Out of the Ashes comes a 1100 Gallon fowlr

[clekchau]

Summary: House burned to the ground last August started in aquarium room, cause was determined to be a faulty strip that was powering the LED lights although it was 3:30 am in the morning and lights were off.

I was out of town on business thank god wife and daughter got out ok they barely found each other and made it. Unfortunately all our possessions and precious inside animals perished including 4 dogs, 3 parrots, 2 cats and thousands of dollars worth of mature saltwater(550 gallon fowlr) and freshwater (600 gallon cichlid) fish.

Before the fire

alt="">

Fire:

alt="">

After the fire:

Back of house

alt="">

Aquarium room burned to the ground, steel stand remains but everything else including entire aquarium melted

alt="">

It's surreal looking back and what we have been thru the last 6 months losing everything and starting over. We are blessed that my wife and daughter made it out but still very traumatized by the events and loss of our family pets.

We are rebuilding a house on another plot of land, house build is in process, slab should be done end of next week. New aquarium has already been ordered, it will be bigger than before.

 

[Eckolancer]

So how do they know it was led lights? Could it have been water on the power strip?


Sent from pay phone in the airport.

 

[Eckolancer]

Also sorry you even had to go through this situation.


Sent from pay phone in the airport.

 

[melev]

How awful. For most people, this is your worst nightmare.

 

[joelq]

That's sickening and very scary! Glad you guys are ok!

 

[clekchau]

I'm not sure if it was the strip light it was a gfci strip not some dollar store one, but i guess i will never know, insurance company had investigators and that was their final conclusion.

it is a nightmare but could have been alot worse, they say 80% of people asleep during a fire never make it out, we were so lucky so i feel blessed on that end.

 

[extinguishfire]

Check into adding a residential fire sprinkler system into your new home. Not much more than doing a upgrade on your carpet during the build. From a fireman, take my word for it. I tried to get my builder to just plumb a line so I could install one after home purchase and they were so ignorant about it they wouldn't consider it.

 

[clekchau]

New beginning, bought some land in October 2013, building a new house

alt="">

Plot after leveled, waiting on soil test before digging the pillars for foundation

alt="">

Dug trench for underground electric wires. Brought steel fence from old house and installed it also.

alt="">

Aquarium has been built: 15' long x 4' wide by 30" high , acrylic.

alt="">

alt="">

the funny thing about the aquarium, my wife doesn't know about the aquarium size, she knows i'm getting one but she missed the size when reviewing the house plans, wait till she finds out [smilie=lipssealed.gif]

alt="">

 

[clekchau]

to support aquarium and overall have a solid base, 42 pillars were drilled, 10 feet deep, 12" wide:

alt="">

plumbing, forms and ditches, rebar

alt="">

foundation

alt="">

alt="">

 

[joelq]

@clekchau wrote:

Hopefully the insurance company won't be giving you a hard time? How's the experience been working with them?

 

[clekchau]

@joelq wrote:

Hopefully the insurance company won't be giving you a hard time? How's the experience been working with them?"]

Insurance company was great to work with, total loss on structure and contents etc , I was surprised how smooth that went.

 

[clekchau]

aquarium on stand, still have to move it in place as it will be a room divider, this is the initial spot it was unloaded. it took a forklift and many people to move, 15 foot long by 4 feet wide, 30" high. steel stand was a beast to move also.

alt="">

framing is almost done

alt="">

Note the guy below the aquarium, he looks tired from moving that beast in place

alt="">

next steps, finish framing, start on roof, exterior doors and windows

 

[DaveG99]

So when the home is finished that tank can't be removed?

 

[clekchau]

Sure it can it's only 4 feet wide and there will be double doors in the room.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[K_Red_Raider]

WOW sorry to hear about your loss but at least your family got out. Being a Fire Fighter it is hard to express how lucky your family was to get out. Im glad that you are starting a new house and new tank build and cant wait to watch this come together.

Do you plan on keeping this updated? If so do you mind if it is moved to the build thread?

 

[clekchau]

Yes I will keep updating it, sure it can be moved. The setup will be a minimalist fowlr setup with angels, tangs, a few wrasses and triggers and a big puffer like a mappa. I estimate a few years before it's fully stocked and stabilized.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[clekchau]

The build slowed down after the frame was up or maybe we were just impatient, the inspection of the electrical, ac and plumbing took awhile.

My two outside dogs survived the fire, after 8 months being boarded, they are finally home (since the water and outside fence was built we wanted to move them in to get adjusted plus we missed them alot)

alt="">

Fire Hydrant almost done, city required this since we are 900 feet away from the main street, don't ask me how much this cost... ugh

alt="">

Stone, was a mixture of 45% Oklahoma, 45% millcreek and 10% ripple (cool reddish rippled stone)

alt="">

Brick arrived shortly after, it's old time brick from Hanson brick called Cajun French

alt="">

Drywall almost done, should be painted white by this Sunday

alt="">

Tile is here, 2800 square feet's worth

alt="">

They are mason's are starting on the stone and brick today, they said it should be 7 days until completion, here is how it's looking so far

alt="">

By the next post hopefully we will be much closer to getting that certificate of occupancy.

 

[Robb in Austin]

Update?

 

[Carabelli]

Sorry for your loss, but, it is amazing how you have perservered and are re-building ... congrats and the house looks amazing. What did the wife say when she first saw the tank?

 

[clekchau]

That's the funny thing she didn't look at the plans that well and didn't realize the aquarium took up an entire wall!

We moved in back in July but it's been non stop construction ever since

Front

alt="">

Back

alt="">

Driveway

alt="">

Mastiff 'puppies' home

alt="">

Back fence

alt="">

Exploring new property

alt="">

Front gate

alt="">

This is not what wife had in mine when I told her I got her a big rock =D

alt="">

Haven't done much with aquarium, for now built wall

alt="">

alt="">

Drywall done

alt="">

Was going to make it a corner but huge pier beam in the way, made a viewing window instead

alt="">

Stoning of wall in progress

alt="">

Stoning placement finished, grout and sealer later this week

alt="">












Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk