Saving Comic Book Collection from California Fires 🔥 2 2

[Cool & Collected]

Rough week... not the comic room tour I was planning...  😟 Lightning sparked a series of wildfires in California this week.

Evacuation warnings quickly turned into mandatory evacuations and we didn't have much time to save my comic book collection. I have many rare silver-age comic books (almost all CGC Graded) that are irreplaceable to me... so I tried to save them as fast as I could... The pics/video shows how quickly the fire moved closer... 😱

I clearly was not as prepared I a should have been..., so I decided to make this quick video to remind all of us who live in "disaster" areas to take the time to prepare for them before something really bad happen. 

 

 

 

Picture show view from my comic book room windows as fire got closer and we had to evacuate... 

 

Have you ever had to evacuate your house and grab your collection quickly?  Any suggestions, better boxes??

Let me know if you have any advice on how to prepare for the next time. 

Thanks !

[Robot Man]

Oh man, that's horrible.It is that time of year again in CA. Not that Corona virus isn't enough. Where do you live? I live near the beach. We don't have those open spaces but we don't have to deal with this at least.

Yes, many years ago, I suffered a house fire. Luckily, most of my comic collection was stored some where else. I had about 15 minutes to get my wife, daughter and dog out of the house. Went back in and grabbed some papers (all stored together in a box), some photos, my computer, a couple of guitars and a box or two of comics. Between the fire and the water they poured on it most everything else went. Insurance covered the "money part" mostly but it was the other part that was hard to deal with for a while. We were all safe which is all that really mattered.

I keep my comics that are not stored at the bank in comic boxes. I could get them all out easily in an hour as well as a lot of other stuff. Much of it would go though. A lifetime of finds and memories. But, I could make new ones. It's kind of funny, when you think about what really matters. Stuff is just stuff but your life and the ones you love are priceless.

Looks like you might have come out alright I hope and dodged the bullet. Might be time to think of moving...

[shadroch]

I've thought about this, but have not done much. I considered putting together two or three short boxes of my super premium stuff, but that would make it easier for anyone robbing my house. As I have a small car and a large dog, space would be at a premium. So far, my only solution has been to make sure the books are well insured. 

[Robot Man]

Although the money part is obviously huge, money can’t buy the memories or the experience of when and where you found it. The thrill of the hunt and the score is everything to me. And a whole lot could probably never be found again no matter how much money you got. 

I keep a couple boxes of swill clearly marked “expensive books” in the front just so if someone who didn’t know much and in a hurry would likely grab first...

 

[Cool & Collected]

2 hours ago, Robot Man said:

Oh man, that's horrible.It is that time of year again in CA. Not that Corona virus isn't enough. Where do you live? I live near the beach. We don't have those open spaces but we don't have to deal with this at least.

Yes, many years ago, I suffered a house fire. Luckily, most of my comic collection was stored some where else. I had about 15 minutes to get my wife, daughter and dog out of the house. Went back in and grabbed some papers (all stored together in a box), some photos, my computer, a couple of guitars and a box or two of comics. Between the fire and the water they poured on it most everything else went. Insurance covered the "money part" mostly but it was the other part that was hard to deal with for a while. We were all safe which is all that really mattered.

I keep my comics that are not stored at the bank in comic boxes. I could get them all out easily in an hour as well as a lot of other stuff. Much of it would go though. A lifetime of finds and memories. But, I could make new ones. It's kind of funny, when you think about what really matters. Stuff is just stuff but your life and the ones you love are priceless.

Looks like you might have come out alright I hope and dodged the bullet. Might be time to think of moving...

 

Sorry to hear about your house fire.

The fires are all over California now... Los Angeles, San Jose, Napa, etc...

Another lesson from this that I should have mentioned in the video was no access to Storage Units...  Once the mandatory evacuation started there were street closures, bumper-to-bumper traffic and all 3 storage unit places nearby were closed. 

So if the fire had reached the storage units, the collection would just burn....   Banks are probably much safer.

 

[Senormac]

paging @comicdonna for input !!  

