Pics of my destroyed shop

[soonerbillz]

Yup...
This totally sucks.

[irk_miller]

Holy crap. What happened to cause the fire?

[soonerbillz]

Holy crap. What happened to cause the fire?

Out of control leaf fire.

[irk_miller]

Holy crap. What happened to cause the fire?

Out of control leaf fire.

Man, so sorry that happened.  I almost caused a bunch of damage like that when I was 12.  I was burning in barrels on my grampa's farm as we cleared fence line.  It had been pretty dry and the tall grasses reached the barrels.  Like a dummy, I didn't clear a perimeter, and the barrels got hot enough to ignite the grass, which ignited a couple of pine trees.  Luckily, the neighbor was the fire marshall at the time and he was home.  I was smart enough to have a loaded hose, so I kept it from spreading until my grampa and the neighbor could help.

I hope no one was hurt.  Fortunately our stuff is mostly replaceable, but our people are not. 

[soonerbillz]

I've been burning leaves in the same exact area for over 25 years now and never had an issue.
  I guess you know my luck just ran out so what are you gonna do?

[m in sc]

that BLOWS. Tim (kawitriplefreak on here) had a very similar situation years ago , his shop got hit by lightning and burned everything to the ground.

Im glad it didn't get to the house.

[dgorms]

Sorry Bill, if you need help valuing the contents we can all attest it was worth it's weight in gold!............................D

[The Red Scourge]

Damn man, I'm sorry.  That's heart wrenching.

[Kawtriplefreak]

I am so sorry to hear this. It is devastating.Start making lists of everything that was in there for your insurance claim and I mean every item. I listed every individual wrench and socket and all the bikes and cars, parts and equipment with replacement values. It will take time. Remember the adjuster they will send is not your friend. His job is to make sure his company pays you as little as possible. They have to replace your stuff. They will try and get you to agree to an amount and settle quickly. Don't. If it is done like mine was ( things may have changed mine burned up from a lighning strike in 2004) they may offer you 80% of the value and not require you to show them receipts for your replacement items like they will if you hold out for 100%. I took the 80% and bought what I wanted. Again I cannot caution you enough about the adjuster. I got the" those old bikes aren't worth anything" speech from the POS they sent to my shop. I ended up turning him into the insurance commission in Florida and almost had to get a lawyer. Also be prepared for them to cancel your home owners after they pay the claim. It's just how they do business. Please feel free to contact me if I can help though as I said my knowledge may be dated. I know you are gutted. But try to do this slowly and logically.

[soonerbillz]

Thanks guys
Yeahs it's tough for sure. I've been making an inventory list all day.
Amazing how much stuff you forgot you had until something like this happens. 
Right know is the worst. Can't really touch or move anything till the inspection or adjustors comes and looks at it. I've got a construction company coming to estimate a replacement value on the building.

[kpke]

That's horrible. So glad no one was hurt or worse. I wish you the best on the recovery.

[bitzz]

That sucks... UPSIDE?... you get a new shop.

... but on the topic of insurance; get your home policy out and start reading. There is probably limits on payout. My home policy limits payout for tools and "parts"(... and cash and jewellery and art and....).
If you could remotely call it a vehicle, like a frame with wheels, it is excluded from a home policy.
If you can, take your time designing and building the replacement. Maybe time for a "Taj ma Garage"?

[85RZwade]

This is just awful, Scott. I can't imagine the sense of loss and my heart goes out to you and your family.

[SoCal250]

Such a bummer Scott. So sorry this happened to you. Tim's advice above is very good! And, as I recall you've got photos that you took just recently which show a lot of the shop and contents. Those will be very useful in leveraging your insurance claim.

[RDFL]

That's awful but thankfully no one hurt (I assume you would have said if was).