brad and i were texting about baits tonight when his house was struck by lightning. he was in the garage painting and everyone else was asleep. lightning apparently caused a fire in the attic around the water heater. they all got out ok and the fire department was there the last time i heard from him. thank god he hadn't left for work yet. i can't imagine how scary that would be.

Brad's having some tough luck lately...first a flooded boathouse, now this. Hoping everyone is OK.

last time he texted me everyone was ok. they were all out front and the fire department was in the house. hopefully there isn't much damage. tonight's storms seemed to have more lightning. we had lots of it here.

Thank you guys, I'm just very lucky I hadn't left for work yet when it happened. I was outside finishing up an order of baits when it hit and sparks literally came out of the outlets. I came inside to make sure everyone was ok. Everything seamed fine and on the way back outside I smelled smoke so I grabbed a rain jacket and walked around in the pouring rain and didn't see anything on the outside of the house. I walked back in the garage and started smelling smoke so decided to climb in the attic and when I climbed up the ladder all I could see was the hot water heater fully engulfed in flames it being gas I woke everyone up and hauled the kids to the car and called 911. The fd was here fairly quickly and got the fire put out. Luckily there isn't much structural damage mainly electronic and the water heater. I'm still very fortunate because it could have been so much worse if I had already left.

Good grief bud, you are really due for some good luck to come your way. If you need anything, you know to just let me know.

In a weird kinda' way Brad is lucky.....I've seen lightening blow the entire top out of a pine tree...like a hand grenade went off in the treetop....scarey stuff. Glad everyone is OK. Hoping water heaters are on sale at HomeDepot this week.....

the water heater is only the beginning. i texted "b" a little while ago and the lightning toasted the tv's, fridge, internet, about half the outlets, satellite box, and so on. you can imagine. the miracle is that he hadn't gone to work yet and was in the garage where the lightning hit. he said sparks flew out of the outlets so he looked around outside and smelled smoke when he came back into the garage. went into the attic and saw the fire. his family was asleep at the other end of the house.
everything can be replaced but it's going to require some work.

HELLLOOOOOOO INSURANCE COMPANY Life just suks while you are trying to get everything fixed and with electrical, it could have very well fused wires together inside the wall wiring. Big Job ahead.

It seams like it's going to be a long road ahead on repairs. Insurance doesn't have anyone available to come out till Monday at the ealiest. I keep finding more and more electronic components not working and more electrical outlets dead. I'm about ready to say the whole house may have to be rewired. My new 70" 3d tv, 55" 3d, 2 kids 32" tvs, satellite boxes, surround sound system, blue ray player, one fridge, kids music player, hot water heater, and all the plumbing to it and a long list of smaller stuff is destroyed. Have a cleaning company here with odor machines and cleaning up all the water in the floor. Clothing repair company came by and picked up most of the clothes.
It's been a busy day, now I have to decide where we are going to stay because the insurance said it will probably be the end of next week before we have contractors in the house. With the house running off of gas and it's shut off due to the gas line being damaged, water is shut off since pipes are cut in the attic and leaking, and only having power to roughly 1/3 of the house. Insurance want to put us up in a 1 bedroom hotel for 2 weeks that might be the worst part of the whole thing.


The main thing is though I got everyone out of the house and no one was hurt. I can replace all the other stuff it's just going to be a slow and frustrating process. Plus not being able to paint baits for a while. Thank you all for you thoughts and kind words.

That is really horrible, but thankfully everyone got out safe and you had insurance. Don't think for a second that you can't paint at the hotel. I have two large boot boxes I bring with me when I work with all my paint and supplies. Just cut open a cardboard box and you have a paint booth. I have boxes stashed at several stations. I would recommend leaving the concrete sealer at home though. Those fumes are potent. You and your family will be in my prayers.

hey b if you need a place to do some painting you can always come over to my place and work. i'd negotiate with the insurance company for a bigger place to stay. you might get in touch with a hotel up that way and see if they will cut you a deal on adjoining rooms because of the situation. putting all of you in one room is nuts. i did that once and found a hotel that was really good to us.

Great to hear you and your family are safe!! Everything else is replaceable!!

Jeff

Sorry to hear about all the damage from the lightening strike, Brad. Not sure if its too far from you but I have a 2nd paint bench with storage available here....completely wired for airbrushing, good lighting, HVAC.....and most importantly quiet. There's plenty of room ...just bring your painting stuff. I promise not to look over your shoulder too much . Keep thinking good thoughts...always good thoughts

Hate to hear that. Hope they get you fixed up ASAP.