200 miles under the keel in one day ... or, how a house fire ruined our cruise

LaRea

The Admiral and I had three wonderful days hanging out with @Dream_Innand other Rinker friends at Solomon's Island, and made a fantastic 60-mile run to Deltaville on the Rappahannock River.  Then, as we pulled into the Deltaville around noon, we got the phone call you never want to get:  our house was on fire!  

So we dashed home by boat ... 140 miles up the Potomac at 34-36 mph.  We had calm water and perfect weather the entire way, but we were far too distracted to enjoy it.  Put 200 miles under the keel in a day.  

The heroes from Fairfax County Fire & Rescue got to our house in just 6 minutes (!!), and they were able to save most of the house.  Still, there was heavy damage.  Half of the house has to be gutted because of fire, water or both.  Every item that survived the fire has to be removed for smoke cleaning ... clothing, furniture, every pot and pan, every fork and spoon, a garage very full of tools, a drum studio and much more.  We're in temporary housing until Christmas or longer.  

The picture below shows where the fire breached into the main dwelling.  Five more minutes and we'd have lost the entire house.  

I'm focusing on the positives:  no firefighters got hurt, they saved the house, and insurance will make it right for us.  

The cruise ended badly, but it sure did start out nice!

  

aero3113

WoW! So sorry, glad no one was hurt. Any clue on how the fire started?

Liberty44140

Oh man LR sorry to see this! Glad you guys are ok. Stuff can be replaced. Glad you had a seamless ride home 

LaRea

It was an electrical fire in a storage room above the garage.  We have a fire forensics expert working to figure it out.

rasbury

Wow bud- so sorry to hear about this and I'm sure there will be a lot to work through to get your home right again...good luck and prayers.

Ian

So sorry to hear @LaRea, just getting the call would have been devastating. Good positive outlook, it gets better from here.

Black_Diamond

Wow. Sorry on that mess. Hopefully all works out well for you guys!

skennelly

Wow @LaRea so happy nobody was hurt.  Scary situation.

boatman37

Wow. Sorry to hear this.

raybo3

Sorry for the fire. Thank God you or your family are safe and that is the most important thing. Good luck with the mess.

Handymans342

Wow! Damage can always be fixed, lives can't. On the bright side, the cars are good right?

LaRea

Thanks guys.  It was depressing to watch as they started packing up all of our stuff.  What a huge, huge job, and we have a million decisions to make during the next few months.  

My car got dinged up a bit when they broke down the garage door, but it's fixable.  

cls10105

That's terrible. Sorry to hear that man. Glad you and your family are safe everything else will get back to normal in time.

GMSLITHO

Guess your neighbors or someone was looking out for you it sounds like it could have been a lot worse 

Handymans342

Does this mean you will be in town for Thanksgiving???😁

LaRea

Yeah, my neighbor saw it and called 911, and started banging on the door to see if anybody was home.  If he had arrived five minutes later, or if it had happened at night, we would have lost everything.  

raybo3

Do you know the cause???? 

Willhound

Wow! So happy to hear no one was hurt or worse. Stuff can be replaced. Hang in there, we're all rooting for you.

LaRea

Not yet.  We have more forensic investigators coming over today and Monday.  

reneechris14

So sorry for this its terrible. Glad you and the family is ok. 

TonyG13

Glad you and yours are OK - and great to have an observant neighbor.

Spyderweb

Just terrible.  Can't imagine the emotions you must have (and are) going through.  So glad you're looking at the positives.  Hang in here.  

Lake_Bum

Wow.....probably a blessing you weren't home! Who knows what could have happened to you guys if you attempted to save stuff in the moment!   Thank God everyone is okay, and a HUGE thank you for that neighbor! 
A great friend of mine lost his house to a fire on New Years Eve a year and a half ago. It took almost a full year for them to get rebuilt. 

Handymans342

Post some pics of what caused it if you can

LaRea

Maybe after they finish their investigation.  

69fastback

So sorry to hear it. Smoke and water damage are almost as devastating as the actual fire. Hopefully insurance takes care of you. 

Handymans342

You will get all new ductwork. 

Handymans342

Take advantage of the situation and do some improvements. 

randy56

Sorry Man, glad you have good neighbors. That looks stressful, have a refreshing beverage. There is much to be thankful for. 

trip_n

that suxs=sorry for your loss
im with lake_bum = good thing you were not ay home

Dream_Inn

Chris, both you and Diane have been in our thoughts since all of this happened.  You know there is a group of us up here that will help in any way that we can.  As everyone has said, material stuff can be fixed.  Many were asking about you at Rinkervous as well.