kmealy Posted June 15, 2019 Report Share Posted June 15, 2019 Got a call today that the theater set shop where we do builds had a 4-alarm fire in an adjacent unit. That's where we store all our props, wood, tools, and set pieces. Won't be able to get in until Monday. Sunday is the final performance of the current production (already off-site) but we're going to be hurting for the fall show, that normally takes 10 weeks of Saturdays to get constructed. Thankfully no one was hurt. Here's our door: Link to comment
kmealy Posted June 15, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2019 Oh, and we're expecting 3-7+ inches of rain in the next 5 days. Link to comment
HandyDan Posted June 15, 2019 Report Share Posted June 15, 2019 That isn't good. Insurance? Link to comment
Gene Howe Posted June 15, 2019 Report Share Posted June 15, 2019 That's terrible, Keith. Link to comment
kmealy Posted June 15, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2019 Last hour update: We are very lucky. The theater where the current (minimal) set is has said that we can keep the set on their stage for a couple weeks. We won’t know if we can get into the storage building until the inspector comes, which is Monday at the earliest. We have been there and have surprising little physical damage to our stuff, just the building itself and heavy smoke damage. The fire stopped literally at our loading dock door. The rest of the building is completely gone!! So until we know if they will let us go in and get all of our costumes and building materials and sets, (or if they condemn the building) we will be on hold. I guess we are looking for either short term or long term storage at this point, not sure. Unfortunately, everything except the platforms at the theater smell heavily of smoke and can’t be stored with other items. Link to comment
Ron Dudelston Posted June 15, 2019 Report Share Posted June 15, 2019 Wow! I haven’t determined if the fire stopping where it did is good news or bad news. Link to comment
LarryS Posted June 15, 2019 Report Share Posted June 15, 2019 So sad. Hopefully everything will work out. Glad no one was hurt. Link to comment
John Morris Posted June 16, 2019 Report Share Posted June 16, 2019 Keith, I'm so sorry. Wasn't that the new location you all just set up? Link to comment
kmealy Posted June 16, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2019 6 minutes ago, John Morris said: Keith, I'm so sorry. Wasn't that the new location you all just set up? No, that was my other "job," the furniture bank. All is fine there except we're already out of room. If we need new space, it might actually be a good thing. The old space was long and narrow and work area was L-shaped. We had to be careful the order we built things in so that we still had room to work. That, and there was a lot of junk there. Hopefully the equipment -- mostly a table saw, a miter saw, a compressor and a bunch of hand tools can be saved or replaced with insurance money. Link to comment
Gunny Posted June 16, 2019 Report Share Posted June 16, 2019 Man that is terrible news, but GOOD news no one got hurt! Link to comment
John Morris Posted June 16, 2019 Report Share Posted June 16, 2019 3 minutes ago, kmealy said: No, that was my other "job," the furniture bank. All is fine there except we're already out of room. If we need new space, it might actually be a good thing. The old space was long and narrow and work area was L-shaped. We had to be careful the order we built things in so that we still had room to work. That, and there was a lot of junk there. Hopefully the equipment -- mostly a table saw, a miter saw, a compressor and a bunch of hand tools can be saved or replaced with insurance money. Hoping the best out come for you guys Keith. Do you have a tool inventory for insurance? Link to comment
kmealy Posted June 16, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2019 15 hours ago, John Morris said: Hoping the best out come for you guys Keith. Do you have a tool inventory for insurance? Not in my wheelhouse. I presume so. My daughter is on the board but she's currently on an Alaskan Cruise with the kids. Link to comment
Larry Buskirk Posted June 16, 2019 Report Share Posted June 16, 2019 I'm hoping for the best for you Keith. Link to comment
Artie Posted June 17, 2019 Report Share Posted June 17, 2019 Hoping things go the right way for you. Link to comment
kmealy Posted July 2, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2019 Update: We rented a shipping container and last week put in some costuming that would only get worse with staying in the building. Last Saturday we hauled the set that was offsite for the current show (that was going on during the fire) into storage then hauled out some of the wood from the woodshop. It was so penetrated with smoke it was deemed not safe to use. Unpainted stuff when to a nearby burn pile, painted stuff went elsewhere, presumably to landfill. It was so sad to see some of the items that I had worked on for multiple days just to see it thrown on the trash pile. We have probably less than 10% of the wood actually pulled out and very little of the other props. My guess is we will have to rent several dumpsters and fill them Most of the hard props and many of the remaining costumes will be lost. By the time we rented a clean place and ozone machine, then laundered extensively to get out the soot, it's probably easier and cheaper to just haunt Goodwill as needed. They had renter's insurance, but the initial guess it was nowhere near what the loss will be. There were two businesses in the damaged parts of the building. One was is a trucking & construction company. Two trucks were totaled , all their business records in the office, and lots of odds and ends of equipment in the shop. The other is a landscape company that is said to not have much insurance and lost many pieces of equipment. Both sections were total losses -- all that was left was burned wood, collapsed concrete block walls, and incinerated contents. We were supposed to start construction on the September show, but we have no shop to work in. It is unknown if the landlord will try to rehab the place or just raze it and start over. We have had a lot of support from other community theater groups in the SW Ohio area. Here is a chatty reporter that was there this morning, fast forward to about 9:10 mark Link to comment
Cal Posted July 2, 2019 Report Share Posted July 2, 2019 Very sorry to hear this Keith. Link to comment
Gene Howe Posted July 2, 2019 Report Share Posted July 2, 2019 So very sad. But, you and your friends will persevere, I'm sure. Link to comment
HandyDan Posted July 2, 2019 Report Share Posted July 2, 2019 So sad. A lot of work over the years down the drain. Hope all works out for them. Link to comment
FlGatorwood Posted July 3, 2019 Report Share Posted July 3, 2019 It is always hard to see your hard work and time trashed like that. As Gene so well said, you will perservere. It will be a lot of time and work to overcome such a tragic loss. The lawn care equipment makes me wonder if something was too hot when it was closed up and initiated the fire. Just a guess. It does happen. Link to comment
kmealy Posted July 3, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2019 On 7/2/2019 at 9:27 AM, HandyDan said: So sad. A lot of work over the years down the drain. Hope all works out for them. Yeah, a couple of years ago, I made some chariot wheels. The boss wanted them made up from 3 layers of 3/4" osb. I cut them into circles, then cut out the spokes and put in bushings for the axle bearing. Someone else painted them in multiple colors. Other people worked on the chariot that had a curved front and likewise exquisitely painted, and I made drawbars that had a big curve so needed tenons cut. All told, probably a couple of man-weeks worth of effort for something that was in the back of the stage for maybe 30 seconds. All on the burn pile. Link to comment
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