Detecting a burnt home

[1320]

A friend of mine lost his home to fire early this morning. He had a decent collection of silver coins, most of which were "stored" together in plastic prescription pill bottles and wooden drawers....dimes and dollars to be more specific.

The fire was hot, only the block foundation remains. With that in mind, I'm assuming that if anything remains, it will be "bullion".

Any thoughts/advice would be welcomed, especially an safety issues that might be present.

Many Thanks;

Jamie (1320)

 

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[kenb]

Well that flat out sucks, I'm truly sorry for your friend, swing over the entire site, ANYTHING you can find may be of value to your friend.

kenb

 

[stoney56]

Jamie (1320),

It's possible that they are burnt blobs of plastic and silver. However, people would be suprised just how much stuff does survive because all they see is a big black hole. As an ex-Fire Marshal and Asst. Chief, I've seen stuff make it pretty much intact. It's possible that if there was clothing over and around the containers, that they more or less insulated them to an extent.
As far as safety issues are concerned, I can't think of too many except for possible problems with tetnus if you're not careful about stepping on boards w/exposed nails or broken glass. Usually the items of value fall directly down from where they were setting unless a hose blast knocks them around during hot spot extinguishment. This is where sifting can come in handy and suprisilngly many items may come to light, relatively unscathed. There is so much misc. metal items in a normal home that it's extremely difficult to just run the detector over them, however not entirely impossible, unless you can watch your meter as you SLOWLY swing. Best of luck and sympathies to your friend. Hopefully, they won't run a long investigation to determine cause.

 

[madfranks]

One of my professors at my university lost his home to a fire, and the only thing that survived completely intact was a shoebox filled with two things: family photographs, and books of matches. He considered it a miracle and a blessing from God that those pictures survived the fire. I hope your friend can find something to keep the spirits high.

 

[Southcacalaky]

Sorry for your friends loss, Art...

 

[gldhntr]

after doing disaster recovery for over 10 years i can say there is a very good chance the coin can be recovered ...if it was being stored close to the floor, or under a dresser, bed, closet bottom, it most likely can be recovered in good condition as by the time the fire burns to the floor, everything low has been covered in about 1-2 feet or more of ash/cinder, which at its lower points will become suffocated and act as an insulation...we have shoveled out many burnt houses to find that even though the house is totaled the hardwood floor and things stored there are in perfect condition,, even the throw rugs remain for the most part unscathed.......even if they have been melted, which is a rarity, the silver blob will be present, most likely all together in one peice as it will run together usually, right below or near where the coins were stored....jewelry being thin/light will melt lots faster but always remains together, and can always be found in the vicinity of the ladys jewelry box, and while often melted together will still contain the diamonds and other stones.....we found jewelry/coins/guns so many times in perfect condition after total loss fires that we started asking homeowners where things like this were, and then we would go to that area slowly digging through the layers to recover these items....you wouldn't imagine the look on a persons face who has just lost everything they own, and then you come hand them family heirloom jewelry you have found...it will definantly, every single time, produce tears, smiles, and gracious thank you's......personally i wouldn't use a detector, but instead find out the probable location, and then slowly by hand dig through everything around the area...be sure to ask if there was by chance any ammunition close by, and if so, be very careful as it may be quite unstable..wear a good dust mask or respirator and WATCH FOR NAILS !!!!!!!!!!!!!......good luck......gldhntr

 

[Gypsy Heart]

My sincere condolences to your friend .I also lost my home in a fire awhile back...the only thing saved was the kids baby books and photo albums that one of the fireman happened to see on the bottom of the bookcase and he grabbed and threw into the yard. I am ever thankful to him.
But I had an old two story home and here is what I found out after the fire. Everything that you thought you knew where it was ,you have to relocate. A roll top desk that was on the main floor was burned to a crisp,fallen through to the basement ,but the fireproof safe box inside it with important papers survived. I had a wood cook stove in basement ,which acted as a safe and the money and items inside it was still intact. The force from the firemans hoses pushed items across the house and with the weight of the walls coming down,nothing was where it was suppose to be. My jewelry box was a melted blob.
After thousands of gallons of water being pumped on the house and everything ending up in a swimming pool of a basement , it will be covered with sludge from the ash and water mix. A metal detector didn't work in the house area as ,the tons of nails,screws and wire just made the entire looking process a nightmare. My advice is just take it slow and work through each area methodically.Once the initial big pieces of debris are removed,then he can sort ...slowly....through the damage. Things gunk up and stick to the sludge,so we laid a large tarp in the yard and went over the gunk with the detector before throwing into dump truck.

One thing that fire taught me ,was I now have several fireproof safes and everything important stays in them . I still have the wood cookstove and use the ovens for a safe.

 

[1320]

Wow, you guys are incredible! These are by far the best replys to any post I've ever had. Thank you.

Jamie

 

[stoney56]

Our family has made it a habit of keeping each others family photos on digital memory cards. I have a copy of the folks and brother's pics, folks have mine and bro's, etc. That way there is always a copy of irreplaceable photos and the cards take up no appreciable space in a fireproof safe. The same goes with serial #'s and photos of guns and jewelry.

 

[Michigan Badger]

I had a friend whose house burnt down in the early 90's. He and his wife barely had time to escape. Later he sifted the ashes and found many valuables. As I recall, he even found a big wad of paper money inside a tin can.

I work a site where the house burned down in the 1920's. I dig coins and jewelry that are mixed in with ashes. House burning sites from the early 20th century rate among the top choices for me. Most coins and jewelry I find are in great shape.

I hope your friend finds his coins.

Badger

 

[LadyDigger]

Jamie (1320), I am very sorry to hear what has happened to your friend. Time does heal and I pray they will be able to rebuild their lives very soon. Thank the good Lord, they are safe, that is what is very important.

Reading the posts from everyone gave me some great ideas to keep my items as safe as possible too.

Stoney56, being the genealogist that I am....I scan EVERYTHING in and put on CD's....even my kids schoolwork. I don't like keeping all kinds of clutter and paper around and this is a great way to preserve their younger years. I even scanned in their baby books as well as school year books and my naval med cruise books. All my military paperwork, etc. I have copies for all three of my kids as well as for my siblings (5 of us total). I love the technology of today...sure wish we had it in the yesteryear.

Even pics I no longer have, I have scanned the negs (they turned out great)....nor do I ever store my negs and pics together. I have a small safe as well, that I keep important papers (i.e., birth certs, etc) and the coins I have collected so far. I also have pics or scans of everything in the safe, mainly for insurance purposes, should something happen to my home, I can prove what I had.

I am getting ready to do my mother in law's house now. She is in her 70's and has alot of antique items and family heirlooms (more from like her parents and grandparents, nothing she really bought as an antique). Will document all her stuff and make her book, but I will also have this information in the computer and then place on a CD. And this book will be a great way for her to document what item she wants to go to when she gets the phone call "home". Her family will know they are her wishes.

Jamie ..... I wish your friend the very best to him and his family and will keep them in my prayers.