Tank caught fire!

[jason the filter freak]

Ok so my friend in the Marines had a 20 gallon fresh and a 10 gallon salt (purchased from william in DC.)

Night before last night apparently due to a fire caused by a surge protector power strip the stand the tanks were sitting on along with most of the equipment went up in flames.

 

When I got there there was no power to the tank , the water was 68 degrees, and the clowns were gasping.

 

The 20 gal is a loss to the best of my knowledge, the damage on the 10 gallon is

MJ900 destroyed (I had one laying around)

Aquaclear 110 (fuge) destroyed (I've found something that will work temporarily)

Visitherm heater destroyed (I had a 50 watt hydor laying around)

Coralife thermometer destroyed (I had one laying around)

Battery Backup air pump destroyed (don't have anything to replace it with, hope the power doesn't go out)

Current PC lighting fixture soot, and some warping, the PC ligts still fire (the hardwired moon lights supplies are destroyed)

10 gallon tank itself some soot, and a little fire damage I don't think the rim is compromised

 

I reset up the tank did a 6 gallon water change, put everything back together as best as I could. over the course of 3 hours I've brought the tank back to 78 degrees, the occupants seem to be doing alright (emerald crab, peppermint shrimp, 2 onyx clowns, 2 feather dusters)

 

I'm running a bag of carbon and plan to do another water change. What other suggestions do anyone have?

Edited June 14, 2008 by jason the filter freak

[MLazar]

Sounds like you did an amazing recovery job under extrodinary circumstances, way to come to the rescue! When Jon gets back I'll bring your post to his attention and hopefully he can help.

 

Maureen

[davelin315]

Jason, if there was a fire, you need to do a lot more than simply change the water out. The soot from the fire itself has probably spread throughout his place and could be hazardous. Also, I would bail out on all of the equipment and make sure you don't throw it out (he can probably claim it against his insurance, although they will probably drop him if he does).

[CHUBAKAH]

(he can probably claim it against his insurance, although they will probably drop him if he does).

 

Where the heck do you make that assumption?

 

Do you know who his insurance company is, how many claims he has had in the past, and what his policy limits are?

 

My guess since he is military is that he has a USAA policy. If he does, he is more than covered.

 

"If" he has insurance, he can certainly claim the damage, but doubtful they would cover the source of the damage. There have been cases where the insurance company goes after the company who made a part that went bad, however more times that not those fall through.

 

Jason, if your friend needs some advice on what to do, send me a PM. I have been in the business 28 years, and in that time seen one person dropped from coverage.

 

Three losses on a commercial policy in 12 months will do that to you though.

Edited June 15, 2008 by CHUBAKAH

[mchippo]

I can speak from experience on this one. Back in Sept. 2004, my Aqualogic Chiller shorted/overheated and started a fire that took out my 72 gal. Bow Front, my study, and darn near my house. $80K in total damage. My insurance company (Erie Insurance Group) was amazing....covering everything except the livestock. They had a rep on site the morning after the fire and they pretty much started handling everything from there...can't say enough good things about them.

 

Erie did go after AquaLogic on the grounds that their instruction manual for the set up of the chiller was completely inadequate. Case in point, they specified if the chiller was located in a cabinet (e.g., in a tank stand), it shoud be vented to exhaust the hot air that it generates. I did exactly that but appearantely the fan I used to exhaust the hot air was competing with the fan the chiller used to cool the water. Bottom line is, it looks like the chiller was starved for air and overheated and shorted. We will never know for sure how the fire started but we are certain it started dead center in the chiller (where the electrical components were). The Aqualogic setup instructions made no mention of air flow dirction or on which side of the unit the chiller should be vented. Long story short, this case came to jury trial in April (yes, 3 and 1/2 years later) and Erie lost the case. We will never know why.

 

I am super cautious now and have taken a lot of safety steps on my new tank. In Fact, I had CHUBAKAH out at my house yesterday installing 3 dedicated 15 Amp circuits to my fish room. The circuits are both GFCI and ArcFault protected. CHUBAKAH did fantastic work... fast, clean, professional and exactly what I needed.

 

Thanks CHUBAKAH...I will call you again whenever I need Tank Electrical Work Done!!!

 

mchippo

 

Post Script...AquaLogic Instructions are now very clear on Air Flow and Venting....hmmmmm

Edited June 15, 2008 by mchippo

[davelin315]

I make that assumption because my insurance company, Travelers, mailed me a "non-renewal" within a month or two of my claim. When I filed a complaint with the state regulatory agency stating that this was the equivalent of a cancelation they told me that it was a regular happening and that I had no claim based on it. When I checked into it further, when they jack up the premiums the state won't do a single thing because they have cloaked it under the veil of a non-renewal and offered me a new contract at a substantially higher price. This after I got taken to the shed by a really poor excuse for an adjuster who offered me $750 to repaint 4 rooms including a 2 story foyer and ceilings, said that purchasing shoes for my children in the middle of winter when we were told to not take anything out of the house by both the fire department and a clean up service as it might not be safe until it was cleaned was an exorbitant expenditure, and who did not want to pay for the damages to the house that he caused by tracking soot through it onto area rugs (among many other things). Anyway, when an insurance company that you have been with for 10+ years and never filed a single claim does that after one incident, I consider that dropping you. So that's why I say they will probably drop him. Do I sound bitter? Of course, but it's also based on the fact that the State Agency told me that it's routine, as did the insurance company, as did my insurance agent and a friend that's an adjuster for another company. I'm glad that others have had good experiences, but I will never go with Travelers again and recommend everyone from going with them (they also did not send in the weekend adjuster they had on duty for this, did not give me any of the emergency money they said should have been given to me, and did not rectify any of the problems until they replaced the adjuster that was working against me on this whole thing rejecting every single claim and making it an incredibly painful process, including demanding multiple copies of pictures of things after they were authorized for payment and thrown out).

