Some of you know this story, some dont, but I wanted to say a very public thankyou to several friends who have gone way above and beyond the realms of friendship to help Lynn and I out over the last 6 weeks.
On May 11, just as I was walking in the doors of my work I got a phone call from Lynn asking where I was and that our house was on fire. I hung up and ran to my car and got home within 15 mins. By then the fire dept was already there and had stopped a fire that had begun in my garage, not before it caused a great deal of damage. That damage included destroying every item of tank filtration I had, all of the sumps/ skimmer/ Ca Reactor return pump.....everything.
Turns out that I had a surge protector that caught fire, in doing so it melted down through my camping gear, igniting all of that and filling the garage, and the house with a thick greasey soot.
When I got home ther was no electricity and no doors on the house. Lynn arrived a few minutes after I did. My dogs and my cats were fine, hiding through the house. They were rounded up and passed off to my neighbours.
We then made two phone calls. One to Tim and one to leighanne (Okcfishlady). Within minutes they were both on their way. Tim took control of immediate repairs while I with the help of the fire department pulled a somewhat smoking generator from my garage, fired it up and returned power to my closed loop on my tank. I have to say the Fire guys were absolute stars. 4 trucks were here and they had to use breathing masks to get to the fire due to the smokey mess. Those guys are something else and I cant thank them enough, then to help me get power back to the tank was incredible of them.
Tim arrived tape measure in hand and immediately began the task of getting my house secured again. Not long after Leighanne and Roman (happysak) arrived with a temporary sump, new pumps, pipe cutters and a willingness to help that left me speechless. Im sure if you were to ask them how I was on that day they would tell you I was pretty much incapable of doing anything. Inside a few hrs Roman had the tank running through the new sump and Leighanne had bought round 50g of new water to get it topped back up. Keep in mind, with my tank, once the power goes out the water drains that much that the coral heads are out of the tank in places. They spent most of the day at my house checking my tank and doing a major repipe job round the back.
WHile this was happening Tim and his wife Aimee were working with Lynn to get doors we could at least close and lock up. Three entry ways had either locks broken or in one case the door demolished (in honesty that door was falling apart...a mild shove, yet alone a good kick would have destyroyed it).
After that first day Roman and Leighanne made repeated visits, bringing new parts, a temporary skimmer, a new sump, more water and a host of other things. I would come home and find that they had been round to check things out. I never had to ask for a thing and I left my system in their complete and utter control. The pictures I posted a few days ago are a testament to the work they did. Without them I would not have the lights on my tank today because it wouldnt be worth looking into.
6 weeks have gone by, other people stepped up along the way, Wayne and Amanda I want to thank you for bringing me your AC units,a s well as Stephanie. 5 weeks without AC would have killed us....it was seriously draining us trying to sleep without them.
Tim and Aimee, I want to thank you both for being here when we needed you, Leighanne and Roman, I can not thank you enough. I know you well enough that Im sure you wouldnt want a public thanks, but I want people to know how great you have been. Lynn and I really want to thankyou for everything, for dropping whatever you were doing on that day and taking care of things for us when we couldnt. I seriously can not thankyou enough.
The fire was 6 weeks ago. Today is the last day of repairs and I can look at it all now and be glad it wasnt worse. I can give thanks that my pets all survived and that neither of us were there or injured. I can also give thanks that it is all behind us now I hope. Looking back....i dont know where the time went.
Roman/Leighanne: These were taken yesterday. Thanks once again.
On May 11, just as I was walking in the doors of my work I got a phone call from Lynn asking where I was and that our house was on fire. I hung up and ran to my car and got home within 15 mins. By then the fire dept was already there and had stopped a fire that had begun in my garage, not before it caused a great deal of damage. That damage included destroying every item of tank filtration I had, all of the sumps/ skimmer/ Ca Reactor return pump.....everything.
Turns out that I had a surge protector that caught fire, in doing so it melted down through my camping gear, igniting all of that and filling the garage, and the house with a thick greasey soot.
When I got home ther was no electricity and no doors on the house. Lynn arrived a few minutes after I did. My dogs and my cats were fine, hiding through the house. They were rounded up and passed off to my neighbours.
We then made two phone calls. One to Tim and one to leighanne (Okcfishlady). Within minutes they were both on their way. Tim took control of immediate repairs while I with the help of the fire department pulled a somewhat smoking generator from my garage, fired it up and returned power to my closed loop on my tank. I have to say the Fire guys were absolute stars. 4 trucks were here and they had to use breathing masks to get to the fire due to the smokey mess. Those guys are something else and I cant thank them enough, then to help me get power back to the tank was incredible of them.
Tim arrived tape measure in hand and immediately began the task of getting my house secured again. Not long after Leighanne and Roman (happysak) arrived with a temporary sump, new pumps, pipe cutters and a willingness to help that left me speechless. Im sure if you were to ask them how I was on that day they would tell you I was pretty much incapable of doing anything. Inside a few hrs Roman had the tank running through the new sump and Leighanne had bought round 50g of new water to get it topped back up. Keep in mind, with my tank, once the power goes out the water drains that much that the coral heads are out of the tank in places. They spent most of the day at my house checking my tank and doing a major repipe job round the back.
WHile this was happening Tim and his wife Aimee were working with Lynn to get doors we could at least close and lock up. Three entry ways had either locks broken or in one case the door demolished (in honesty that door was falling apart...a mild shove, yet alone a good kick would have destyroyed it).
After that first day Roman and Leighanne made repeated visits, bringing new parts, a temporary skimmer, a new sump, more water and a host of other things. I would come home and find that they had been round to check things out. I never had to ask for a thing and I left my system in their complete and utter control. The pictures I posted a few days ago are a testament to the work they did. Without them I would not have the lights on my tank today because it wouldnt be worth looking into.
6 weeks have gone by, other people stepped up along the way, Wayne and Amanda I want to thank you for bringing me your AC units,a s well as Stephanie. 5 weeks without AC would have killed us....it was seriously draining us trying to sleep without them.
Tim and Aimee, I want to thank you both for being here when we needed you, Leighanne and Roman, I can not thank you enough. I know you well enough that Im sure you wouldnt want a public thanks, but I want people to know how great you have been. Lynn and I really want to thankyou for everything, for dropping whatever you were doing on that day and taking care of things for us when we couldnt. I seriously can not thankyou enough.
The fire was 6 weeks ago. Today is the last day of repairs and I can look at it all now and be glad it wasnt worse. I can give thanks that my pets all survived and that neither of us were there or injured. I can also give thanks that it is all behind us now I hope. Looking back....i dont know where the time went.
Roman/Leighanne: These were taken yesterday. Thanks once again.
