We are leading Safety Week 2009 off with a story of a devastating shop fire. Really, this is one of my worst nightmares. If you haven’t thought about fire safety in your shop, you sure as heck will after you hear this story and see the images. Thanks to Mike Mies for sharing his story so that others may benefit from it. Take it away Mike:
A few weeks ago my woodworking shop caught fire and burned to the ground. Ironically, it appears that the boiled linseed oil may have been the culprit. Yes, I did in fact view and took heed of your safety podcasts and comments on boiled linseed oil. You did your best to warn me. The enclosed photos pretty much tell the whole story. 
Although I am struggling with the loss of my trusted tools and shop, the loss of my “crown jewel” (my newest project) impacts me the most. Likewise, my wife (who actually had a vested interest in the vanity since it was the first time that she helped me apply the topcoat on a project), is really taking it hard. Not to mention that we now face the prospect of not having a functional master bathroom for the foreseeable future.
As I sit here this morning trying to assemble my thoughts and begin to fill out the insurance companies “personal property inventory” my first entry is my Powermatic 66 table saw: my baby with less than two years in my shop. My Google search for the saw’s replacement cost takes to me to Amazon.com. I immediately think of the Wood Whisperer and hear your “The gold standard…” voiceover in my head. My brain (or what’s left of it after 30 years of spending my evenings and weekends in a woodworking shop) goes into hyper-speed as I envision a few interesting concept. 
First, I think that it would only be fair and appropriate that I go through your Amazon store for all my online purchases (especially since I’ve only been lurking on your site and haven’t yet joined or actively participated). Secondly, I start thinking what a unique opportunity I have to design a new shop from the ground up and include the Wood Whisperer community.
Fortunately, I have very good insurance and have no pressure to immediately rebuild my shop. Several woodworking friends have stepped up to meet my immediate needs and keep the wife off my back on the bathroom renovation. Consistent with my affliction to the woodworking bug, the clean-slate concept of starting a new project is rapidly breathing life back into my Craftsman spirit. What an emotional ride I have had these past few weeks! I’ve been rummaging through the debris pile trying to prod my memory of what I have collected these past 30 years and thinking about the possibilities of a clean slate.
Neither the Fire Marshall nor the insurance adjuster’s expert could conclusively determine the actual origin of ignition but all factors lead to the boiled linseed oil. The fire started at the rear door of my shop, nowhere near any electrical wire, outlet, equipment etc. There were only three things at the door (which was cracked open to help facilitate the evacuation of fumes from the prior day’s finishing operations); 1) all the partially used cans of oil-based stain, sealing (shellac/denatured alcohol) and BLO that were staged to be transported to my outside storage shed, 2) a heap of scrapped cut-offs destined to the fire pit and 3) approximately 50 paper rags saturated with the previously mentioned solutions. 
The spent towels (Scotts Rags in a Box) were scattered on the ground just outside the door earlier that morning to dry-out in an area that never receives direct sunlight (like I’ve done hundreds of times in the past, albeit this was the first time using BLO). Worst-case, the rags may have been laying four (4) or five (5) sheets deep. Even considering that some of them may have been folded once or twice over, I doubt that the paper towels were stacked thicker than 1/2″. Not the conditions conducive to generating sufficient heat that you would think necessary to start a fire.
My brother, who has a cabinet shop in Indiana, told me yesterday that he once experienced a similar unexplained incident several years ago. He replaced his spray booth filters and scattered the dirty filters out on the concrete floor in an attached garage/storage area to air-out since they were still wet. The next morning when he opened his shop doors, he noticed a particular smell and haze in the air. He traced the fumes down to the air filters, which were hot to the touch and actually producing some smoke! He claims that had he not found them when he did that they would likely have caught fire. For what its worth, he only shoots a small amount of oil-based stains and a lot of lacquer and related thinners.
Bottom-line: the jury is still out on what actually happened. Ironically, Ive been in the disaster recovery business for the past 24 years and am supposed to be THE expert on fires. My only out is that my specialty is actually what happens AFTER the fire, not what started it!
17 Responses to “A Devastating Shop Fire”
damn that sucs
Oh man. I think all of us can relate to this as our worst nightmare. Hope everything works out for you, Mike. Thanks for sharing your story.
Here recently I have been reading a book on finishing and one thing it made mention of was to keep a bucket with water in it to dump the rags into when you are done with one. Sorry to hear of your shop loss.
I’ve known Mike for many years and have spent a lot of time in this shop. I know the new shop will be awesome when it is completed!
Best of luck Mike!!
This is an interesting subject. I have a few questions:
My insurance agent says my shop tools are covered in case of theft and hopefully fire (note to check that). They suggest I document the tools, take pictures and of keep receipts to be able to get them covered appropriately.
HOWEVER, I don’t by that it is going to be the case of just providing the above mentioned and PRESTO my check from American Family appears.
I am interested in anyone’s comments on the lengths they go to to document their tools for insurance reimbursement in case the worst happens.
For example, I’ve purchased my Powermatic table saw from an auction. Would I be able to get a full replacement cost from insurance for a new PM TSaw?
I’ll also post this in other places to open the conversation.
Ciao
MRod
Sir,
Like Mr. Mies I do fire and flood restoration and your questions come up all the time. It’s been my experiance that the adjuster wants owners manuals, receipts if you have them. But the best documentation is photo’s before and after the unfortunate loss incident. It doesn’t matter where you got your tools! Auction or home supply stores. These few words always work: DOCUMENT,DOCUMENT!!!
Hope this helps and I hope Mike will pipe in as well, (he went thru it)!
