# I wonder how many firearm owners consider this loss possibility factor?



## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

I went to the 24 hour restaurant down off the mountain for midnight meal and coffee and saw one of our area fire fighters who told me of one of the guys we hunt and target shoot with who yesterday lost all of his pistols, shotguns and rifles , some which were handed down to him from his grandfather, father and older brother who died while serving in Vietnam. The only two weapons to survive were his carry piece and the cased rifle still in his truck from his last range trip

He didn't lose his weapons to theft , red flag confiscation or such. He lost them because of the utility closet he turned into kis reloading room and hunting/target shooting ammunition storage area of his home when the house caught fire while he and his wife were at work and their kids at school.

The fire fighter said while they were trying to contain the fire from inside and out that when the reloading room started heat detonating rounds, the chief had the fire crew exit and back up to a containment position for safety as the fire gutted the house as ammunition detonated and launched brass shrapnel as the lead of the cartridges melted.

The firefighter said since the blaze took about 4 hours to contain and the heat launched the water heater through the roof, he doubted that the firearms in our friend's heat resistant for an hour or so gun safe on the other side of the wall from the water heater avoided heat damage.

As we were finishing our coffee, he said had the man's reloading and ammo storage area been in his shop building . barn or storm shelter with minimal in house storage in his fire safe that maybe their chief would have let them continue the inside and outside fire fighting and saved some of his collection along with all their families possessions.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

It's a shame more people don't install fire suppression systems in homes.


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

Probably would if the insurance companies would reflect that in rates. I considered it when building mine, only to find my insurance would only drop by around 10%.......and given the cost was going to be in the thousands, the economics of it didn't make sense. Cost to retrofit a home would likely be in the tens of thousands.

A 1 hour gun safe probably best in a masonry basement that won't burn, so only the collapsing wood of the house falls on it. Minimal ammo in my house, reloading done in shop well away from house, ammo stored in multiple locations away from the house.

Same reason I keep no fuel cans in the basement or house garage.....fuel is stored in a separate building well away from house. Fire extinguishers located in garage, kitchen cabinet, closet outside master bedroom, 2 points in basement....all dated and rotated. Chemical chimney fire suppressor sticks located near living room and basement wood stove in case of need.

100' water hoses mounted on permanent reels near front door and rear doors would reach any part of the house. (reel supply hose removed from wall hose bib in winter, bib covered with freeze protective cover, hose on reel drained so it doesn't ice block)


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

If you can avoid it, do not keep your gun safe on the main floor.
Had a relative who kept his in his garage with plywood stacked against it and 2x4s piled around it. Why? Because he wanted it to look like there was nothing there but a pile of lumber should thieves come thru his garage. Obviously he just created an enormous hot spot around his safe...


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## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

My program is quite similar to TnAndy's 
I will pick up a couple of those chimney fire suppressors.


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

https://www.chimfex.us/


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

Sort of somewhat related-
My father in law was raised in an old two story farmhouse with 10 other siblings. The heat source was limited to one cast iron stove in the living room. He said every year during the dead of winter his father would load that stove up early in the morning and just before going to bed, and toss a log or two.... of hedge inside. He would recall every so often, while everyone was laying in bed, of listing to the roaring noise in the wall and smelling metal. He would go downstairs for a glass of water and there would be his father, sitting in a chair as far away from the stove as he could while still able to reach the door and the flu. It would be glowing orange.
I asked him once why his dad would throw hedge into the stove like that and catch the chimney on fire. Why didn't he just clean out the creosote in the chimney?
He replied "He was."


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## muleskinner2 (Oct 7, 2007)

I don't keep my guns in the house. They are locked in a 8x20 shipping container one hundred yards from the house. The humidity is very low here, so no rusting problems. The only danger to my guns is that all of the guys on the volunteer fire department know where they are. I don't keep anything of value in the house.


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

Fire potential and lack of a basement in my house is why I keep my fire and gun safe on the outside wall of my double concrete wall house two feet down from the window. 11 of my area's fire fighters ,one the current chief are folks I hunt and target shoot with and all understand if my house catches fire , my first request is that they K 12 cut the wall out and drag my fire safe outside with the winch on one of the trucks.

Four or five of our sporting group on the FD also store their gun safes on an outside wall as an in case precaution.


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## weaselfire (Feb 7, 2018)

This is what insurance is for.

Jeff


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## Chuck R. (Apr 24, 2008)

I've kind of got a 4 tiered or layered 'system':

1. Insurance, the family heirloom and expensive guns are itemized.
2. They also reside in a "fire proof" safe.
3. All the guns/ammo/reloading components reside in a "safe room" constructed of reinforced concrete, under the 3 car garage. The room is closed off by a fireproof vault door. Odds are IF the fire didn't originate in there, it's not getting in. 
4. Smoke alarms are integrated into the whole house alarm system.

If anything I should probably look at making a powder/primer magazine somewhere outside of the house.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

weaselfire said:


> This is what insurance is for.


Some things can't be replaced for any amount of money.


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## weaselfire (Feb 7, 2018)

Bearfootfarm said:


> Some things can't be replaced for any amount of money.


Then don't have a fire, don't live where a fire might happen and don't allow flame of any kind anywhere near you.

Reality sucks sometimes.

Jeff


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## JeepHammer (May 12, 2015)

I won't debate 'Accumulatuon' vs. 'Collection'...

I will point out that it's common for losses of 'Collections', firearms to stamps, jewelry to Elvis plates...
Is about $2,500 maximum.

Having found this out through a fire at my wifes' parents house,
I have insurance riders on jewelry, firearms, reloading equipment, coins, etc.
I don't put ammo in the same place I store firearms, documents, etc. A standing metal cabinet (with lock) was a no brainer... Ammo/components withstand weather/temp changes MUCH better than firearms, even here in he rust belt.
I also installed fire sprinklers in my house when I built.
Last time I checked, there had never been a death in a fire when certified, working sprinklers were available.
The draw back is, with sprinklers in the home, you can't get water damage insurance.

I built out of concrete, and I installed floor drains, inside of a gun/documents safe, I'm sure the water damage will be minimal while with water spraying on the safe will seriously increase the survival of the contents.


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

Had a close friend who as a hunter/collector, kept his guns in a gun safe and ammo (lots!) in another room. House was a beautiful log cabin on a river. He went to town, came home to a blaze. Same story as Shek - when the rounds started detonating, the fire fighters were called back. Had to let the house burn. 
Later, it was found that the house was robbed, and to cover the robbery, the teens (yes, teens) started the fire.


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

Bearfootfarm said:


> Some things can't be replaced for any amount of money.


So true, A friend has his great grandfather's double barrel 12 gauge still in working condition and the only ammunition he uses in it is high price period factory manufactured shells made to the late 1800s specifications when the shotgun was made on the few occasions he takes it out to shoot.


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