4th of July Fire

[G-stars]

Well while we were out, someone must have been using illegal fireworks. Long story short, our neighbor called and told me that there was a small fire on our property. He was able to put it out as it was mainly contained. But it had partially burned down one of my sheds. I asked which one, as I have a few of them on the property. It was the one that I had converted into a tortoise room. Well after assessing the damages, I lost 5 Burmese stars, 8 radiated, and 2 Egyptians. They were all in closed chambers inside, some succumbed to burns and others must have died because of the smoke or excess heat since they didn’t show any signs of burns. Some of the ones in the shed did survive the fire though.

All of adults were untouched and safe. The ones that perished were either babies or juvenile adults.

 

[PollyAda]

Oh my goodness, your heart must have dropped. I'm so sorry this happened to you and your tortoises.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Well while we were out, someone must have been using illegal fireworks. Long story short, our neighbor called and told me that there was a small fire on our property. He was able to put it out as it was mainly contained. But it had partially burned down one of my sheds. I asked which one, as I have a few of them on the property. It was the one that I had converted into a tortoise room. Well after assessing the damages, I lost 5 Burmese stars, 8 radiated, and 2 Egyptians. They were all in closed chambers inside, some succumbed to burns and others must have died because of the smoke or excess heat since they didn’t show any signs of burns. Some of the ones in the shed did survive the fire though.

All of adults were untouched and safe. The ones that perished were either babies or juvenile adults.

That's just horrible.

 

[jsheffield]

Well while we were out, someone must have been using illegal fireworks. Long story short, our neighbor called and told me that there was a small fire on our property. He was able to put it out as it was mainly contained. But it had partially burned down one of my sheds. I asked which one, as I have a few of them on the property. It was the one that I had converted into a tortoise room. Well after assessing the damages, I lost 5 Burmese stars, 8 radiated, and 2 Egyptians. They were all in closed chambers inside, some succumbed to burns and others must have died because of the smoke or excess heat since they didn’t show any signs of burns. Some of the ones in the shed did survive the fire though.

All of adults were untouched and safe. The ones that perished were either babies or juvenile adults.

I'm so sorry for your loss....

Jamie

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Well while we were out, someone must have been using illegal fireworks. Long story short, our neighbor called and told me that there was a small fire on our property. He was able to put it out as it was mainly contained. But it had partially burned down one of my sheds. I asked which one, as I have a few of them on the property. It was the one that I had converted into a tortoise room. Well after assessing the damages, I lost 5 Burmese stars, 8 radiated, and 2 Egyptians. They were all in closed chambers inside, some succumbed to burns and others must have died because of the smoke or excess heat since they didn’t show any signs of burns. Some of the ones in the shed did survive the fire though.

All of adults were untouched and safe. The ones that perished were either babies or juvenile adults.

I'm so sorry.

 

[NorCal tortoise guy]

So gut renching! Im sorry

 

[wellington]

OMG, I'm so very sorry. I hate the fireworks!

 

[Cathie G]

I'm crying for you. I wish people would stop celebrating the 4th with fireworks bomb and gun noises around other people's homes. Causing fires and burns and horrible accidents. Our animals freaking out from the noise. We don't need that anymore. I thought we won.🙏🤗

 

[Yvonne G]

Just makes ya wanna' go find the S.O.B's and wring their necks!!! But thank goodness for your alert neighbor.

 

[G-stars]

Yes it’s a sad thing to happen and of course I’m angry about the situation. But I’m trying to stay positive in all this. While 15 tortoise died yesterday, another 10 survived the incident. I also have all my adult tortoises.

 

[Tom]

Man that sucks. What a terrible loss. This is a huge fear of mine...

I've got your back man. I've got a 2 month old batch of platynota right now. They aren't selling and you'd be doing me a favor if you'd take a half dozen. I'll be smiling the whole time knowing what a great home they are going to. You've got my number, let me know when you want to come pick them up. I can't help you with the radiata or Egyptians, but I would if I had them.

 

[jeff kushner]

How cool is that....a horrible event brings out the very best we have to offer.....

 

[vladimir]

So sorry to hear this

 

[G-stars]

Thanks for the offer @Tom I’ll give you a call in the next couple of days just to talk. Don’t think I have any room for more tortoises at the moment though. The shed that burned down was where I had most of my closed enclosures and where I kept the babies.

Was busy all day today tearing the rest of the shed down and salvaging anything that was salvageable. Not much was.

A couple more tortoises have unfortunately died. I’m hoping the others make it.

Now to make plans on how to build another shed/ tortoise room. Not sure what more I could have done to prevent a fire like that. I had smoke detectors in there. I’m thinking of wetting down the sheds every 4th of July from now on. I guess I could install those industrial overhead sprinklers that they use for fires. But I’d like to think that this was a freak once in a lifetime occurrence.

 

[Ink]

So sorry for your loss. I'm glad to read that your neighbor was able to put the fire out and, hopefully, the tortoises remaining will recover.

 

[Rocco's family]

This is so sad. I'm so sorry for your loss. So heartbreaking. Maybe a good idea to wet down enclosures, and if you're able to install sprinklers, that's the first thought I had as well. I'm so sorry this happened to you.

 

[Markw84]

Terrible news. I am so sorry you have to go through this. Its never easy loosing an animal we care for.

 

[KarenSoCal]

Gus, this is heartbreaking 🥺 , and I'm grieving along with you.

Please be sure to post progress photos as you build your new housing. I'd love to follow along with you. 🪜
🪛🔧⚒️🪚🧯

 

[wellington]

Just wondering if a metal roof over would have saved the shed? You might consider that. Maybe even metal siding too.

 

[turtlesteve]

Wow I am terribly sorry to hear this. My condolences.