Jestersix

There was a fire...

Wow, what a mess. Sympathies!!
Good luck with insurance. That might be a worse experience than the fire.

I had a reef octopus skimmer pump smoke myself, similar model, old AC motor.
But it just put a bit of black crud in the water and stopped.
 
Kensington Reefer said:
So today begins the loss and damage assessment.
Any words from those that have had the unfortunate experience of dealing with a fire and the insurance company?

Thanks to y’all for all the concern and kind words
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A year or two ago I had an expensive bike stolen from my garage and filed an insurance claim. I read up on advice, and the main one I took was from an ex-adjuster on Reddit, effectively: remember you're dealing with a person working for an insurance company trying to do their job and go home. It's not an enemy, it's a person.

They have a big backlog of cases to blow through, and they will have no idea what your stuff is, but they need to do their job. Make it easy for them. Give them a spreadsheet with everything you lost and want covered, with the exact model, MSRP, and a link to it. If you are detailed, it makes their life easy because they can feed that sheet to their minions who verify pricing, give it the stamp of vetted approval, and move on to their next case. Especially if you're friendly with them they are likely to help you as best you can.

Don't put protein skimmer with some parts, put reef octopus xyz123, then another line for a specific neck squeegee, and another line for the extra pump you had. Don't put 100gal tank, put red sea Reefer 500 blah blah.

Of course don't be fraudulent, but do be specific.
 
Hopefully where the fire was is part of your house and not considered another structure. If you added any additions or structures without updating your policy or property accessment their may be an issue Hopefully not ! This concurs with bathrooms or kitchen remodels as well not related in this case.. I had several friends who lost properties in Paradise and was their on site 5 days later helping..Some had issues with insurance as stated above..When or if the adjuster comes out try and find a mutual hobby or interest you'd be surprised how much that can swing things better your way.
Best of luck
Paul
 
Hey Erin - I'm glad you're OK! Let me know if you need help moving gear/tanks and if you need help with any carpentry/repairs when you get to that point.
 
Kensington Reefer said:
Alerted by my wife’s nose!
Ring smoke n fire detectors are on the list!
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Do so research on smoke alarms, ones that work via ionization technology may have a lot of false alarms in high humidity environments these tend to be the older type that has radioactive stuff in them (Americium if memory serves), ones that use photo detection method (think safety beam for garage door) those are less likely to beep off at you. A number these days are "dual action" alarms which I'm guessing the Ring one is because it says "Smoke and fire"?? either way, the one thing worse than a smoke alarm that fails to go off is one that goes off all the time because people tend to disconnect them in that case.

Either way, do a bit of research, I'm guessing your fish shack may be pushing 100% humidity constantly :)
 
Wow sorry to read this.... I wonder if a GFCI receptacle or breaker would have prevented this.... but possibly not unless the sump and tank water were also grounded.

I am an electrician, but I don't (and probably SHOULD) be using GFCI protection on everything in and around the tank.... but I am afraid of a nuisance tripping and shutting down heaters and/or pumps...

Hope it all works out for you....and glad your loss was relatively minimal.
 
so Im still trying to see how this happened, and it's crazy that fire started on the pump while it's still in the water? unless the powerline that overheated and burned up?
 
Angry Andy said:
Wow sorry to read this.... I wonder if a GFCI receptacle or breaker would have prevented this.... but possibly not unless the sump and tank water were also grounded.

I am an electrician, but I don't (and probably SHOULD) be using GFCI protection on everything in and around the tank.... but I am afraid of a nuisance tripping and shutting down heaters and/or pumps...

Hope it all works out for you....and glad your loss was relatively minimal.
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Cmon down
I’d love to hear what you have to see n say
 
ashburn2k said:
so Im still trying to see how this happened, and it's crazy that fire started on the pump while it's still in the water? unless the powerline that overheated and burned up?
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Yo no se!
The fire in there was so hot, stuff melted in the opposite corner off the floor!
The one skimmer completely melted inward, the skimmer cup is not to be identified
 
Angry Andy said:
Wow sorry to read this.... I wonder if a GFCI receptacle or breaker would have prevented this.... but possibly not unless the sump and tank water were also grounded.

I am an electrician, but I don't (and probably SHOULD) be using GFCI protection on everything in and around the tank.... but I am afraid of a nuisance tripping and shutting down heaters and/or pumps...

Hope it all works out for you....and glad your loss was relatively minimal.
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I'm guessing an arc fault breaker could have prevented this, I mean that's basically what they were made for to detect arcing (which I'm guessing is what caused said fire)
 
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