Lost everything in Santa Cruz fire. Some questions.

[OneFunGuy]

We have just been able to relocate to Los Altos Hills after the fire.
We were lucky and began loading up my truck and wife's car the day before.
I got out 12 long guns and 4 handguns.

In my safes were perhaps two dozen more long guns. Under the house was
46 .50 Cal ammo boxes filled with ammo.

We have not been let back in, but a neighbor snuck in and took pics of everyones place. Burnt to the ground.

These safes were cheapo Big 5 safes.

It seems in the rush to escape I lost 8-10 SKS's.

What are the chances of the ammo still being good, or the long guns surviving? I read years ago about a guy who bought a safe from someone who's house burned down.
Then, commentators said that the firearms have been "de-tempered"
and were destroyed, though still looked okay?

If I can find my safes, are the remaining guns toast?

Tommy

[NORCAL#1]

[LTC-J]

Fire will cause them to loose temper(important in guns), it will also frag up all the machine surfaces and they will no longer be in tolerance.

I would cut them apart and trash them. Contact insurance and live safely.

[ojisan]

Sorry to hear this.

The gun metal can be checked for hardness to see if it is damaged / softened by heat or not.
Inspect ammo, if none cooked off then probably OK.
It all depends on how hot the bottom of the house area got and for how long.

I wish you the best of luck with the recovery of your life and the guns and ammo too.

[Donkeypunch0420]

I can offer no insight, but my heart breaks for you, my sincere condolences. I hope you rebuild stronger than ever.

[Jeepergeo]

It is all speculation until you find and get the vaults open and see how the ammo boxes fared in the basement where it may not have been so hot.

Sorry to learn if your loss. I'd hire an attorney to deal with the insurance company and save yourself the sure grief to add to the grief you already sustained.

[lordmorgul]

Sorry for this loss, my family has been thru it and it is a unique loss. Hoping you find some items to recover if only for reminder. The heat present is usually very extreme, we found a drawer of silverware had melted into a puddle (my Mom kept it as a mantle piece). I would not use any ammo that was stored within or under the structure even several feet deep.


Andrew - Lancaster, CA
NRA Life Member, CRPA member, Calguns.net contributor, CGF / SAF / FPC / CCRKBA / GOA / NAGR / NRA-ILA contributor, USCCA member - Support your defenders!

[pacrat]

Sorry to hear of troubles. But don't give up hope and don't take uninformed advice from the internet.

Once allowed back in. Open and PROPERLY EVALUATE contents of safes. Keep in mind that the flash point of wood is at about 575* F - 300* C. If the wood stocks inside haven't burnt. By burnt, I mean burnt, not just charred or browned with the finish blistered. The steel is likely GTG.

Low Carbon steel alloys don't even start to lose "temper" until well above 300*-C. And the harder steel alloys containing chromium, vanadium, etc. Like those used in high stress parts such as bolts, barrels and receivers are much higher than that.

Gas Blocks, trunions, sights etc are routinely Silver Brazed onto barrels. And that is done above 1100* F without ruining them.

If questionable, spend the money to have them Rockwell Tested and compare the results to known good examples.

Again sorry to hear of troubles.

Hoping for the best for you and yours.

[Duck Killer]

Sorry for your loss

Just went through the fire myself.

Rule of thumb look at the stocks. If the stocks are good then nothing to worry.

[M1NM]

It is all speculation until you find and get the vaults open and see how the ammo boxes fared in the basement where it may not have been so hot.

Unless everything collapsed on them and they sat in embers for hours.

[Imageview]

Terrible, and sorry to hear it. Ultimately anything we say is speculation, some things have made it and some things probably didn't. For the ammo if it is visually fine (case, rim, bullet, and primer) it's probably safeish to shoot. All depends on the heat it was exposed to. Lead melts easy, but it was under the house. Fire is crazy, you never know.

The guns may very well have temper issues, even if they appear to be fine visually. The heating and cooling of metal affects how the metal binds together and gives it its characteristics. As such they need to be checked by an actual gunsmith for safety. I'd personally be pretty picky about who looked at them before I pulled the trigger on any of them. Even test firing them remotely somehow wouldn't be enough, since damage could be not enough to immediately disable the firearm but still lead to later catastrophic failure.

The good thing is you and your wife made it. Any possession can be replaced in time, and while we all enjoy our firearms here people count far more. I wish you all the best, this is awful but I am glad it was not something even more tragic.

[CurlyDave]

It is all speculation until you find and get the vaults open and see how the ammo boxes fared in the basement where it may not have been so hot.

Sorry to learn if your loss. I'd hire an attorney to deal with the insurance company and save yourself the sure grief to add to the grief you already sustained.

Having lived through an insurance-covered fire in Woodside, I can highly recommend a Public Adjustor to deal with the insurance company as a first step instead of an attorney.

Public Adjustors are people who have many years of experience in the insurance industry, know insurance law and customs, and act as your agent in presenting your claims. (We got more than policy limits in our case.)

PM me if you want the contact info for the one I used. I usually check messages about twice a week.

[Spyder]

PM Caliguy on here. His family had it happen in 2017 in the Tubbs fire, and he's willing to help folks through the paperwork process that is coming.

[strakill]

More than likely the guns and ammo are toast.

Start getting a list together and make plans to deal with your insurance company.

I feel bad writing that considering what you just went through.

I do truly feel bad. I wish you and your family the best in your recovery and rebuilding of your life. If something like this were to happen to me I would honestly have no clue what to do. I will be praying for you.

[dozer wright]

I'd be trying to get up there asap. Which I'm sure you are to get to the firearms and ammo.
I agree with Pacrat .
I am sorry for your loss.