Mrod,
Good points… It’s ironic that you mentioned the Powermatic saw. I also purchased my Powermatic 66 at an auction (a steal at $472!!!). The new replacement was $3,600. According to my policy, I’m entitled for the new replacement – regardless of original purchase. The only caveat is that I can only take the actual cash (“depreciatedâ€Â) value of the saw (75%) until I actually spend the money. As it turned out I purchased the newer model (Powermatic 2000) for approximately $2,800.
As far as the documentation goes, I made a detailed spreadsheet (unfortunately “AFTER†the fire) of everything that I had, matched it up with photos of the damaged units (where possible) and hyperlinked the current/comparable unit from Amazon’s website (which displayed a photo and the actual price). I modified the spreadsheet to mimic the “fill-in-the-blank†sheet provided by my Adjuster. The Insurance Company took less than a week to review the information and cut me a check for the depreciated values. Since then, I’ve been on a buying spree like no other!
I’ll eventually have to reconcile my spreadsheet to update actual receipt amounts and see where I stand. An interesting point here is that the Insurance Companies commonly look at equipment losses on a line-by-line basis. The “savings†I gained on my saw, for instance, does not necessarily carry over to be spent on another machine or upgrade – unfortunately. Likewise, I won’t likely be replacing a lot of the “looked good at the time†gadgets that I’ve accumulated over the years. I’ll be happy to just take the depreciated amounts and apply this to the upgrades and new arrivals that I’ve been eyeing.
The lesson to learn here is to document what you have NOW, and if (God forbid) you have a loss like mine you understand your insurance policy and what your insurance Adjuster needs to adjust your loss.
FYI – I hope to finish the construction of my new shop within a week and start the endless task of fabricating all the new shop fixtures that I’ve researched and thought about the seven weeks … not to mention the idea of using all new tools!
Thanks for all the kind words and support that I’ve received from this community!
Mike Mies
Mike,
Do you have a blog or someplace where you can document your rebuilding efforts? That would be a good excersize to document all your new tools and the construction of your shop fixtures. It is a win-win. You get the documentation needed in case this (God forbid) happens again. We get to watch and learn as you rebuild.
Although I had initially planned to blog my rebuilding and equipment selection process I’ve been consumed with the construction process (I opted to act as GC)… and the pesky task of fulfilling my “real†job requirements. Since I’m burning the candle at both ends, I decided to consult with the guys at my local Woodcraft store (Charlotte, NC). I ultimately made most of my purchases there after they completely impressed me with their knowledge, unbiased advice and pricing.
As time permits, I’ll be posting a summary of the equipment I purchased and my logic behind the process. I may even follow-up with some posts on my experiences after I’ve had a chance to put the equipment through the paces. At present, I’m still refining my layout/work-flow plans and making final design changes to the fixtures that I’ll build (torsion box assembly table, router table, workbench, etc.) by scouring the woodworking sites and communities (this site being my primary go-to reference!).
Seeing the 2 yr old PM66 on its face makes me sick to my stomach. This is why ALL rags go into my firepit outside when im done in the shop for the day.
I’m so sorry about the loss of your shop. Those were some very sobering pictures. I’ve been “meaning” to take an inventory of my shop for some time. Now it’s going to be first on my list when I go in there tomorrow morning. Thanks for sharing your experience with us and I wish you the best of luck re-building your new shop.
Damn that sucks. I always hang my linseed oil and thinner rags over the trash barrel rim one layer deep. I also end up with them everywhere you can hang one, that seems to work well.
That’s terrible. But I don’t think the “juries out” here. I had a neighbor by our vacation house lose a whole deck due to a fire started by a carelessly-left rag. Those drying oils really are pretty exothermic.
I’m gonna be more careful with mine. I usually spread them out, single layer, on the gravel outside the shop. They haven’t caused a problem up to now, but if a breeze were to come along and bunch them up(?) I think I need a more fool-proof arrangement..
Two words…. That SUCKS !
I’m sorry to hear about the loss of your shop. My recently created shop resides in my 200 year old barn. The two biggest fears I’ve always had are fire and termites. I’ve taken some old pieces of wood from my house/barn in the past as I cleaned it up, and this wood ignites and turns to ash just looking at it for too long. I’ve only just recently started using BLO, and I always think of “what could happen”. It’s not just the nasty spinning steel that can hurt.
Best of luck to you as you fight with the insurance company to rebuild your dream.
Ditto on the “that sucks!” comment. That is a fear we all have. this is kind of a wake up call for all of us. Thank God no one was hurt. I always had thought that laying my oily rages out side in the open air was enough. Check that idea.
Anyway I have a question for anyone who can answer? What about the danger of storeing our finishes in sealed metal containers? Is it dangereous to store them in a shed that gets over 100 degrees in the summer?
Mike: Like everyone else I fell terrible that this had to happen at all. I hope your new shop will be everything you dreamed of having someday.
Gary: I’m a firefighter and by no means an expert on storage of your finishes: my only thought would be the expansion and vapours stored at that heat. If anyone ever entered that shed with an open flame or turned on a switch it may be quite explosive.
Best of luck
Bruce
Canadian Wood Chuck
Hello. I am the local electrical inspector in Mike’s area. I had the pleasure of meeting him a few weeks ago during the ‘rough’ inspection of his shiny new shop. Mike is one small item from being ready for a final. He has really outdone himself of the new shop. It is great! Everything is brand new and most of it was in place and ready for use when I visited him today. The table saw is one to covet. Mike made short work of his rebuild. He is sure to get a Christmas card from Wood Crafters.
This website was recommended to me today when I asked his advise on building a chess board. I try my hand at woodworking every now and then. I don’t seem to have the time I used to. I have since watched the cutting board video and I think I can easily adapt it to suit my needs.
Thanks Mike. You are a class act. The shop is great. I look forward to our next visit. Thanks for the tip. This site is great.