[CHUBAKAH]

If you were to do a search on top 5 worst companies in the country, Travelers I bet is in the top 3, and there is much documentation.

 

Not only do they not take care of their customers, they completely bend the restoration contractor over as well.

 

If we had a choice of not working with them, we wouldn't. Unfortunately they are thrown together with several companies which create a "Program"

 

That being said, I can promise you that this is the exception, and not the rule in the industry.

 

State Farm, Farmers, USAA, CHUB, Allstate, and Encompass all take care of their customers for the most part, but you have to rely on your adjuster with each of these companies. It's just not as cut throat is being dropped for filing a claim.

[jason the filter freak]

i think he's got all the insurance stuff figured out what else but running carbon can i do? i've replaced everything but the tank and the lights... i don't know what else to do.

[davelin315]

Jason, what actually caught fire and what type of smoke was the tank exposed to? I ditched all of the rock from the tank I had and also everything in it. I salvaged one thing - a royal gramma.

 

Hmmm... my insurance agents have always recommended Travelers as the number 1 company out there.

[lanman]

Jason, what actually caught fire and what type of smoke was the tank exposed to? I ditched all of the rock from the tank I had and also everything in it. I salvaged one thing - a royal gramma.

 

Hmmm... my insurance agents have always recommended Travelers as the number 1 company out there.

 

Perhaps when you're really BAD - you offer agents a larger bonus?

 

bob

[CHUBAKAH]

Travelers Insurance Company SUCKS

http://linda-sands.blogspot.com/2006/02/tr...pany-sucks.html

 

YouTube - travelers insurance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVnqHLS15XI

 

FRAUD AND RACKETEERING BY INSURANCE INDUSTRY

http://graham.main.nc.us/~bhammel/ins.html

 

State Farm is the #1 company for home owners insurance by a long shot when it comes to coverage.

 

Can't wait to tell the people in my office that agents are telling people Travelers is #1. I'm sure that will get a huge chuckle.

[Rascal]

State Farm, Farmers, USAA, CHUB, Allstate, and Encompass all take care of their customers for the most part,

 

Hmmm, not so sure about Allstate. We called them when our basement flooded soon after we bought the house. It was a finished basement so the dry-wall, carpet, etc. . . all had to be ripped out and replaced. I didn't really think they would cover anything but figured it couldn't hurt to call and make a claim. Worst they could say was no, right? Well, they did say no but then next year sent us a note saying they would drop us unless we could provide proof that we had installed a waterproofing system. In essence: "We will not cover you unless you prove to us that you are protected against damage that we will not cover anyway." I'm still bitter.

 

i think he's got all the insurance stuff figured out what else but running carbon can i do? i've replaced everything but the tank and the lights... i don't know what else to do.

 

When something like this happens I like to run a variety of chemical media in addition to carbon (stuff like purigen and polyfilter) just to make sure all the toxins are taken out.

[CHUBAKAH]

Hmmm, not so sure about Allstate. We called them when our basement flooded soon after we bought the house. It was a finished basement so the dry-wall, carpet, etc. . . all had to be ripped out and replaced. I didn't really think they would cover anything but figured it couldn't hurt to call and make a claim. Worst they could say was no, right? Well, they did say no but then next year sent us a note saying they would drop us unless we could provide proof that we had installed a waterproofing system. In essence: "We will not cover you unless you prove to us that you are protected against damage that we will not cover anyway." I'm still bitter.

 

 

Without even knowing the entire situation, you are talking about ground water right? You have or had a grading issue, and yes most, if not ALL insurance companies will require to have proper grading.

 

Why would someone cover a home that has a problem just waiting to happen?

[Rascal]

Without even knowing the entire situation, you are talking about ground water right? You have or had a grading issue, and yes most, if not ALL insurance companies will require to have proper grading.

Nope, never had a grading issue. Just seepage from a high water table into an older foundation at the footer, as seen here -- http://www.valuedry.com/foundations.htm. It was a condition that caused some slow, gradual accumulation of water damage until some idiot ( ) left an outdoor faucet on (with a hose conected to it and the nozzle turned off, but still) while away on vacation. The hose burst and water ran for 2 days right next to the house before our neighbor turned it off. We had 2-3 inches of standing water in the house when we returned almost a week later. Allstate said they wouldn't cover anything because the damage was really due to the structural problem with the foundation. No problem.

 

Why would someone cover a home that has a problem just waiting to happen?

 

Because they had already established they wouldn't provide coverage for that particular problem anyway?

 

I guess I just don't understand insurance co. logic. In then end though they were the ones who got dropped and none of the other insurance companies even questioned the basement. I'm sure if there was a grading issue then like you said it would have been different.

[CHUBAKAH]

So I guessed wrong. In any case, if it is "ground water" it is never covered "UNLESS" you had a sump pump that did not work, or was defective, or couldn't work due to a power outage. Even then, some companies are turning down claims even in a power outage, because there are battery backup systems available to hook to those said sump pumps.

 

Again, it's going to boil down to your adjuster with every company.

 

The squeaky wheel in this business does get the grease a lot of times.