Garage Fire
 

I had a garage fire on 2/28/24. I lost 2 new cars, all my tools, parts and shop equipment. The fire Marshall concluded it was lightning. I am only telling you all this to take inventory and to ensure you have the insurance you need. I had USAA and they took very good care of us on the cars, acceptable on the structure and unknown on the contents as I am still working on the list of what was in there. FWIW both my black trans ams were safe in another building but all their parts were lost. My "butchers special" 400 with a torqstorn and efi burned too.
So....Please check your insurance...make sure you are covered and take pics of all your treasure.

sorry to hear that. Thanks for the reminder though. i need to do a thorough inventory of tools etc.. my brother passed last year and i bought all of his snapon tools from him. Not to mention all the stuff i have accumulated over the years.

Sorry for you loss for sure!
Thank goodness no one hurt!
And the classics were in another building!

Glad to hear USAA took care of you. It is very impotent to have shop pics or videos.

Oh that sucks

What a nightmare! Good advice, and reminder, for all of us. Sounds like no one was hurt. That's most important. Good luck recovering your treasure chest!

Just curious did you have a grounding wire on the garage. I have always wondered how effective those are against lightning strikes and fires

Sorry to hear of the loss. I suffered the same fate a few years ago. But yes good advice. My insurance agent told me to take lots of pictures. Afterwards he said to go through my house and do the same take 4 or 5 shots in every room, there is no way one can remember all they had. In my case I had double coverage with my commercial policy and my homeowners policy. My loss far exceeded the coverage so I only had to fight a little for a settlement. I am sure you (the OP) know but I was able to claim all of my loose car parts as personal property on my insurance. Anything on the car and the car itself (TATA) was not covered as it needed its own auto policy. Also, again I am sure you are aware but you will have quite awhile, I think it was at least a year in my case before they closed it. Meaning if you think of stuff 2 months from now you should still be able to claim it.

Sorry for your loss for sure! Thank goodness no one hurt. Thanks for the reminder a list of content items would be a smart thing to have and just an FYI grab your cell phone and walk around your garage taking video and or pic so if your memory isn't what it used to be you will have reminders of the content. You can also use it for your insurance claim!

Thanks All,
I kind of figured if it had a vin and was insurable like my atv i would be not covered unless it has its own policy. . I had all my loose car parts in there and liked t take pics of my stuff so im hopeful. I asked for an adjuster that understood classic cars/parts with no response. I mean, the Butchers Special engine with efi and SD 325E heads and a torqstorm supercharger I had north of 20k in parts. I saved all the burned relics in case they dispute.

If they give you an offer you are not happy with dispute it! In my case I had a 30x40 shop that burned. I was working with an angle grinder!!! Anyway I had all of my construction tools, and literally tons of materials. In one bay I had shelves full of car parts and a Tenth Ann TA I was restoring. The car parts were covered on my homeowners and I listed everything I knew of and put a price beside it from sources such as Ames, year one etc. An example I had 7 hoods! Their adjuster took my list and realizing everything I had was a used part put a replacement value. In a lot of cases they used my references and price point. But, like I mentioned, about half way through the process they hit my coverage point so there basically was no argument and they wrote me a check. The building itself was another issue. They wanted to give me about .20 on the $ the replacement value. I am a contractor and have built my share of pole barns, I know the cost. The adjuster was loballing big time. I know my agent very well and he stepped up and went to bat for me finally getting me what I deserved for a rebuild. In this case its good to know your agent and have a good relationship, not just getting a policy off the internet.
Good Luck

Strikes close to home, I feel for you Mr Twister, went through a wildfire coming through our property last year. Fortunately didn't take out my building, though it kissed the SE corner & the intense heat warped several of my commercial doors. The whole experience as well as my mission to get 2 project cars further along has hastened my organization efforts. That process has included photographing & filing every part, all of my storage system, & every tool.

They are now saying that loose car parts are not covered. I think I will look in to calling them personal property. Might have to get a lawyer involved.

As a retired Firefighter it has never seemed safe to grind metal inside a structure, but now that I am starting to use my angle grinder more and more, wondering how dangerous is it? I know obviously not to grind in the vicinity of flammable products, but anymore hard fast rules for it out there? TAKerry your opinion would be helpful thanks.

Believe it or not, having worked construction for over 45 yrs I am extremely safety conscious. I was and still am leary of anything that creates sparks or flames. Dirty rags even scare me and I will lay them flat out on a concrete floor with nothing around for at least overnight. When my fire happened I thought I was being careful! Thats why they are called accidents.
The fire marshal that investigated my incident even thought it was very odd that angle grinder sparks started the fire. He said that they are about the least harmful of sparks in a shop. Typically they go out before they even hit the floor. So according to him, grinding indoors is not a forbidden activity.

Having said that, I am even more aware now than before. Other than the obvious of keeping grinding, welding and spark activities to a confined and CLEAN space the best advice I got and one that I adhere strictly to this day is as follows:

WHEN EVER I WELD, CUT OR GRIND (SPARKS IN THE SHOP), I WILL STAY IN THE SHOP FOR 1 HOUR AFTER THAT ACTIVITY HAS CEASED!

Even if it is just sitting on a stool listening to the radio. An hour may be a bit excessive but its what I do now.

I have a fire extinguisher mounted on the wall at each end of my shop and make sure the date on the bottom of it is no more than 10 yrs old. Its cheap insurance.

I also have a loose fire extinguisher that goes in whichever car I take out even if its just around the block.

Seems it is the same in Canada, asked my local rep for storage insurance and if it had a part removed, that part was not covered, must be attached to vehicle. Not sure how to get around that. Have multiple spare parts, have to inquire with home insurance I guess. Hopefully nothing like this happens. Sorry for all your loss and headaches.

I will re-iterate. Your loose car parts should be 'personal property' which should be covered under your home owner policy. If they are attached to the car the car insurance policy should cover them. If no car ins. policy SOL. A loose stored car part is no different than a tv, piece of furniture, clothing etc. It is your personal property. I would double check with your agent for clarification. Otherwise if there is a problem I would put up a big fight.
I had no problem with mine.

I too have multiple fire extinguishers, including in the cars.

This can be accurate with homeowner policies but most have special limits for many content classes (jewellery, garden tractors, golf carts, bicycles, work tools etc.) including spare auto parts.

The spare auto parts special limit is meant to respond to winter tires or items with minimal values of up to a few thousand dollars for example and each part could have a $$ cap too.

If you have a large cache of parts, talk with your broker to ensure adequate coverage is in place.