Fire the Winchester

February 19, 2022

A Winchester ruined in a fire needed to be opened efficiently and quickly.

By Bryan Kruysman, CML

Some smells in our trade are worse than others. When you get a call for a safe opening after a fire, it will be bad. I am in central Florida, so it’s hot and humid, and that tends to amplify the smell. What are those odors? Burned rubber, plastic and meat; water-soaked molded and mildewed items; soot and ash; and rotting meat. All this and more combine to make a soup of smells that is sure to offend your olfactory senses.

The Winchester factory was paying for the job on this safe, and they wanted it opened as efficiently as possible. “Efficiently” means with as little cost as possible. The bottom line was that this safe was toast (bad pun?) and was not going to be repaired, so open it and get out. They supplied a drill point for the solenoid, and that’s what they wanted me to do: Drill it, swing the door, and let the owner see if his contents were protected.

Other things to deal with on a fire job are all the booby traps and landmines. Okay, maybe not that bad but one mis-step and you can have a nail in your foot or rip a nasty cut on your leg. I think an infection would be easy to get in this petri dish of bacteria. Can you say septic?

If I can make a recommendation, wear long pants and a long shirt. It will help protect you. Yes, it’s hot, but hot is better than hospital or dead. My only mishap was an overturned cart. My drill index opened up and bits went all over — never did find all of them.

A Burned Home Partially Boarded Up With Plywood
Figure 1. The front of the house reminds the author of the movie High Plains Drifter.
A Burned Home Shown From A Distance
Figure 2. The roof is partially caved in.
An Interior Room Of A Burned Home With Very Little Left
Figure 3. The interior area where the fire started is shown.
The Bedroom Of The Home That Burned
Figure4. This is what is left of the bedroom.
Burnt Home Garage With Plywood For The Garage Door
Figure 5. The garage is boarded up.
Burnt Kitchen Appliances Fallen Into The Ashes
Figure 6. The kitchen (what is left of it) is shown.
Roof Is Missing From Bedroom That Burned
Figure 7. The remains of the bedroom have no roof.
Much Of The Burnt House Is Mising A Roof
Figure 8. No roof left on this part of the house either.
Landscapng Pond Surrounded By Ash And Debris
Figure 9. A landscaping pond remains in the front of the house.

On the Job

All the things that you take for granted on most openings were missing: air conditioning, power, a clean work area and lighting. The lighting was actually too bright (direct sunlight can put a glare on the subject).

A Tall Winchester Safe With Scortch Marks
Figure 10. The safe was located in a closet.
The Keypad From The Safe Was Warped
Figure 11. The keypad was not usable, but it could have been worse.
The Open Winchester Safe Showing The Contents
Figure 12. The safe was opened and all was saved.
Solenoid From The Safe
Figure 13. Pictured is the solenoid that had to be defeated to open the door.

Drilling and opening went pretty much as the manufacturer had described, with the worst issue being the direct sunlight. I suppose I could have put a tarp over the area, but did not think of it at the time.

The fire had started on the other side of the house, so the damage was much worse there. If the fire had started on the same side as the safe, I suspect the outcome would have been much different, but the contents where perfect. The owner of the house and safe was crying as he removed the contents, which were pretty much all that had left. He told me that on the night of the fire, they were attending a funeral in Ohio for his grandfather. I am usually appropriate with my responses but could not think of anything to say to make him feel better, so I just kept my mouth shut.

The fire had started in the attic and was electrical in nature, but they did not share exact cause. I walked away with a renewed since of selling fire protection on safes. Watching this guy get a small part of his life back was profound for me.

Whenever a customer comes in to buy a safe, I talk up the benefits of fire protection. I hope you will too. It’s easy to think that it will be someone else who will be affected by a fire, until it happens to you. It’s our job — no, our duty — to inform people, as we are the experts. It’s one thing that separates us from the big box retailers. I see gun safes going downhill these days, made with cheaper materials and poor construction. I am not sure what the bottom of the hill is like, but I won’t go there. Sell a product you know will do the job. I did not sell this unit to this guy, nor do I sell Winchester, but it was good to see that the company stood behind their product. They paid me and were going to send the guy a new unit as soon as he has a place to put it.

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