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Iron Heart Fall/Winter 2025 Collection Preview - Now Live

Our House Fire

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  • P
    profdbrk
    Raw and Unwashed
    Joined: 30 Jul 2018

    This past Sunday our chimney and fireplace caught fire.  All are safe.  The house has survived.  Nothing irreplaceable was lost or ruined. We were minutes from losing everything.  In about an hour of very intense and serious effort, our local fire departments–-some fifteen or more trucks---saved our home. What could have been catastrophe is now just quite the mess.

    The longer story.

    We've been using our wood burning fireplace all winter.  In January we had the chimney sweep here, cleaned and checked.  We live in a very rural log home on 50+ acres and about 600 meters from a dirt road, quite isolated, and I have always been keenly aware that fires can happen.  Winter here in western New York is also quite an experience.

    My wife Susan noticed the fire just as it was taking hold---she might well have been down in her art studio.  I was in my study on the opposite side of the house.  The fire was entirely out of our control in less than five minutes.

    Our local Fire Department was heroic and methodical but it took them some 20 minutes to arrive.  It's a long way to our house from anywhere.  The fire was spreading fast and hard---to the eaves, to the roof.  They still hadn't arrived.  It looked like we were going to lose the whole house...in minutes.  But they formulated a plan in minutes and set out to save the house.

    They climbed to the snow and ice covered roof and literally chainsawed the logs around the chimney.  They hacked the logs, sent water 2000 feet from the road, chainsawed out the burning fireplace and threw it into the front yard, then they literally kicked the chimney---some 50 feet of formidable stone masonry---into the side yard.  About half the outside deck went with it.  (Check out the picture below, that's the toppled chimney in the yard.) It took about an hour before it was clear that the house would be saved.  Water damage is extensive and that awful smell--- but it can all be repaired in time.

    In the heat of the moment (can you stand the pun?) I had to decide what to pull from my office, what to try to save if it was all going to burn down.  It was a quite an interesting contemplation.  What do you grab when you know you have only a very few minutes?  I don't recommend this experience.

    I took a few irreplaceable pictures of my parents who have passed, my teacher, and a small shelf of memories.  I closed the doors behind me, thinking that if the Fire Department was going to save the house, this would mitigate smoke damage.  It worked and after it was over we were able to find three rooms in the house where we could stay---they didn't need to shut off our electricity and that saved the house from bursting frozen pipes.

    On the way out, I opened my closet, grabbed an IH UHF, pulled on my IHJ-54, and took the Himel Bros. jacket.  That's it.  I was wearing my 634S-21s---so if my house was going to burn to the ground, at least I would have my few favorite things.

    What could have been tragic or a catastrophic loss----a 40+ year career of books and notes---is now merely a mess and a rebuild.  And of course the blessing that no one was hurt, particularly the heroic firefighters.

    Qui plume a, guerre a. 不完全さは美しさ,です狂気は天才です

    last edited by 18 Feb 2021, 01:25 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • F
      Filthy2123ozjunkie
      見習いボスー
      Joined: 21 Jan 2013

      Oh God, I'm so sorry that happened. But it's awesome everyone survived. Hopefully you get a nice insurance payout and some great renovations…

      last edited by 18 Feb 2021, 01:33 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • A
        Anesthetist
        見習いボス
        Joined: 14 May 2011

        Oh man that’s terrible, but I’m glad you and your family are safe.

        Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

        IG: bluehandsslim

        last edited by 18 Feb 2021, 01:46 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • G
          goosehd
          Mod Squad
          Joined: 8 Apr 2016

          Thank god everyone is safe and the house wasn’t destroyed.

          "I don't give a shit what anyone else is doing, we will do what is best for us and our customers" - Giles P. :)

          last edited by 18 Feb 2021, 02:16 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • R
            ROman
            Haraki san Prodigy
            Joined: 5 Jan 2015

            As mentioned I'm glad you all are all right, and survived. Also inspiring story of the fire fighters.

            last edited by 18 Feb 2021, 02:34 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • S
              SergeyP
              Joined: 13 Dec 2019

              @ profdbrk Oh, this is a serious test! Few can handle this. You heroes with damn self-control!
              I am glad that you and your loved ones are alive and well!

              Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

              last edited by 18 Feb 2021, 06:02 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • N
                neph93
                見習いボス
                Joined: 18 Aug 2014

                Amazing, horrifying story. Thank you for sharing. The mere thought of the kind of loss you narrowly avoided is devastating.

                «Stevie Heighway on the wing!
                We had dreams, and songs to sing…»

                • Dame Vera Lynn
                last edited by 18 Feb 2021, 06:44 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • G
                  Giles
                  IHUK Crew
                  Joined: 22 Sept 2009

                  Bloody Hell prof…...Thank God all is OKish....

                  "OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011

                  last edited by 18 Feb 2021, 08:20 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • G
                    Graeme
                    啓蒙家
                    Joined: 30 Mar 2012

                    @profdbrk I'm glad that no-one was hurt and your library escaped unscathed.

                    last edited by 18 Feb 2021, 08:35 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • P
                      profdbrk
                      Raw and Unwashed
                      Joined: 30 Jul 2018

                      So here I am standing in the yard, completely dependent on the courage of firefighters to save our home and I'm thinking to myself, "Well, there go those fades on the Iron Hearts that I was working on…"

                      You may recall the story that when presented a cold cup of tea as the fleet headed into the Battle of Trafalgar, Nelson reproved his steward declaring such an indignity a "catastrophe." When it was pointed out that he'd already suffered the loss an eye and an arm for King and Country, he replied that to be "a minor inconvenience."  I'm going with this one with a tincture of Monty Python's Black Knight: Just a flesh wound.

                      Thanks to all for you concern.  We have work ahead to do but things could have been far worse.

                      Qui plume a, guerre a. 不完全さは美しさ,です狂気は天才です

                      last edited by 18 Feb 2021, 13:21 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • G
                        Giles
                        IHUK Crew
                        Joined: 22 Sept 2009

                        Amazing…..

                        "OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011

                        last edited by 18 Feb 2021, 13:38 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • V
                          vaquero357
                          Banned
                          Joined: 9 Aug 2020

                          …floods and fires, equally devastating yet polar opposites. Happy you came out of it ' with just a scratch'!

                          ...Chimney sweep was out in January? What the hell happened? Creosote build up that quick?

                          last edited by 18 Feb 2021, 14:47 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • J
                            jordanscollected
                            啓蒙家
                            Joined: 13 Nov 2018

                            Thanks for sharing it was a great read even though the story is painful to hear. looking forward, I fully expect a wood fired pizza oven to be added during the rebuild.

                            all the best to you as you move forward.

                            world tours:
                            888 Fat guy chocolate WT
                            Mad Red x2
                            Wabidashery

                            last edited by 18 Feb 2021, 14:50 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • O
                              Oaktavia
                              見習いボス
                              Joined: 12 Jun 2019

                              Incredible story, happy to hear no one was hurt. Fascinating that the fire fighters chain sawed parts and kicked the fiery chimney out. It makes sense to do that, like cutting off a bad limb instead of sacrificing an entire body.

                              A couple buddies of mine's apartment burnt down some years back. I helped them find their belongings in the rubble the next day, and I know exactly that smell you are referring to.

                              IG: electricindigowizard

                              "Possibly splitting hairs, but I consider @Oaktavia to be the beardy, dank High Magus of this denim game…" @neph93

                              WTB: IHJ-32 - XL/XXL

                              last edited by 18 Feb 2021, 15:01 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • S
                                sabergirl
                                見習いボス
                                Joined: 4 Oct 2013

                                Wow, what a catastrophe. I’m so glad to hear you’re all safe and sound. Firefighters are amazing.

                                Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

                                last edited by 18 Feb 2021, 15:08 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • N
                                  NorK
                                  Raw and Unwashed
                                  Joined: 11 Feb 2021

                                  I'm amazed that you seem to be so calm about it. Sure it could have been much worse but I admire your confidence and am sure glad no one got hurt.
                                  The company that swept and checked the chimney must have some responsibility. I heard a lot of horror stories about botched jobs for chimneys.
                                  I know my father does it himslef at my parents home after a bad surprise with a "professionnal" many years ago.

                                  Price is forgotten, quality remains.

                                  last edited by 18 Feb 2021, 15:20 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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