fire- update!!

[reptilemama]

I may be gone for a few days, in case anybody wonders where I went. My parents store burned down this morning. They lost over a milloin dollars in inventory. I'm heading for the Quad cities in a little bit, and I don't know when I'll get a chance to check back in. I will give you all an update when I can.



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Meddle not in the affairs of dragons. For thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

[Amiechan]

Hate to hear that happened.. Hope everyone is ok!
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[reptilemama]

Ok, I was wrong about the inventory, it was a quarter million not a million, but that only includes inventory. They had a lot of other stuff they kept at the store, thinking it was safer down there. My dad's cane collection, knife collection, and a lot of other valuable stuff was lost. They had 30-40 thousand in their own custom guns in a supposedly fire proof safe, but when the firemen got to it there was smoke pouring out of it, so they are also a total loss. Evidently at 3:30 am, a call came in reporting a gun fight in downtown Moline. Well, it wasn't a gun fight, it was all the ammo in the stoer going off from the heat. They found cases three blocks away. Thank goodness no one was hurt. They think the fire started in a bck corner of the attached storage garage, so it had to have been burning for a while by the time it got to the ammo in the front of the store. who knows when it started. No one called my parents, either, and the alarm system must have been destroyed before it was triggered because the company has no record of any alarms. My dad woke up around 5 like he usually does and went downstairs to doze on the couch and watch tv. The first thing he saw when he turned it on was the store burning. About the same time, a friend was calling my brother to tell him they had seen it on tv, too. I didn't find out til about 9:30, when my mom had taken a break long enough to come home and get cleaned up and to call me. Of course, I immediately called my husband at work, called my inlaws to get them to watch my son, and left. By the time I got there the fire was pretty much out. The store is completely gutted, but they did keep it from entering the two adjacent buildings. They got some smoke and water damage, but that can be cleaned up. The firemen said that for the first two hours they were pouring 1000 gallons a minute on the fire. It took more three departments more than 5 hours to put it out. It was amazing how many great friends they have, though. So many people came down to show their support, and the owner of a little restaurant around the corner was supplying sandwiches to the firemen and anyone else who wanted one. They already have offers of money and time, so they will be able to rebuild, but it is going to take a lot of time, with no income to speak of since the whole family worked there. We just keep thinking this has to be an opportunity. A local sherriff's officer is selling his company, SabreCo, because his boss considers it a conflict of interest, so they are hoping to acquire that company at low cost to make some money while they rebuild. The fire department is still determining the cause of the fire, so we are anxiously awaiting their report. I will try to update this if and when we find out anything. I will try to check back in soon.


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[hisba]

So sorry to hear about this, but like you said, at least no one was physically hurt.
Good luck on the rebuilding, hopefully they can determine the cause and have everything
covered by the insurance.
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[reptilemama]

Just got home and got an email from my mom. The investigator decided the cause was a bad cord on a belt sander my dad had plugged in in the garage. Must have shorted out or something. Not sure when they'll be able to get in and try to salvage things, but hopefully soon.

Oh, yeah, this is a link to pics of what it used to look like.
Tried to find pics on the news sites, but so far the only place that has decent pics is the stupid Moline newspaper who only lets subscribers have access to the articles.

[Boaguy]

That store was really nice, I hope it all turns around.


John
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[reptilemama]

Well, they have finally gotten back into the buliding, not expecting to find much. They were amazed to find a safe in perfect shape, with everything in it in pristine condition. Thank goodness, as that was where all their paperwork was- abstracts for the house and store, insurance, etc. They are finding parts of guns and lots of other junk, but the oddest thing so far is that all the pop and candy in the fridge came through unscathed! Must be a really good old fridge! They actually found some embers still burning in a pile of targets, so they are being very careful not to stir up any hot spots. One of the guys got onto the roof of the building next door, and said some of the filing cabinets, desks, and even some trophies and canes seem to have survived. Now they just have to figure out how to safely get to the second floor! The stairs were burned completely, so I'm not sure how they're going to determine if it's even safe to walk up there. There's still a lot of work to be done, but they are happy just to be able to get back int othe building, They really weren't expecting to find anything, so it's been like a treasure hunt all day today. Hopefully they will find more stuff in safes, and who knows what may be hiding under all the debris.
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[Bry]

That's great news to hear. I'm glad everything seems to be looking up already. Best of luck to you and your family. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Bry
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