[comicdonna]

December 27th 2010 at 1:00 AM our daughter came into our bedroom screaming her bedroom was on fire.  I woke up and discovered the curtain was on fire.  As I was putting it out, the whole sheet rock wall turned red, then I could see the embers burning the studs.  It was the most evil thing I have ever seen.  This was happening in the middle of a blizzard.  My wife called 911, I got our daughter and dog out, then went back inside, while my wife removed some snow from the vehicles, so we could move them away from the house,

 

I grabbed 2 CGC boxes of comics and brought them out to my truck.  I was heading back in 1 more time, and this sheriff was telling me no.  The only problem was, he had 1 too many doughnuts.  At this point, the fire had taken out the power, and it was getting smoky  I grabbed 2 more CGC boxes, and stacked my 1st wrap of Action 1, a rare Superman Bread Card with coupon attached and an NGC case full of MS65 Morgans and HG Cameo PR Franklin half's.  The top came off the NGC case, and tipped knocking most of the coins out.  I also lost the bread card.  I felt on the floor for them but, no luck and I had to leave right that second.  I  ended up saving all my slabs, and the clothes on my back.   Lost all raw books, including a box of GA Actions packaged for CGC.  I was waiting until after the holidays to ship them.  sigh.   

My wife lived there 50 years, and only made it out with pajamas, boots, a coat and her wedding rings.  We watched the house burn until 5:30 AM then, the firemen helped us across the hoses.  The next day, the only thing standing was the chimney.  

[ADAMANTIUM]

8 minutes ago, comicdonna said:

December 27th 2010 at 1:00 AM our daughter came into our bedroom screaming her bedroom was on fire.  I woke up and discovered the curtain was on fire.  As I was putting it out, the whole sheet rock wall turned red, then I could see the embers burning the studs.  It was the most evil thing I have ever seen.  This was happening in the middle of a blizzard.  My wife called 911, I got our daughter and dog out, then went back inside, while my wife removed some snow from the vehicles, so we could move them away from the house,

 

I grabbed 2 CGC boxes of comics and brought them out to my truck.  I was heading back in 1 more time, and this sheriff was telling me no.  The only problem was, he had 1 too many doughnuts.  At this point, the fire had taken out the power, and it was getting smoky  I grabbed 2 more CGC boxes, and stacked my 1st wrap of Action 1, a rare Superman Bread Card with coupon attached and an NGC case full of MS65 Morgans and HG Cameo PR Franklin half's.  The top came off the NGC case, and tipped knocking most of the coins out.  I also lost the bread card.  I felt on the floor for them but, no luck and I had to leave right that second.  I  ended up saving all my slabs, and the clothes on my back.   Lost all raw books, including a box of GA Actions packaged for CGC.  I was waiting until after the holidays to ship them.  sigh.   

My wife lived there 50 years, and only made it out with pajamas, boots, a coat and her wedding rings.  We watched the house burn until 5:30 AM then, the firemen helped us across the hoses.  The next day, the only thing standing was the chimney.  

Dang... Glad there was some kind of closure or just something, I'm sure it was very traumatizing

Glad that y'all survived though  

[comicdonna]

4 minutes ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

Dang... Glad there was some kind of closure or just something, I'm sure it was very traumatizing

Glad that y'all survived though  

The boards were very helpful, getting us back on our feet.  

[badback83]

8 minutes ago, comicdonna said:

The boards were very helpful, getting us back on our feet.  

My God, Mike.  I was told basically what happened years ago, but some of the details you said were terrifying.  For real made me tear up just now.  I’m so happy that you and you’re family came out okay.  I know you lost most of your collection.  But it makes me feel so good when you post a new book.  

[Cool & Collected]

Comicdonna,

Thank you for sharing your experience.  I'm sure it must have been a very difficult time for you and your family. I'm glad you are all safe.

I didn't go through anything close to what you did and I'm still very stressed out/tired/worried...     

Learning from this experience I know I need to be more prepared next time. 

I've just saw on the news this morning there are more fires in CA now... and there are 2 hurricanes (Marco & Laura) heading to the US Gulf Coast.

