Starting over after a major fire.

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   Well, I looked at what Jeeps I have left. There
 was a fire in my neighborhood in the early spring & it took out 
most of my old rigs as well as my barn & almost all of my 
outbuildings. I have been dealing with the aftermath of that while 
working two full time jobs. It is a sad story.

I want to be clear here, I am not looking for 
sympathy, nor am I looking to blame anyone for the fire, these things 
happen. The main thing for me, is that no one got killed or even hurt. I have no complaints.  

The Good Lord sent a bunch of firefighters to save my house. The fire came 
within two inches of my foundation. It slightly singed the siding,
while breaking the outer pane of my double pane windows on two sides of 
the house. Again,  no complaints.  

I am now looking to see what I have & what I want to do with it at this point. 

I have one 1948 CJ-2a minus some engine parts & the radiator. It does have a clear Colorado title in my name. 

There is one CJ-3a body & frame with a few miscellaneous parts, no title, or other paperwork.

Last,
 & perhaps least, I have one 1970 CJ-5 with a Buick V-6, stock, I 
think. It is missing some parts like the steering box & column. It 
has no windscreen nor radiator.

These are all slightly singed as far as I can tell at this point.

Oh heck, I 
almost forgot, there is a Willys pickup body with a frame & bed. It 
burned the cab, so no interior, wiring, seat, nor gauges. IIRC, The 
windows melted out of it. So it is basically a burned out shell. Again, 
no paper on it. 

Almost all of the other 
rigs were burned beyond saving. The fire was hot & lasted a long 
time. All four of my wagons were seriously destroyed. The roofs were 
below the dash board, & the aluminum parts were puddles under the 
chassis'. The overdrive cases were puddles & the gears 
were blue. The gears were fully annealed & the ones I checked were 
warped. These have already gone to the scrap man. 

This whole experience has been much harder, emotionally, on me than I thought possible. 

I am not sure that I want to post this, but I suppose I will have to address this at some time. So here you go.  

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cpt logger Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 23 Sep. 2012 Location: Western Colorad Status: Offline Points: 3040	Post Options Post Reply Quote cpt logger Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Starting over after a major fire. Posted: 02 Sep. 2018 at 2:45am
	Well, I looked at what Jeeps I have left. There was a fire in my neighborhood in the early spring & it took out most of my old rigs as well as my barn & almost all of my outbuildings. I have been dealing with the aftermath of that while working two full time jobs. It is a sad story. I want to be clear here, I am not looking for sympathy, nor am I looking to blame anyone for the fire, these things happen. The main thing for me, is that no one got killed or even hurt. I have no complaints. The Good Lord sent a bunch of firefighters to save my house. The fire came within two inches of my foundation. It slightly singed the siding, while breaking the outer pane of my double pane windows on two sides of the house. Again, no complaints. I am now looking to see what I have & what I want to do with it at this point. I have one 1948 CJ-2a minus some engine parts & the radiator. It does have a clear Colorado title in my name. There is one CJ-3a body & frame with a few miscellaneous parts, no title, or other paperwork. Last, & perhaps least, I have one 1970 CJ-5 with a Buick V-6, stock, I think. It is missing some parts like the steering box & column. It has no windscreen nor radiator. These are all slightly singed as far as I can tell at this point. Oh heck, I almost forgot, there is a Willys pickup body with a frame & bed. It burned the cab, so no interior, wiring, seat, nor gauges. IIRC, The windows melted out of it. So it is basically a burned out shell. Again, no paper on it. Almost all of the other rigs were burned beyond saving. The fire was hot & lasted a long time. All four of my wagons were seriously destroyed. The roofs were below the dash board, & the aluminum parts were puddles under the chassis'. The overdrive cases were puddles & the gears were blue. The gears were fully annealed & the ones I checked were warped. These have already gone to the scrap man. This whole experience has been much harder, emotionally, on me than I thought possible. I am not sure that I want to post this, but I suppose I will have to address this at some time. So here you go.

windyhill Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 14 Mar. 2009 Location: North East PA Status: Offline Points: 1395	Post Options Post Reply Quote windyhill Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 02 Sep. 2018 at 4:28am
	Glad no one was hurt, All the best on rebuilding your life. I'm sorry I don't have much in the way of ideas on rebuilding vehicles after a fire. Edited by windyhill - 02 Sep. 2018 at 4:30am
	'48 CJ2A '53 CJ3B '59 CJ6 '65 CJ5 '67 CJ5

