Barn Fire - Smoke Damage '84 300D Turbo - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

BrierS · #1 12-20-2004, 09:02 PM

Last evening my old barn caught on fire. The '84 300D Turbo was in for the winter. Thanks to a neighbor (fireman), four extinguishers between us, we were able to hold the fire down until the local department arrived to finish the job. I have never dealt with smoke damage in a vehicle. Opinions would be GREATLY appreciated.

boneheaddoctor · #2 12-20-2004, 09:20 PM

Wash all surfaces with soap and water....Have heard great things about heavy duty Ozone generators helping....

And LOTS of air circulation................the sooner the better.

#3 12-20-2004, 09:46 PM

Terrible smell of burnt MB-Tex....
Might as well have burnt a body in that car at the wrecking yard *YUCK!*

Wash...

Brian Carlton · #4 12-20-2004, 09:47 PM

Steve, that's the worst news all week.

First Brier and now this. I am terribly sorry for this news.

It's the last thing you need, especially around the holidays.

I believe the BHD has the correct solution. Those ozone generators can conceviably work some magic on the smoke smell. I sure hope she isn't damaged too badly.

#5 12-20-2004, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrierS

Last evening my old barn caught on fire. The '84 300D Turbo was in for the winter.

That sucks.

It would be best to wash EVERYTHING you can get to with a good soap/water/deoderizer mix. You might also want to put a sented air freshener in the vent ducts.

Any news on what caused the fire?

stayalert · #6 12-21-2004, 08:02 AM

Ask the fire department for some reccomendations.....Seems they might have encountered this scenario before....Good luck. What alerted you to the presense of smoke/fire? cause?

engatwork · #7 12-21-2004, 08:53 AM

wow - sorry to hear that Steve

BrierS · #8 12-21-2004, 09:22 AM

Thanks all for the suggestions, thoughts, words of encouragment. Working from memory to answer some of the questions above . . . four of us had been working in the barn moving items between floor levels in order to make room for more vehicles. I had accumulated scrap wood from the year-long house make-over so I started feeding some of the real scrap pieces into my Woodchuck wood furnace. The Woodchuck has kept the lower level above freezing so far this year. That is my eventual workshop area. Though I tried to take every precaution when doing the renovation work I may have miscalculated on the exterior portion of the furnace installation. I have an exterior, lined, brick chimney. To maintain proper installation distances from walls and ceilings, etc. we ran a pipe through the wall, secured it with stand-offs, screwed each joint and made certain every fit was correct/tight. Where the pipe was going through the exterior wall we constructed it using a tile chimney liner with a stainless steel sleeve inside and brick/morter around it to form a 12" barrier between the tile and all wood. The actual pipe went inside of the stainless steel sleeve. Apparently, the aluminum flashing I used (thought it would shed heat faster than other materials) on the exterior to keep rain/snow from getting inside the wall transfered or trapped enough heat to start the 150 year old barn boards on fire. The fire chief complemented the safeguards saying it was better than most he sees in houses. That didn't change the end result. On a side note and to show how anal I can get over the precautions, I used Type MC electrical cable through out and had all of it on GFI breakers or outlets. That worked perfectly; tripping the power as soon as it burned through.

The MB has leather so it does not smell of burning MB-Tex however one can be as bad as the other. Only smoke damage to the MB. No other damage. That includes heat, water, etc. The barn did not sustain much damage though it is not useable yet. One of my neighbors was driving by and noticed the flames going up the exterior. Could have been much worse. I have thousands of dollars worth of antiques, tools, equipment, and misc. stored items. Only those that absorb the smell of smoke should be impacted. Adjuster will be here at ten this morning.

Brian, as you know, in comparison to the loss of Brier, this won't even make me flinch. Now instead of getting back into the workforce I'll work to repair the barn. Thanks. Storage for parts cars will still be shortly on the horizon.

engatwork · #9 12-21-2004, 09:37 AM

what story - glad to hear there was no more damage than stated

Quote:

trapped enough heat to start the 150 year old barn boards on fire.

Really does not take too much.

Pete Burton · #10 12-21-2004, 09:38 AM

bummer. I know that awful, acrid smell of a burned building. Someone torched my dad's insurance agency in '79, I still remember that smell. Maybe some sort of citric additive in the soapy water would help too? The sooner the better I think. Good luck!

Hatterasguy · #11 12-21-2004, 09:39 AM

BrierS glad here the fire wasn't to bad, wood can be replaced as long as no one was hurt or nothing was destroyed.

Sorry about Brier, losing a dog is hard.

We lost our Yorkie (sp?) about a year ago, we had her for 15 years.

We just got another puppy a few months ago, she is a funny little thing. Actually she is tearing apart something right now I'll be right back...

boneheaddoctor · #12 12-21-2004, 09:42 AM

The longer you wait the deeper into the padding etc the odors will permiate.....

time is of the essence....

TX76513 · #13 12-21-2004, 09:43 AM

Here is a very inexspensive but powerfull odor (smoke) oxidiser.
Not a masking agent like Frebreeze

http://www.nokout.com/

MS Fowler · #14 12-21-2004, 09:45 AM

Pete,
Smell can be one the best triggers to memories. The aroma of honey takes me back to my childhood kitchen, on a crisp fall morning, sunlight streaming thru the orange, red and brown leaves.
Thats a bit more pleasant than burnt MB tex!

#15 12-21-2004, 10:36 AM

You can make your own ozone generator by using a very high voltage transformer, such as a neon sign ballast. Try searching Google for details. It works great, but try not to breathe the stuff. I've seen ozone generators in use in hotel rooms after smoke or water damage.

Sorry to hear the bad news...

Lukejt