Hangar Fire

[rodsmith]

Very good account of the whole unfortunate process! Has there been any determination of what caused the fire? When you first posted about it, I went through my hangar removing flammables. I had stored some fuel for lawn mowers etc. Still have the oxy-acetylene set up, but secured it doesn't seem like a likely source of ignition. After your account about replacing household items, I am going to spend the next few hours with my camera documenting everything in the hangar as well as the house. Thanks for the write up.

[jaredyates]

We don't know for sure Rod. I think possible causes are anomalies with the electric service, spontaneous oil rag combustion, some type of electronics going nuts combined with electric anomalies, etc. There was a modest usage spike on the electric meter that began around two hours before the neighbors called it in, but there's no way to know if that was a cause or an effect. I think it's quite plausible that something was burning as of then, and that it took a while for things to really get going. We know that one of the land-owning family made a pass through to check on things around 3pm and that there was nothing out of the ordinary at that time. One of the doors was open when the fire department arrived, but the shackle of the lock was still in the right place and the body of the lock was in a puddle on the floor, so there's no reason to think anyone had been in there. The breaker for the electric service was not on the building, and when we went to turn it back on after the fire, the breaker was not functional. I didn't get to see it myself, but apparently parts of it were melted.. This leads me to suspect that as more of a cause than an effect, because while we would expect shorts to develop during the fire, the first one should have tripped the breaker and left it still usable. If the breaker somehow failed to trip, then the shorts might have drawn enough current through it until something else became the fuse. Again there's no way to know for sure how all of that played out in the timeline. My best guess is that something went wrong electrically, perhaps wildlife like birds or rodents or wasps, or a faulty piece of consumer electronics, and that was combined with a failure of the breaker to protect the circuit. The fire department wondered if it was the plane's fault, but I think that's just because they don't know anything about planes. The plane was the most robust and reliable thing in the building.

[AZBearhawk272]

Well communicated Jared, Airplanes and Bearhawk's are about the human experience and recognizing life's blessings which sometimes are not packaged exactly as we expect them at the moment. The Dream is still alive !

[Gerhard Rieger]

Building an airplane becomes part of who you are, with so much time and energy invested into it and then to have the privilege to actually fly what you have created and experience the functionality of it regarding travel, or just a joy ride, then to lose it completely in a moment must have an impact on a man. Thanks for sharing it with us. Stay blessed

[OhioLSA]

Jared, thank you for putting into words your reflections on the whole saga.

Probably everyone who has built an airplane, or a boat or a barn, or who has undertaken any large-scale endeavor, has a story. Many of us don't even realize it, until forced - by fire or other "mega-motivator" - to confront it. After reading your piece, I went out and looked at my Bearhawk-under-construction with a new perspective. I also looked at my shop, my tools, etc. with new eyes. I'm going to take your advice and photograph everything. And I'm going to try to remember that lots of other people have a connection to "my" project, "my" airplane. Then I'm going to get back to work and get it flying!

Sorry for your loss, but thank you for the inspiration.

[alaskabearhawk]

I can’t add anything else to what has been said other than what my Lithuanian grandmother used to say: “Vagis pasiima ką nori, ugnis paima viską.” Translation: “A thief takes what he wants, fire takes everything.”