Unkamonkey Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 23 Mar. 2016 Location: Greeley CO Status: Offline Points: 2093	Post Options Post Reply Quote Unkamonkey Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 02 Sep. 2018 at 5:00am
	Sorry to hear about this. I have never been that close to a forest fire but I have a few friends that had one within 100 feet of their structures. Some friends living down around La Junta lost all of their trees and their buildings. I don't know about the vehicles and horse.
	uncamonkey

Unkamonkey Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 23 Mar. 2016 Location: Greeley CO Status: Offline Points: 2093	Post Options Post Reply Quote Unkamonkey Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 02 Sep. 2018 at 8:53am
	I'm still sorry. Do they know how it started?
	uncamonkey

ndnchf Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Sponsor Member x 2 Joined: 22 Sep. 2017 Location: Virginia Status: Offline Points: 2177	Post Options Post Reply Quote ndnchf Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 02 Sep. 2018 at 11:23am
	Thank God for our brave firefighters. If ever there was an under appreciated group of people, they are at the top. There is nothing to do at this point but move on. You have a lot of friends here, sharing your story is good for the soul. Perhaps others can learn from your misfortune.
	1948 CJ2A - It goes nowhere fast, but anywhere slow.

Oilleaker1 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 06 Sep. 2011 Location: Black Hills, SD Status: Offline Points: 4412	Post Options Post Reply Quote Oilleaker1 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 02 Sep. 2018 at 11:37am
	Wow! That wasn't simply a fire that passed by. It endured to get that hot. You are lucky your house is still there. Vehicles that get heated too hot get their metal tempered and warped beyond repair. The metal can become brittle and then breaks under normal operating conditions, so don't try and fix one that got too hot. I looked at a MGTF sports car that was for sale once. The transmission case was aluminum. The whole thing was on the floor under the car in a puddle of aluminum with the gears lying in a jumble in it. The glass headlights were melted out of the pots in a pool. A clad quarter was melted on the steel floor. Beautiful piece of rare art was the only thing I could see it used for. I'm glad you are safe and able to begin again. The fuel load or available stuff to burn around your home has been removed. Future fire will have a tough time doing it to you again. Set back or trees and fuels near your home must have been good. Fire fighters will try and save a home that has good set back . If you shroud the home with bushes and trees that are right up against it, they can't help you. They pass by. When I picked my home, I thought about fire allot. Low in a valley, good set back, cement siding, steel trim, keep the grass mowed, were on my mind. Folks living on a hillside, or in the thick forest and toward the top of a hillside are simply screwed in a fire. I attended a fire science course in college and went to a fire lad where they had a huge burn table with a huge draft hood. They burned models there to show what happens in a forest fire. Literally studied good and bad scenarios. Anyway, forge ahead Cap't!. You have a bunch of good friends here to talk to. Oilly
	Green Disease, Jeeps, Old Iron!

Unkamonkey Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 23 Mar. 2016 Location: Greeley CO Status: Offline Points: 2093	Post Options Post Reply Quote Unkamonkey Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 02 Sep. 2018 at 1:32pm
	I think that a lot of people do some jobs just to help others.
	uncamonkey

Unkamonkey Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 23 Mar. 2016 Location: Greeley CO Status: Offline Points: 2093	Post Options Post Reply Quote Unkamonkey Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 02 Sep. 2018 at 1:37pm
	It seems like the quote button didn't work well.
	uncamonkey

mike in oregon Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Sponsor Member Joined: 17 Jan. 2008 Location: Fall Creek Or Status: Offline Points: 1988	Post Options Post Reply Quote mike in oregon Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 02 Sep. 2018 at 3:28pm
	Matt I can not imagine what your are going through. Glad everybody made it through ok. You are in all our thoughts and I hope that you just sharing your story will help with your heeling.
	MIKE IN OREGON President of Oregon Flat Fender Club. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Oregon-Flat-Fender-Club/222864787838570 46 CJ2A 38007 46 CJ2A 79863 BANTAM T3-C 25314

eestes1 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Sponsor Member x 2 Joined: 12 Feb. 2011 Location: Mineral, VA Status: Offline Points: 1158	Post Options Post Reply Quote eestes1 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 02 Sep. 2018 at 11:08pm
	Don't real know what to say. But that never stopped me before. Just sorry to hear.
	Rick Estes

cpt logger Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 23 Sep. 2012 Location: Western Colorad Status: Offline Points: 3040	Post Options Post Reply Quote cpt logger Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 03 Sep. 2018 at 2:50am
	I appreciate the thoughts & prayers. Thanks. We do know what started the fire. A fellow was just being human, he made a small mistake that became a huge mistake in less than a minute. Later, when I am not so tired I will tell the tale. The fire fighters were saving a neighbor's house when my barn burned. They got to my house next, so no complaints. My barn was full of Willys wagons, aircraft parts, tractors, & auto parts. The barn was also where my wife & her dad did their carpentry stuff, so there was a fair amount of wood & a bit of sawdust. It was also surrounded with elm trees. I had thinned them a bit last winter, but I had more to do. Once the barn started on fire there was no stopping it. My hay field burned, It was next to the barn & two other outbuildings. My neighbor's hay field also was next to my barn & other sheds. One of the sheds had two cords of dry wood left over from the winter, another had the lumber that my wife worked with, so there was plenty of fuel. I know a little about forest fires, as I fought them in my younger days. My house does have a few more trees around it than I should allow, however, the shade is very nice in the summer heat. Trade offs. Yes, some folks like to have jobs that allow them to help others. One of my jobs is like that. I love it!

Unkamonkey Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 23 Mar. 2016 Location: Greeley CO Status: Offline Points: 2093	Post Options Post Reply Quote Unkamonkey Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 03 Sep. 2018 at 3:36am
	At least everybody is still alive. One of the fires I spoke of was caused by a neighbor that was out burning brush and it got away from him. Mandatory evacuation for several places. The home owners stayed with friends for 5 days. On day 3 he was allowed to get to the house to get their dog (under escort). It had been firebombed. When we built it around 10 years ago we told him to remove some of the trees. He is an artsy type and liked the way it looked with those Pines. When he got back in he cut the trees down.
	uncamonkey

JeepFever Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Sponsor Member Joined: 07 Aug. 2012 Location: VA Status: Online Points: 2749	Post Options Post Reply Quote JeepFever Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 03 Sep. 2018 at 4:22am
	Wow . . I came into this thread expecting that you had a Jeep burn up. This is far, far more devastating. I can not even imagine what it must feel like. As said before, thankfully nobody was hurt physically, but this sure must hurt mentally.

jeeper50 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Sponsor Member Joined: 01 Mar. 2008 Location: Spanish Fort AL Status: Offline Points: 2579	Post Options Post Reply Quote jeeper50 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 04 Sep. 2018 at 4:40pm
	Over here in GA we cringe when the news talks about a hurricane, or tornado is headed our way. Those pale in comparison to your situation. Keep us posted on your familys progress, it is good to talk about those type of things to help us get past them.
	Belleview ol skool winch soon. '48 CJ2A 283 V8 sm 420 granny low, tera low D18, overdrive,lockers Texan at heart,Alabama by retirement

Greaser007 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 16 Jan. 2018 Location: Anderson, Calif Status: Offline Points: 850	Post Options Post Reply Quote Greaser007 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 25 Sep. 2018 at 5:35am
	Sorry to hear about the fire. doggonit. My wife and i spent several afternoons hauling Digger Pine from a homesite where the same thing happened as your scenario. The neighbor had tossed out some briketts and the resulting fire took the tree supplier's huge barn and digger trees, and 5 houses including the home of the brikett t**ser. We got 7-chords from 2-trees, and the lower bark is charred. In 1971, when i was 19 years old, i traded a nice VW bug for a '57 Wagon with 327 and powerglide. That was an original 2-wd with straight axle, and it was a kick-in-the-butt to drive. Back then, there were no 12:00-15 AT tires, so i ran the 11-15 Armstrong Farm Implement tires, and they ran fine on the expressway. 16-miles from my home was the Carr Fire in Redding, California, which took out 1,100 homes in late July. The smoke was so bad that we lost the sun from July 23 until about Sept. 15. The area burned was covered with dense 20-foot tall Manzanita brush and an 80-foot canopy of tall Digger Pine trees. When the flames were 300-feet high, the Fire Trucks looked pretty overwhelmed. I hope the days get brighter with each sunrise :-) Len

mikec4193 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 23 May 2009 Location: Malta NY Status: Offline Points: 1161	Post Options Post Reply Quote mikec4193 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 25 Sep. 2018 at 1:22pm
	My dad and I back in the mid 1990's had a garage fire, it was 28'x40' and the fire took it to the ground too...he had it back up before the insurance clowns cut him the first check... Beware of those insurance folks for sure. He lost 45 years of tools, a 1937 Hudson Terraplane that was his dads, 2 snowmobiles and his life was never the same after that...he was in his 60's then and tough as nails too...he did rebuild but it is never the same... You just go within and dig deeper... Thankful no one was hurt... MikeC
	I am the squirrel....

