The worst Thanksgiving weekend ever.

[gossp]

Hey all, I just thought I'd share with you the thing that I was the least thankfull for this past holiday weekend. I waited to post this in hopes that a cause would be determined and I could share some wisdom or words of warning with you, but it appears that we'll never know exactly what took these cars.

Car 1. My sisters baby, 1939 Chevrolet Master 85. I was about two days away from putting fresh paint on the car. By the way, it is also my fathers first car and a former police cruiser from my home town. A real piece of community and family history.

Car 2. My baby, although not overly desirable.. I drove this 65 Falcon through college, got rid of it, got it back, and truly thought we'd be together forever. She could be saved, but it's a project for someone else at this point. Looking at her makes me a bit too sick.

I hope you all had a better weekend than I.

Take care,

Patrick Goss

[gossp]

And now the coon.

[Amphicar BUYER]

I feel your pain! My nephew had a new (in 2003) garage filled with the stuff it atkes a lifetime to aquire and several cars that were equally meaningful to him. He stained his new porch and tossed the rags into a trash can then went 40 miles into town. When he returned he found his 30x60 garage smoldering. The '78 F-150 hid dad bought new, his new (2003) TA HiPo and his show T-bucket smoldering. A 20Lb propane tank blew the front end off of the Ford through the roof and into the street. The blower from the T was a molten puddle about 2' across on the floor. You can see the remains of the back of the garage behind the TA and the F-150.

I feel horrible for you!!! Is there any way to save them? A neighbor brought back his '34 Chevy from stock to rod. It now is called "Crispy Critter" All may not be lost. The "Coon" doesn't look beyond repair from the photo.

[color:"red"] <span style="font-weight: bold">This is a good opportunity to be sure everyone here has fire extinguishers, escape plan and good insurance.</span> . No way to replace the cars, but you should get fair value for the loss. My nephews T was grossly under valued and his check only covered about 50% of the value.

[Ron Green]

WOW!!!

Very sorry to see your loss and what you must be going through. Luckily no one was hurt.

People say I went to extremes went building my shop which is attached to the house. I installed 4 sprinkler heads and heat detectors zoned to the security system. Seeing what has happened in both these fires above assures me I did the right thing. Good luck.

[Bhigdog]

A true nightmare.........Bob

[gossp]

The falcon would not be hard to bring back. The body is straight and for the most part just as solid as ever, but... I get sick looking at her right now and really just want the car out of my sight.

[Guest imported_MrEarl]

Patrick I know I can only begin to feel the sadness you are feeling and how distraught you must be from this catastrophy.It would be one thing to loose cars to the fire but the cars you lost were attached to a lifetime of great memories I am sure. I know it is very disheartening right now but if the Falcon can be saved, look ahead and make sure you won't regret letting it go. I hope you had insurance on the building and cars. Please know our prayers and thoughts are with you.

[Jrope]

Please accept my condolences. A few years back, a buddy lost a 1956 Ford Fairlane that he bought brand new. He had driven the car as regular transportation, and then, as a family project,restored it all the way up to senior status. As if losing the car was bad enough, it was all of the memories of his kids growing up around that car. There are those of us that understand that it's "more than just a car". Best of luck and hang in there.

John Ropelewski, Erie Pa

[jrbartlett]

I'd like to thank you for posting such a painful thread. I am going to be doubly careful about disposing of such materials in the future. Perhaps your willingness to share your experience will help someone else avoid such an accident.

It may be that the best thing for you to do would be to sell the cars as is and buy something else that you won't have to redo again.

Good luck, and let us know how you make out.

[Tom M]

Gossp,

So sorry to see that.

Amphicar,

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">He stained his new porch and tossed the rags into a trash can</div></div> What set them off to ignite?

[Guest rbl2]

Some chemicals will combust spontaneously.

[Tom M]

My wife brought home a metal container with lid. You know where I will be putting my rags from now on.

It is a shame that others had to go through this but I am glad they are letting us know what had cause it so others like us can learn from them. Hope that didn't sound bad.