[S Clark]

Brush fires came within a mile of the house yesterday and we were told to evacuate.  I grabbed the Dodd battery pre-amp, my Moscode amp, and my restored vintage Knight KB-85 amp and left the rest to burn.  If I had had more time to think, I would have saved some of my harder to find vinyl. When you have 10 minutes to save what you want to keep, you create a priority in a hurry. 

Fortunately,  45 minutes after evacuating, the wind changed and the firefighters saved our house and the neighbors as well-although we had a sleepless night until finding the house intact the next morning.

If you could only grab a couple of items in your system, what would they be?

Scott

[jermmd]

My computer server would be first. All my photos, financial stuff, music and movies from years of collecting are on it. Everything else can burn. I'd love to take my speakers and amp with me but they are way too big.

[rockadanny]

(knock on wood) Left speaker (furthest from front door), then right speaker (next to front door). (knock on wood) They are discontinued models as well as the most expensive pieces. (knock on wood)

[S Clark]

Yep. Pictures went first, family heirlooms next, computer, and then stereo stuff.  Speakers take too much space, so they got left behind.

[richidoo]

If I could get to the NAS (network hard drives) without risking my health I would get that, but only because it contains family memorabilia, not the music collection. Nothing else in the system is worth any risk at all.

[WerTicus]

Id rethink your strategy next time, if the wind hadn't changed direction you could have been one of those burnt out cars of people who thought they could outrun a 100km/hr fire.

I think you should invest in an underground fire proof bunker / audio room

[S Clark]

Id rethink your strategy next time, if the wind hadn't changed direction you could have been one of those burnt out cars of people who thought they could outrun a 100km/hr fire.

We already had stuff loaded when the police came by.  An officer helped me load a desk, and we took off within a few minutes of the evacuation order - so there was no messing around.

[Don_S]

Equipment priorities--I get my ears out first then my rear a close second as I race for the door. 

I have full replacement value insurance.  When my system was stolen it was upgrade time thanks to State Farm and my savings account. My equipment can be replaced but I am a unique and wonderful individual--irreplaceable.   

[bunky]

Springtime of last year i had a house fire destroy everything i owned except for my car , F350 based welding rig and clothing that i had in the trunk of my car. I lost a BAT VK60 tube amp modded with V-caps and a Sonic Frontiers SFS 80 tube amp ,+ a Rotel RB1080 SS poweramp,BAT VK3i tube preamp,SAS Audiolabs 10A tube preamp,Anthem pre1L tube preamp and 5 other various other SS preamps,Odyssey Lorelei loudspeakers, Odyssey epiphony loudspeakers,Green Moutain Audio Europa loudspeakers.Paradigm Ref Studio 100V3 loudspeakers,Usher V602 Loudspeakers.A minty pair of Vintage Polk Audio RTA12C loudspeakers.A vintage pair of Boston Acoustics T830 loudspeakers,Audio Aero Prima tube CDP,HRAM JD100a stage 3+ tube CDP,Symphonic line Vibrato CDP, Cambridge Audio 840C CDP and various IC and speaker,power cables. I without realising it let my renters insurance lapse  Myself and my daughter Courtney with the help of family and dear friends at the Audiocircle,Audionervosa and Club Polk forums have rebounded and I owe a debt of gratitude to each and every person who came to our aid in our time of need,Again thanks Guys  ....WCW III

[Nick77]

Boy I wish I had some equipment that would take priorty, but it would just be the wife and pets.

Scott glad your ok and the LS9 project still lives for another day.

[Phil Taylor]

I'd grab my laptop - the rest is insured and replaceable ... data (family pics on the laptop) aren't.

[Don_S]

I'd grab my laptop - the rest is insured and replaceable ... data (family pics on the laptop) aren't.

Phil, Good point and a reminder to those who use desktops for those applications.  Keep the desktop backed up on an external drive for a quick grab and run.  That also makes it easier for thieves.     Ouch, guess there is no free lunch.  Maybe back up to an external and then hide the external if there is secret data on it.

[nathanm]

If I was in a real hurry, just my external hard drive.  If I could manage it, the computer itself.  Then my camera if there was time.

[Bigfish]

Scott:

It is very good to hear that your home was saved from the fire.  I have a customer who had a fire start in his attached garage last year.  The family was asleep upstairs and by the time they realized they had a fire in the house they were able to just get out.  They had no time to say anything except for themselves.

Thanks guys for some of your posts.  I have two external hard drives, one being a back-up to the other.  I typically leave them both next to the desktop but I think I will take one and lock it in the gun safe.

Ken

[mjosef]

None...let them burn...burn baby burn. 

I wouldn't mind rebuilding everything from scratch. May just be the push to try new things, go in new direction. I think that after all these years (and futile purchases), I would end up with a superior system, for less money.

<hope I haven't offended the Fire Gods> 

[mcgsxr]

Once the family and all the other rational things were safe, and assuming that no risk to life and limb would result in trying to save audio gear, I think the following would be my priority.

1.  Bolder SB3.
2.  Hard Drive off my dedicated PC.
3.  My Felicia - don't know how to rebuild this one, and cannot imagine the "value" assigned to a DIY power conditioner by an insurance company.

The cd's can burn, the OB DIY speakers are simple to redo, and the rest is insured anyway - except I cannot imagine how an insurance company would value a 55 year old tube amp, originally out of a Magnavox floor console!

[Dan Driscoll]

In order of priority:

1. My wife
2. The safe (passports, marriage license, property inventory, etc.)
3. The computer case & back-up drive

If it is still safe at this point then I would consider the audio gear. But my TV is a 53" CRT-RPTV, it's not getting out without a large truck and at least one other person to help me.

[arthurs]

Let's see....foregoing consideration of other far more important people and things mentioned in other posts, and focusing only on equipment....

everything is upstairs and not an easy exit once you get down the stairs...
amps weigh 125LBS each...they burn
speakers weigh 310LBS each....they burn
pre is two boxes and combined is over 60LBS...it might go but likely it burns
cdp is 45LBS...might take it and tuck some cables and the modded Duet under each arm...

I'm screwed in a fire, better begin planning the new system I'll be getting once the insurance check arrives...

[Bob in St. Louis]

Scott, glad to hear it turned out to be a close call my friend. 

Like Mark, I'd probably go for the modded SqueezeBox (and power supply) and the RAID harddrives. But if the situation where to actually occur, I wonder if the state of mind would be clear enough to prioritize. By then, you've grabbed all the kids and pets and are most likely worked up into a bit of a frenzy.

Several years ago there was a house in the subdivision that burnt down. It got me thinking about how that works in regard to the insurance company so I gave them a call. They said if the house and it's contents are a 100% loss, they calculate the contents of the home being 85% the value of the house itself. I guess it makes sense, since you wouldn't have a $500,000 house with $10,000 worth of stuff in it. Likewise you wouldn't have a $100,000 house with a half million worth of goodies. If you do then you need to get additional policies.
So, the insurance company wouldn't necessarily care that some us have highdollar DIY stuff that to them has no perceived value. At least that's the way it is with State Farm in the US, other companies in other countries are probably different.

Bob