House Fire
 

I have been off line since March 24th. I had a house fire that morning. My workshop is a total loss, as was most of the contents of the house. I did manage to save some of my vintage and antique electronics. I lost two cats in the fire, Cutie and Callie. They decided they didn't want to go outside with Rowdy that morning. It was Cuties birthday that day. She turned 14. She was born in that house and she died there. I sure miss them. It will be 3 to 6 months to rebuild our house. We are in a rental house until then and just got the internet connection today. On the bright side, we will have a completely new house inside and all new furniture and stuff once it is over. I feel sorry for the folks that have been moving stuff out and making an inventory. I also will not complain about the insurance premiums any more. This one claim will probably come in around $200,000.

Oh my god .Sorry to hear that Bill.Glad that you got out safe .Also sorry to hear about your cats Cutie and Callie.They will be on the Rainbow Bridge waiting for you like my cat Buttons is waiting for me.It will take time to rebuild and get back to normal.

Prayer go out to you you and your family , Cutie and Callie.

Damn! I hope your loss was minimal. The loss of cats is really bad!

Damn...better days ahead, my friend!

Ouch! I feel for you. That has got to hurt.

The story of the cats reminds me of something similar...The cabin down from my family's burned down several decades ago (long before my time), the owners were not exactly the nicest people, and owned a pair of show dogs they REALLY cared for, they locked them up, went to town, and the cabin burned down while they were gone...They never really got over it, and apparently were humbled by it.

I am so sorry for your losses. You cats are waiting for you at the Rainbow Bridge and they know how much you love them. It hurts me to read stories like this. :(

So very sorry for your loss.

One of my absolute biggest fears is a house fire. I am so terribly sorry for your loss. You'll be in my thoughts and prayers.

Man, I'm sorry to hear about this, especially because of the cats. It's been my experience that tragedies or even very unpleasant events can clear a path to really good things. It may not make any sense at all for quite some time but these things can be worked together for your benefit.

Very sorry for you that that happened, not only your house, but your cats, and then a bunch of vintage electronics and I'm sure a lot of other stuff. At least you had insurance to take care of things, even though I'm sure it's quite an inconvenience for you at this time. One good thing though is that no one (person or you) was hurt in the fire. Material things can be replaced, unfortunately you (your family) or the cats that you loved can't. I still miss our cat LaLa that passed away some times back.

You're not the only one, I fear that too. I do have renter's insurance but nothing can replace my cat Rascal. As much as I love my 1982 Zenith, it can be replaced but he cannot be.

Well things are making some progress. The house is pretty much gutted now. All the sheet rock is down and the walls and ceiling are down to bare studs. They have removed the top layer of subfloor, and in some places all the subfloor. I was told last week that they would start tearing the roof off this next week since some of the decking was scorched it will have to be replaced. In fact any wood that is scorched will have to be replaced. The house will have to be rewired to bring it up to 2017 code. Anything that is not up to code with the structure will have to be replaced or repaired before new sheet rock can go up. The insurance company has leased a house just 4 doors up the street for us to live in while our house is being rebuilt. Yes some vintage electronics were lost. Also lost was my Grimwood brothers phonograph, along with all my test equipment, parts inventory, and about 12 file cabinets of factory service information. I did save the Sams sets, including my duplicates. All my hand tools will have to be replaced. That should make sears happy. I saved a lot of the vintage electronics simply since most were unrestored anyway, and they do not use circuit boards. I did loose a Predicta, RCA 45 record player, most of my small tv collection, a Capehart record player, Magnavox astrosonic stereo, Zenith console stereo, 1970 Zenith color tv, an Ediphone, and a Zenith cobramatic record player. I am sure there is more. I do miss my cats, they can not be replaced. On the plus side, if there is one, I will have a totally new house, and all new furniture and appliances and fixtures. I will have another new heat and air unit to replace the one I just had installed in December, and a new roof. Not exactly how we intended to remodel the house, but whatever works.

Any idea yet on what started it?

Bad electrical outlet caused the fire. Probably the only one I had not replaced in the 22 years we lived there. It was original to the house built in 1970.

I am very sorry to hear of your losses as well. I know how it is to lose pets, as I have lost three (a dog and two cats) in my lifetime; however, the loss of these pets was due to old age (my dog was twelve years old) and severe illness (both my cats had to be put down, one at eight years of age, the other at six and a half). My third cat, Kiki, is now eleven years old and doing well; I'm hoping she will be with me for quite a while yet (she is an indoor cat, so I don't expect to lose her from serious illness brought on by germs, etc. from outside my apartment).

My thoughts and prayers are with you. It is never easy to lose animals we have grown to love. You will never be able to "replace" the two cats you lost, but you will always have your memories of them.