 

[Robot Man]

Natural disasters and “acts of God” are horrible experiences. About all you can do is be as prepared as you can. If you have a large collection, you can be assured you might lose a large part of it. Money can cover a lot of the financial part of it. But no amount of money can replace memories that things bring. 

I went through it once and when I realized that my family and pets were safe, I moved on. The fire didn’t take away the collector mentality though. 

Those of us in CA are braced for the next few months. You can count on fires happening. I have seen some doozies in my life time. Got to accept it and have a plan. Hopefully, you get a little notice. 

 

[oakman29]

In California this is now almost a year round fire season. I never really had a plan until I literally saw a fire jump the 91 freeway by Green River off ramp, across to my neighborhood.  Well now you Cali. guys know where I live.😎

[Mercury Man]

2 hours ago, oakman29 said:

In California this is now almost a year round fire season. I never really had a plan until I literally saw a fire jump the 91 freeway by Green River off ramp, across to my neighborhood.  Well now you Cali. guys know where I live.😎

It's insane the yin-yang of this Country.  Here in Florida, it has rained just about everyday for the past 4 weeks.  It's raining as I type this.

I know it's a very large expanse, but still.  Just crazy what happens to other parts of this land. 

[WolverineX]

On 8/22/2020 at 8:05 PM, comicdonna said:

December 27th 2010 at 1:00 AM our daughter came into our bedroom screaming her bedroom was on fire.  I woke up and discovered the curtain was on fire.  As I was putting it out, the whole sheet rock wall turned red, then I could see the embers burning the studs.  It was the most evil thing I have ever seen.  This was happening in the middle of a blizzard.  My wife called 911, I got our daughter and dog out, then went back inside, while my wife removed some snow from the vehicles, so we could move them away from the house,

 

I grabbed 2 CGC boxes of comics and brought them out to my truck.  I was heading back in 1 more time, and this sheriff was telling me no.  The only problem was, he had 1 too many doughnuts.  At this point, the fire had taken out the power, and it was getting smoky  I grabbed 2 more CGC boxes, and stacked my 1st wrap of Action 1, a rare Superman Bread Card with coupon attached and an NGC case full of MS65 Morgans and HG Cameo PR Franklin half's.  The top came off the NGC case, and tipped knocking most of the coins out.  I also lost the bread card.  I felt on the floor for them but, no luck and I had to leave right that second.  I  ended up saving all my slabs, and the clothes on my back.   Lost all raw books, including a box of GA Actions packaged for CGC.  I was waiting until after the holidays to ship them.  sigh.   

My wife lived there 50 years, and only made it out with pajamas, boots, a coat and her wedding rings.  We watched the house burn until 5:30 AM then, the firemen helped us across the hoses.  The next day, the only thing standing was the chimney.  

Oh my what a sad story.  Did you guys figure out what started the fire?    Makes me think I need to be more prepared if something crazy happens

[justafan]

@comicdonna I felt sick reading about your experience. So glad you guys made it out and recovered. What was the cause of your fire?Did you have co2 or smoke detectors in your house at the time and did they go off but just weren't heard by you or did they fail?

All ya'll cali folks need to move to a more environmentally stable part of the country if you're going to collect the good stuff. Or just always have an evacuation plan.  Hindsight is 20/20 so here's my evac tips both your family and your comics with comics being last.

1. Invest in good quality smoke and co detectors (don't just buy the cheapest option available but no need to buy the most expensive) and test/check the batteries regularly. They make combo units but i prefer to buy the individual co2 and smoke detectors. Put both types on all floors and near your bedrooms. Get them linked and monitored to your security system if possible.

1b. Keep a fire extinguisher on each floor and check it annually. Replace each after their expiration.

2. Buy flood and water detectors. Put them in ur comic room, near your sump pump, or any problem areas and have them linked or monitored as well.

3. Always have and practice an evac plan for you and your family. Make sure your kids practice what to do if they can't reach you or wake you. Always show them alternate routes out of your house. Make sure they know not to try wondering around looking for their favorite toy to save.

