Somethin i never thought would happen

[Tooljunkie]

Had a massive storm blow through, no big deal i thought.
Lightning struck 100 feet from house. Scared the crap outta me. Looked outside to see where it hit, saw nothing. A few minutes later my wife is yelling, smoke coming from somewhere. Neighbours garage has flames coming out his roof vent,we tried to put it out,and discovered it was taking off inside far end of garage. Couldnt get big door open to drag his bike out. I had to stop him from entering garage and dragged him away from it.

Total loss.
Minty 81 gmc van
Minty 94 chevy pickup
1 year old 800 atv
And his pride and joy Harley
Tools and all his yard equipment.

This man keeps his stuff immaculate.
They suffered a huge loss.
Totally devastated.

As this fire is building, i got everybody out of my house and moved my vehicles.
In less than 10 minutes a 60 foot spruce was totally engulfed and all the sparks like little balls of fire were landing on my roof. It was raining so hard we got lucky. So less than 2 hours later, fire is out, fire dept is gone.
Wind is calm from 60 mph and stars in the sky.

Lost a couple big trees and house smells like smoke. Could have been worse.

 

[WFM]

I'm very sorry to hear that. Unfortunately stuff is stuff. Life lost can never be rebought. I hate insurance but my girlfriend is in the insurance business. So over the last few years I'm insured for everything. Gives her peace of mind.

 

[Daren Todd]

Tj, sorry to here about your neighbors. But I am glad that no one got hurt and that you and your family didn't suffer the same losses.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Another story which reminds me to count my blessings.

My barn/workshop is 350 feet from my house. I curse the distance every time I walk it. I think I'll start cursing it a little less, starting this morning.

Ray

Massive lightning and 1" of rain here yesterday. Today is forecast to be the big rain day.

 

[Wbk]

Good to hear everyone is safe, we had the same storm very high winds lots of trees down and branches all over. That's the second storm like that in 2 weeks we got caught in the one last one and I can't remember ever being in a worse one, I guess that's climate change. Have a good day eh!

 

[Newlyme]

Another story which reminds me to count my blessings.

My barn/workshop is 350 feet from my house. I curse the distance every time I walk it. I think I'll start cursing it a little less, starting this morning.

Same here.
(In the winter I drive.)
I'll remember this when I make my trek!
Glad to hear no one got hurt.

 

[Tooljunkie]

Sounds like insurance is going to move quick on cleanup and start rebuilding.
My shop is also 300 feet from house.

Had a better look today, not a very nice sight. What the lightning hit i am unsure,but i could have sworn my hydro pole was burning last night. Yup, its scorched and three trees on wires within a few hundred feet of my house.

Told neighbour whatever he needs i will help, and will talk with insurance company about how well he kept his stuff.

Have a dozen scorched trees to remove, perhaps insurance will cover removing them.

Thanks for your supporting comments, hes happier its not worse.

 

[Kubota_Man]

A recent event in my life has taught me to appreciate life. Seeing my Mom go threw what your neighbor is going threw last week is heart breaking.

Sending prayers for your neighbor.

 

[Tooljunkie]

Some of the neighbours stopped by and talked to them, offering their support. Then one dick from down the road rolls in,and basically insults the owner about losing his bike. Maybe it was a good thing, you hardly drive it.
Glen loves riding his bike, rides only in nice weather. This year he was out more than ever before.

They started making a list of things they lost. Freezer- was full, frozen veggies from garden, and a lot of meat. That was a big hit right there. As putting up their vegetables for winter is a big thing.

It never crossed their mind until they wanted a roast. All the things a person takes for granted and never really thinks about it. Til its gone.

They are having difficult times, dont want to look at it so i hardly see him outside. A little easier now that vehicles are gone.

 

[Tooljunkie]

Well, neighbor is making headway with insurance companies. Dealing fairly makes things easier. Debris cleaned up. Scorched trees came down this weekend,i got a dump trailer and excavator with thumb to expedite cleanup.
So that went fairly painlessly.

Ended cleaning out 25 good size trees yielding 3 cords. Some sawlogs.

 

[OldeEnglish]

Same thing happened in a town near me last night. Lightning struck a tree, continued down into the ground, somehow found it's way to an underground propane line, followed the line or maybe tracer wire to the house, blew the regulator apart, and lit the propane up next to the house.

 

[Daren Todd]

Had a lightning storm come through last night. Was laying in bed listening to the storm when it hit really close to the house.

Got home tonight and saw this in the neighbors yard. About 300ft from our house.

I've seen quite a few lightning strikes but a tree that had exploded is a first for me.

Chunks 20ft long and and 6" in diameter landed 30 to 40' away

 

[Tooljunkie]

Wow. Amazing what a bit of electricity will do.
Update,i got paid for cleaning up my scorched trees,neighbour got garage rebuilt,added insulation and sheeted it. Replaced his bike in august and put a lot of miles on it.
The insurance company treated them fairly,replaced pretty much everything they could remember.
I landscaped between my driveway and his garage,improved drainage for both of us.

 

[Stmar]

I liked storms, loved watching the lightning streak across the sky. One storm I was on the deck watching the fireworks and there was a loud crack, wife yells out that something is burning. Smoke detector was going off in the closet where my inverter and battery bank were located, luckily no fire but it melted the wires and connectors and ruined the inverter and batteries. Also took out the new Sony flat screen, before led, my new computer and our phone system. Some investigation I found that it had hit the ground of my wind generator, luckily did not effect the solar array. Insurance adjuster never did come out, he was 350 miles away, he just asked me a few questions and I had to get a few inspections on the tv and computer. Since I did all the labor myself, nobody around here was qualified to work on my system, he did not even prorate the inverter or batteries so I was actually able to upgrade my alternative power system. I also found out the previous owner that installed the system had not followed protocol grounding the system and that probably added to the damage, fixed that too so win win.
Needless to say but I don't view lightning storms with the same enthusiasm as I once did, lol. Good luck to your neighbor, hope he comes out of it positive.

 

[Tooljunkie]

Nope, he pretty much freaks out when it gets cloudy...
I saw a change in him after the fire, still not over it.

 

[hank2000]

I know how he fills. In 2014 a tornado came through where my mom lived. She and I where in her house when it hit Took out everything house sheds barn cars every thing nothing left standing it was an ef-4. Every one on the road she lived on lost everything some where hurt but recovered she and I where not hurt. But it’s been almost 4 years now and I pay much more attention to the weather then I used to. It will take time but he will start to get over it. But it’s not easy sometimes.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk