Urgent advice needed - we have had a fire

oystein · #1 09-15-2007, 02:52 AM

Dear all talkbass friends,
traged struck us real hard 2 days ago as we had a fire in our house. Luckily there were no people in the house but our dear dog Miko was trapped and died. Everything in the 1st floor is destroyed from heat and smoke but only a limited area had an open fire. The 2nd floor was only affected by smoke but off course some heat built up also here. My beloved 125 year old czech was standing in the corner of my practise room on this floor. It has a lot of soot on the surface but I can not see any visual sign of structural damage. I have just tried very carefully to strike the strings and it seems ok. I have a separate insurance on the bass with good coverage. Yesterday a professional team appeared and started to take care of things worth saving, computers and electronics and my musical instruments from the second floor. I let them take away the double bass, the caretaker for the instruments shall only remove surface soot in the first case and second they will treat it with ozon to remove smell of smoke. Is there any problem with that? Any repair shall be done proffessionaly by a luthier later on if needed. No action will be taken without my approval.
Any good advices in this situation? I am sure that some of you luthiers in here have experience related to fires. Is there a risk of damages that may appear later due the heat it has been exposed to?
I have a Fishman Full Circle pick-up mounted on it, is it likely that it is damaged from beiing exposed to smoke?

thanks Oystein

meev992 · #2 09-15-2007, 03:11 AM

I think, the only "for sure thing" is that you did the smart thing, and got the insurance. The electronics should be all right, as long as nothing is melted or any sensitive parts aren't compromised

Dave Muscato · #3 09-15-2007, 03:17 AM

Sorry about your dog.

James Hart · #4 09-15-2007, 03:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Muscato

Sorry about your dog.

yes, luckily the stuff is covered...

sorry about your Dog.

Marcus Johnson · #5 09-15-2007, 12:20 PM

Man... so sorry, Oystein. Thank heaven you were not in there at the time.

Kevin Hsieh · #6 09-15-2007, 12:25 PM

Oystein, you have my condolences. I've been through a house fire before and I must say, it was one of the most excruciating experiences trying to piece your normal life together after everything has been damaged by smoke or burned up.

I'm sorry about the dog.

Let me know if you need any help. I've been through it once so I kind of know what goes on.

Are you being relocated for the time being?

oystein · #7 09-15-2007, 12:41 PM

Yes, we have been relocated in a nice brand new vacation house only 2 km from our own house so the kids can go to the same school and keep in touch with friends. We just have to take one day at the time and hope things will noramlize after a while. I miss all my things though...

arnoldschnitzer · #8 09-15-2007, 04:00 PM

My condolences, Oystein. I am amazed at how well you are being cared for by your insurance company. In our country insurance companies make huge promises, then when you need them they rarely come through. Any of you guys familiar with the horror show in southern California after the fires a few years back?

meev992 · #9 09-15-2007, 04:38 PM

Insurance in the states, leaves something to be desired.

I've been thinking about the securing my investments...

I'm just going to spend that insurance money, and fire-proof safes, and such.

...if its not too personal, how did the fire start? electrical? I'm unplugging my toaster before I go to work now

rap138 · #10 09-15-2007, 04:55 PM

sorry about your dog, hope you can get into a normal life soon man

Kevin Hsieh · #11 09-15-2007, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oystein

Yes, we have been relocated in a nice brand new vacation house only 2 km from our own house so the kids can go to the same school and keep in touch with friends. We just have to take one day at the time and hope things will noramlize after a while. I miss all my things though...

When we had a garage fire, we got relocated to a hotel for a week and then lived in an apartment for about a year until the restoration company was done repairing the smoke damage and changing the damaged floors.

We took the opportunity to upgrade from carpet to wood that was just about the only nice thing about it. Make sure you keep up a good communication with the company because they'll act like they are going to work fast and then eventually only one guy starts showing up instead of a full crew... then work goes slooow...

TheSuzie · #12 09-15-2007, 06:10 PM

My condolences also, Oystein. One day at a time is all we have. I know thse things can be overwhelming.

BTW: Does anyone know the effects of shock ozone treatments on hide glue?

Quote:

Originally Posted by arnoldschnitzer

In our country insurance companies make huge promises, then when you need them they rarely come through.

I have been through this sort of thing lately. Lost most stuff and everything was excluded by insurance due to the particular circumstances. Won't even talk about the effects on the rest of my life. I have been living in a friend's storage room since last year after couch surfing a bit.

Peace,
S

Michael Case · #13 09-15-2007, 07:06 PM

Man, good luck with recovering your life, I'm sorry to hear about your dog.

Gubna · #14 09-15-2007, 07:28 PM

So sorry to hear about the fire, and especially your dog.

Last year my band's studio - along with alot of other musicians studios - burned down in Oakland.

oystein · #15 09-20-2007, 01:47 AM

My bass is back in good shape. It has been carefully cleaned by a professional company on record time. The person in charge is one of the most humble and dedicated person I ever met. He cleaned it carefully, vacuum cleaned it inside with a spesial constructed tool (made by himself), took a lot of pictures inside with a miniature camera and after my approval and trial of the instrument he used the Kolstein Cleaning & Polishing kit. There is no structural damage or damage on the finish of the instrument.I have a deal with my insurance company (which as Arnold pointed out treats me extremely well) that I later on will bring the instrument to a professional luthier to check that there is no long term damage to the instrument. There will be an odour of soot, but that is minimal. That could be solved by ozon treatment but he recommended not do that in this case. My bass has never looked so good in my possession. A brief estimate is that he has put around 40 hours of work in it, including picking up the instrument at my place.
The Gig bag has been ozon treated, but still smells of soot and smoke, I may replace that. Any recommendations? My previous one is a Gewa @ around 800 Euros, appr. 1100-1200$.
BTW, the only reason I rushed the treatment of the bass is an upcoming concert in the church sunday, otherwise I would not have been in such a hurry. My wife says I am easier to live with when the bass is back

Otherwise we are doing well, trying to cope with life in the best way. The dog is deeply missed though.

Oystein

milomo · #16 09-20-2007, 02:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oystein

Otherwise we are doing well, trying to cope with life in the best way.

The very best of luck to you and your wife in getting back to some semblance of normality. It seems like the bass being more or less unharmed is helping in that regard.

Quote:

The dog is deeply missed though.

R.I.P. Miko

elros · #17 09-20-2007, 02:56 AM

Glad to hear the bass is OK.
Sorry about the dog, and the material loss. That must suck.

What insurance company are you using, if I may ask, for the instrument? Is it the regular MFO deal?

oystein · #18 09-20-2007, 03:13 AM

I use Gjensidige both for the house, movable property and a separate one for the bass. I could not get the MFO because I am only an amateur musician, and instrument insurance is expensive through ordinary companies, but this one certainly payed itself off.

oystein · #19 09-27-2007, 12:38 AM

Just to give you a follow-up after the fire. The bass is ok, will still smell smoke for a while, but it's not that bad either. The gig bag is another story. That is going for a tuff ozone treatment.
There is no physical damage to the instrument, but the insurance company will pay for a careful overhaul/check of the bass. Since there is no available luthier in this area it has to be shipped away for this, the cleaning/tidying company will arrange this. So you guys can see that they are treating me good.
The concert last weekend went very well even though the preparation time wasn't the best for me. My Fishman Full Circle also died, probably due to smoke/soot. I played the entire concert with my AMT mic, also for monitor. It was ok, but I didn't have my usual sound on stage.

I have to re-order a lot of things, among them the bass books by Hein van de Gein, which I only had for 2 weeks before the fire. They are an amazing insight to the instrument and music in general.
all the best, Oystein