Digging through an Ash-filled House
Our task was to clear this cement pad of ash, metal and rubble.
We traveled to Cobb Mountain on Saturday to dig through an ash-filled house.
A sobering, dirty job for friends.
Some eighty of us gathered at the Middletown Lion’s Club in the morning. After being given general directions and specific supplies, our leader spoke to us about our “mission” that morning.
“You’re here to help, of course,” a fire captain explained, “but you’re also here to listen. Don’t worry about completing a task if the homeowner needs to talk. They’ve been through a traumatic experience. For many people, just having people who care and who will listen will make a difference.”
That’s exactly what happened.
As described here, a dozen of us drove about half an hour west from Middletown to the home of members at our church. (The church is some 45 miles away in Sonoma County.)
He’s holding a piece of glass from the oven window. The cookies were lost . . .
The owner met us with hugs and thanksgiving. Her husband had to work that day and would not be there. She read a statement from him, thanking us but assuring us they planned to rebuild and were grateful to God for many things.
We prayed together and then she explained that the house had no hazardous materials and we didn’t need to worry about asbestos. She had been working without a mask or tyvek suit.
We wore them both.
The goal that day was to clear the cement pad that had been their garage.
It was knee deep in burned out appliances, twisted metal, potential dangerous metal shards and everything needed to be sifted.
Someone was coming to buy the metal. We needed to clear all the metal into a pile for the metal hauler.
Sifting through the ash
We had two sifters: two people manned each. Metal went into the pile, everything else into a heavy duty plastic bag. Our gloves were thick.
It took us five hours to clear off the garage pad. We had to deal with a burned out washer, dryer, refrigerator, stove, tools, lawnmower and even a crumbling chain saw. The iron tools survived–a crowbar, needle-nosed plyers, the dented Craftsman tool chest (do you suppose Sears will replace it?)
I unearthed several radial arm saw blades, still savagely sharp but nothing to keep.
We found distorted wine glasses, readable paper and pools of melted metal. A mechanical engineer with metallurgical expertise, estimated the fire’s heat at over 1400 degrees–which is where aluminum melts–but less than 1800 or so, since the iron tools were intact.
We were shocked to unearth what was once a fibreglass handle hammer–the hammerhead was fine, the fibreglass shaggy strings. The maul’s wooden handle was gone, too.
What little remained intact was ceramics or buried under ceramics. The doll house burned, but not the tiny ceramic pitcher.
But the lightbulb didn’t shatter!
The ash drifted as it was shoveled through the sifters, so we were thankful for the masks. The tyvek suits were comfortable on that overcast morning and by afternoon when the sky stretched a beautiful blue, we pushed back the hoods.
The fire began two miles downhill from where the house stood.
The couple have already parked a fifth wheel beside the garage pad. Going inside to use the cramped bathroom, it felt like a comfortable home. KDFC out of San Francisco–classical music–wafted from the radio and comfortable chairs looked to the view.
And then you stepped outside into ash and destruction.
Surreal.
Next time I’ll talk about the finds we made in the house.
Interested in more photos? Check out my Visiting Cobb after the Fire Pinterest board here.
From the doll house
Tweetables
Sifting through ash of a burned out house. Click to Tweet
How hot was the fire? Pools of melted metal tell. Click to Tweet
The remains of the toolchest
What remains in a house after a 1400 degree fire? Click to Tweet
The crowbar still worked!
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