cpt logger Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 23 Sep. 2012 Location: Western Colorad Status: Offline Points: 3040	Post Options Post Reply Quote cpt logger Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 19 July 2020 at 9:46am
	First, I appreciate the thoughts & prayers. Thanks. This has been much harder on me than I thought it could be. I suppose that I may still be dealing with losing almost all of the generation that raised me within three years. I am sure that that did not help. My last aunt died this last fall. She was one tough gal. She served in the USAAC & then the USAAF during WWII. She then served in The Signal Corp after the war. She retired in 1975. This week I got to work in a new-to-me area of the county. It requires me to make my way through a section of a wilderness area that had a forest fire rip through it a few years ago. Actually this area burned about two weeks after my barn, rental house, out buildings & fields burned. This area re-burned last summer. Since it is a wilderness area, there is no fire mitigation allowed. Heck, it is so dry right now that I would not be surprised to have it burn again this summer. The grass grows well it the high country. However, since it is a wilderness area, no cattle can graze on it to keep the grass down, so it is shoulder high & dry right now. One of the reasons that I get these assignments is that I do not smoke. There is destruction everywhere. Branches, fence debris, & tree trunks are entangled making a multitude of long uneven piles of debris that I get to hack my way through. The creeks have multiple beaver dams that create swaps behind them. These swamps also partially burned. The roots have burned underground leaving solid looking dirt "paths", that when stepped on, give way. I can not count how many times I stepped on the "solid ground" to find myself knee or thigh deep in a hole where a root once thrived. At the end of each day, I am black with mud, soot, & ash from head to toe. It even gets under the mask I wear to keep the ash out of my lungs. The first day my heart, (or is it my soul?), was hurting so bad that I had to pull over on my way back to the shop just to "get my head together". My boss apologized for sending me there after I told him how being back in that kind of environment affected me. He had not thought about how being in a recently burned over area might mess with my mind. He is aware of my own fire experience, he just did not give it any thought. He did offer to give the assignment to one of the other "experienced" guys. I told him I would be OK if he would cut me a little slack on this one. He agreed that it would be appropriate to give me a little lee way in this situation. I will not abuse that consideration. I have such a sense of loss out there in the burn area that I sometimes have to take a break for a few minutes just to clear my head. While I am supposed to take a 10 minute break every two hours, I rarely ever take a break, it is very unusual for me to act this way. I have not even touched any of my Jeeps since I last posted on this subject. It is like my head is in limbo as far as the Jeeps go. Of course working two full time jobs does not help. Since one of my jobs is "essential", I only got two weeks off for this epidemic. No, I am not complaining. I know many folks who are off work and have no income. On a side note, I have been told that my other job will probably go away this month. We will see. I have not gone into work there since February. I am in the process of sorting through some of the debris that is still in some of my fields. I probably should just scoop it all up into a trailer & take it to the dump. I am not finding much that is even a little bit salvageable. While I am a huge fan of recycling, I am beginning to think that it is time to toss it all out & start over. My wife is also at this point. The insurance companies have not been even a little bit helpful. We have had to fight them tooth & nail. I will not comment on them any more. I hate to cuss, especially on a message board that I hope my grand-kids will read some day. Again, thanks for listening I hope that I did not bore you-all. Some of this has been written & deleted about 15 times since my last post. It is hard for me to share this stuff. Yet, I have to deal with it sometime, so here ya go.

Flatfender Ben Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 13 July 2014 Location: Nyssa OR Status: Offline Points: 2657	Post Options Post Reply Quote Flatfender Ben Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 20 July 2020 at 3:19am
	I’m glad that your able to share this with your jeep family. I’m sorry for the after math of loss.
	1946 cj2a desert dog 1946 cj2a bulldog 1948 cj2a blue jeep 1953 cj3b yard dog 1955 willys wagon 1955 willys pickup 1956 willys pickup boomer 1960 fc 170 1968 jeepster commando 1990 Grand wagoneer