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Hangar fire at Savannah

Ed_Wischmeyer

Ed_Wischmeyer

Well Known Member
Details uncertain, but it appears that the fire started in a Cirrus at the far end and other side of the row of eight T hangars. Don’t know about heat damage to the C182 in the hangar that backed up to it.

My RV-9A hangar at the other end, other side of the row of hangars was smoke-filled, so lots of extra cushions, etc, are probably smoke damaged. Don’t know about heat damage to the canopy or fairings.

Nine fire trucks in attendance. Don’t know if the fire shut down airline operations.
 
Fingers crossed Ed!
Guess all builders here feel pretty deep for their baby, probably more than spam can buyers…

Hope you guys make it thru with no, or minimal, damage.
 
Lots of soot, maybe no heat damage, don't really know

First report from inside the hangar is soot everywhere, and two light fixtures fell from the ceiling but missed the plane. If they fell, the ceiling must have been HOT. The canopy etc don’t *appear* to be heat damaged, but I won’t know for sure for a while. Replacing the canopy would ground the airplane for quite a while… And I don’t know about any of the plastic items in the hangar.

There’s no electricity in there now, so I can’t open the hangar door and won’t have power to facilitate the cleanup, i.e., if the hangar is not condemned. Not planning to go to the airport till I can open the hangar door for light and fresh air. Other folks have given about as much information as I'd be able to get myself.

The “plan” at this point is to let the maintenance folks clean and inspect the plane. Insurance should cover it because inspecting my own plane is not one of my strengths. I’m pretty good at inspecting other people’s planes, though — go figure.

Background: There are four hangars on each side of the row of T-hangars. I'm in the far northwest corner, and the fire started in the far southeast corner. Old hangars, no sprinklers, only one pedestrian door in each hangar door.
 
These "facts" aren't 100%, but the picture is becoming less... more... you know.

I called my chief mechanic this morning to find out what the air quality was in the hangar, as there's really no point in going out there if I can't stay in the hangar for any length of time. Stinkiness was a given, but because of the fire and and lack of ventilation, who knows what ugly chemicals might be in the air. Bottom line is I'm not going out there till the air is better. Not clear that going out there sooner would do any good, anyway.

He had to cut the conversation short because he was talking to people from ATF (yes, Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms) who also have a fire investigation function. Or something.

Talked to him again later on. Yesterday, he was allowed into my hangar for 60 seconds only. Everything is covered in soot, but on first glance, the plane is undamaged. However, that soot might be concealing heat damage to the plexiglass canopy or any of the non-structural fiberglass pieces.

The Mooney in the hangar behind me appears to be little damaged. Next door to me, however, is a Grumman Cheetah, a four seat, low wing airplane, like a Tiger but with a slightly smaller engine. All of the plastics and fiberglass melted, including the canopy melting into the cockpit. Regardless of how good condition anything else is, the insurance company will probably total it out. And this was a pride of ownership airplane, too.

Next to the Cheetah is a Cessna 172 that may have been where the fire started. Don't know. Speculation is that there may have been stuff stored under the wings that caught fire, and then...

The fire was hot enough that the steel was deformed in that area. Putting two and two together, the building will probably not be repaired and I'll be looking for a hangar. Again. Or maybe I'll get a shade port, right across from my hangar, temporarily.

My hangar slopes inward from the doorway, so no liquids will drain out. And apparently the firefighters didn't have access to hangar door keys, not that they could do much if power was out and they couldn't open bifold doors.

I'm told that there are ten insurance companies on scene this morning...

My mechanic says that they won't have a chance to look at my plane for two weeks, even if they had access to it today. Something about a hurricane due here day after tomorrow. Hopefully just a tropical storm by then, but my house is prone to power outages even with just a good rain.
 
Really sorry to hear you’re going through this, Ed - I hope you get better news once your mechanic has a better look.

…Bryan
 
Ed - I'm so sorry to hear this has happened. We would all like to think that we have insurance so we're looked after and have nothing to worry about. Clearly in the case of a fire that's far, far from the truth.

I hopes of turning terrible misfortune into something slightly positive, I know you will be interacting with fire protection/prevention professionals over the next little while. I also know I'm not the only one here who would benefit from a sharing of their professional knowledge and recommendations with respect to hangar fire protection. I don't have any fire extinguishers in my hangar right now and feel horribly exposed.

Please, if you are able to glean any good recommendations from the fire professionals, share them here so that others might learn, too.

Thank you, and know that many of us are hoping for the best possible outcome for you.
 
Canadian_JOY said:
Ed - I don't have any fire extinguishers in my hangar right now and feel horribly exposed.
[\QUOTE]

Interestingly, the fire marshall just did a survey of the hangars at my airport and, subsequently, the FBO installed ABC fire extinguishers and LED exit lights (?) in every hangar. I already had an ABC extinguisher for hangar stuff and a CO2 extinguisher for anything involving the airplane. Nice to have if you happen to be there when something burns. Best of luck with your airplane, Ed.
Click to expand...
 
Fire

So sorry to hear Ed: Hoping for the best, whatever the “best” is for you in this case.

Don Broussard
RV9 Rebuild in Progress
57 Pacer
 
Just talked to the insurance adjuster who will hopefully fly to Savannah tomorrow, ahead of the hurricane and the holiday weekend.

The interesting new factoid is that smoke can be very corrosive, and it takes 30 days for that corrosion to show up.

It seems that access to the hangars is very tight, possibly due to need to determine the origin, possibly due to structural damage.

So we will see... Thanks for all the encouragement and good wishes!

Ed
 
Much better news!

Concerned about the structural integrity of the hangar if Idalia is feisty when she gets here, the FBO got the hangar door open and towed the RV-9A to another hangar.

Pictures indicate that the soot is much less than the preliminary report, and the plane is getting hosed off this afternoon. No damage is visible in the pictures, but that's not the same as going over every inch by hand. For example, there are a number of "droppings" on the plane which might be the plastic part of fluorescent light fixtures. Some of those are on the windshield...

I'm hoping to get tools and other valuables out of the hangar tomorrow.

The insurance guy is planning to come tomorrow afternoon. He also investigated the Lee's Ferry fire a little while back.

Smoke-induced corrosion takes 30 days to become noticeable, so the plane will go into the shop then. And maybe I'll be able to fly it before then? The only point of concern is that the oil door was open for the battery minder, letting smoke and soot in, so pulling the cowl would probably be a good idea.
 
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Good Luck

Good Luck.
You have been very good to the community over the years.
If you need parts, please post it here and let's see if the community can help you out. This will probably be faster than ordering through Vans.
 
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