LFS burns down

[mr.x-ray]

Hey all. Driftwood Aquatics and Pets in Tappahanock burnt down early Tuesday morning. The store is a total loss and all animals except Gordon the Tortoise perished. I visited with Gavin the owner for a bit today. He is very hopeful that they will reopen in the near future. Fire started with some old wiring up in the attic and had nothing to do with the tanks or reptile set ups.

However, this is the 3rd fire involving someone I know in the last couple months and all have been do to wiring. And all have lost pets. And all have been total losses of the structure. Please spend some time this weekend and go over all your gear and check those wires and connections.

[Coral Hind]

Wow, sad story, but a very good reminder to routinely check out our setups. 

[mr.x-ray]

Misspelling cannot edit for some reason off my phone. Tappahannock, VA. on 17

[Origami]

Fixed the misspelling.

 

Thanks for the reminder and pass on WAMAS' condolences to Gavin. We hope that he's back in business soon.

[treesprite]

Very sad to hear about the loss. I wonder, were all 3 places  old buildings with old wiring?

[Incredible Corals]

That is so sad. The loss of animals is heart breaking. Also I'm sure they spent soooo much timing building that space. Hopefully this reminder I check wiring and electronics will help avoid this for someone. Thanks for sharing.

[mr.x-ray]

Very sad to hear about the loss. I wonder, were all 3 places old buildings with old wiring?

2 were old to include the LFS. It had been in that one spot for 38 years. Other house was about 10 yr. old

[Coral Hind]

Wiring can be scary, especially since you don't know who was working on it in the past before you occupied the space and if they were qualified at all. I was at a LFS today helping them with some wiring issues and found a switch that controlled a wire above the ceiling that went to nothing, just a set of bare wires laying on the drop ceiling. Could have easily burned the place down if the conditions were right.

[Squishie89]

In 2009 we had a house fire due to a problem with the electricity. Something happened in the fuse box (yeah, we were still using fuses) and when we would put out the fire, it would just restart because the electricity was still attempting to go through. 98% of the house was re-done because it was an electrical fire. But we lost 2 dozen birds, 8 of which were parrots and like children to my mom and I. Only one bird survived, a zebra finch. Fires are terrifying and not something to be messed around with. Do be careful with wiring/electricity.