed out. I send her a new one each time I get a new gun. Her copy also has the combinations to my 3 safes.

I plan on doing a new list with pictures, current value, and what accessories are on them...scopes and stuff add up.

 

[llowry61]

Sorry to hear about the fire, but glad you were away and no one was harmed.

I have a spreadsheet with the list of guns and serial numbers price paid, and current estimated value. Jut updated it. I have a Microsoft account so it is stored in the cloud. I recently added my reloading supplies as well. I need to add optics though since as stated above they add up.

I have a Pendleton safe and fire is my only concern. Only a professional thief with some time on their hands will get into, but that pretty much goes with any safe. I have a rider on my insurance policy with the most valuable guns listed item by item. If I have a fire and they were all damaged I would have a loss, but I have limited it with the insurance. It is a calculated risk I am willing to take.

 

[Xfuzz]

I take a photo of my guns list
with serial numbers listed and take a
photo of the list with my phone.
Save it to my photos and the wife's phone.

 

[johngalt]

An easy way to keep an off-site copy of your firearms inventory, pics, accessories... is to EMAIL the listing and pics to yourself. This way it is accessible from anywhere you have internet service.

Class III

Keep in mind that this is the equivalent of posting it on the grocery store bulletin board.