4. Have go-bags for each member of the family, stash 3 changes of clothes, prescriptions, a credit card and passport and at least $100 cash per family member.

5. For your comics, have an emergency evac plan and kit. If you already strore them in cgc boxes its a matter of picking the ones to save first. If you have them displayed, buy the boxes for them to put them into for quick grab and go. Either way I would set aside a specific box or case that you can carry with one hand (has a handle or backpack straps) for only your top 10-15 most valuable or irreplaceable CGC comics or 30-50 raw comics or OA. This is where your ultra mega keys action 1, af15, 667 dell'otto, Gerber rare, single highest graded, 9.9 or 10s, or McFarlane and Ditko OA covers will go. (watch The Accountant with Ben Affleck to see how it should be done.) Why only 15 cgc or 50 raw? Cause thats the most you can probably safely carry keeping a hand free and not be off balance while running the inferno gauntlet. But if its that bad by then you're best off just saving your life. But do make sure you have at least 2 evac routs from your comic room.

6. Label your boxes with a large simple code in the event you actually have the luxury of time to grab multiples of boxes to grab in the order of the books you would save next. I like the idea of a box of drek labeled expensive but it may be equally good to obfuscate where your actual prized comics are by putting them in something or somewhere that isn't related to comics but still hidden.

7. Insure your collectibles. This should probably step 5 but that only restores the monetary value.

What are your comic evac tips

[solm4st3r]

There was a boardie who lost his house and collection in the Santa Rosa fire a couple of years ago. I'm not sure if he posts anymore.

[James J Johnson]

On 8/22/2020 at 8:09 AM, Cool & Collected said:

Rough week... not the comic room tour I was planning...  😟 Lightning sparked a series of wildfires in California this week.

Evacuation warnings quickly turned into mandatory evacuations and we didn't have much time to save my comic book collection. I have many rare silver-age comic books (almost all CGC Graded) that are irreplaceable to me... so I tried to save them as fast as I could... The pics/video shows how quickly the fire moved closer... 😱

I clearly was not as prepared I a should have been..., so I decided to make this quick video to remind all of us who live in "disaster" areas to take the time to prepare for them before something really bad happen. 

 

 

 

Picture show view from my comic book room windows as fire got closer and we had to evacuate... 

 

Have you ever had to evacuate your house and grab your collection quickly?  Any suggestions, better boxes??

Let me know if you have any advice on how to prepare for the next time. 

Thanks !

Looks like a scene from the Samuel Jackson movie, Lakeview Terrace!  Saddened to hear about it. 

Edited August 24, 2020 by James J Johnson

[comicdonna]

9 hours ago, Wolverinex said:

Oh my what a sad story.  Did you guys figure out what started the fire?    Makes me think I need to be more prepared if something crazy happens

The fire marshal couldn't come up with a definite conclusion but, it started in the wall that was in contact with the chimney.  It's possible the high winds had something to do with it.  

 

8 hours ago, justafan said:

@comicdonna I felt sick reading about your experience. So glad you guys made it out and recovered. What was the cause of your fire?Did you have co2 or smoke detectors in your house at the time and did they go off but just weren't heard by you or did they fail?

Thanks.  There were no smoke or co2 detectors.  If my daughter didn't wake us up, we most likely would have burned.  The house was built in the 1700's and was fully engulfed real fast.  

[SeniorSurfer]

As to the preparation which you originally mentioned, I second (or third) the idea of having 1-2 boxes of the super valuables separated from the regular books for compactness, ease of removal, ease of transportation and ease of identification in case of emergencies.  To deter ease of thievery, maybe code the boxes with numbers (take only the last odd number boxes for example), longer numbers that mean nothing except maybe if they end in a "27" (take 103727, not 104528) or even simple reverse dollar sign meanings ("$" are actually the expensive boxes to grab, not "$$$$").  Generally thieves don't have a lot of time to sift through boxes after they yank TVs off the walls, pull computers from their moorings and look for jewelry/cash.