Yep you read it right. sunday afternoon I
took some oil of the stove because it got too hot.
A little bit dribbled over the edge and hit the burner when it did the hole pot caught fire,
I tried to take it outside and caught myself on fire, In my panic i dropped the pot and the whole
place went up.Totally destroyed.

I am ok no one was hurt .I have some second degree burns on most of my right thigh but will heal.
Anybody have any dealings with insurance comps.\
allstate in particular.
Will they deny claim because of my hobby.
The house is totally destroyed. Any legal advise would be appreciated..

Beleive me i have thought about nothing of what i should have done
to prevent this over and over in my mind so this is not what i need.
More on experiences others have had in dealing with insurance claims and biodiesel.

You have my condolences. I'll keep you and your family in my prayers.

When I read your description, it sounds like you had a cooking accident, and you might want to start calling it that, especially when dealing with the insurance company.

Rick

Wow...I am two days new to this forum and I know this stuff is dangerous...but veg-oil fires in kitchens are probably the number one source of housefire. Your insurance company will probably cover you unless you wre making large quantities of BD as a business. Just make your claim... believe me I am sure the insurance adjusters have heard it all...after all its just your hobby.

OB1 Canola,

I agree with Rick, regarding it being a "cooking fire". People, including insurance companies (especially, as a matter of fact), freak out when they hear the word "fuel".

Good luck- I've followed your posts for a while. Really sorry to hear about this.

Ob1, Man I am sorry for ya.
I am glad you weren't hurt/burnt worse,2nd is painful.
Getting french fry oil too hot, will do that, i am sure the insurance has had lots of stove/cooking fire claims. You will be in our thoughts/prayers
Jammer

Oh wow! That's terrible!

I agree. It sounds like a "cooking accident" to me as well. Where are you located at? Also, PM me w/ the best way to get a hold of you too.

I'd like to help you out. Also, be sure we get Legal's advice as he's an expert in the legal arena.

-Graydon Blair
graydonblair@yahoo.com

very sorry to hear of your loss. I think you were going to make french fries or potato chips.
Glad to hear no serious injuries, god knows 2nd degree burns to your thigh are serious enough.
Keep posted on how you make out with the ins co. Thoughts and prayers are with you

I am sorry to hear of your loss. It must have been very traumatic to lose your home. My neighbor lost their kitchen (and almost their house) two years ago in a similar way. Hot oil on the stove for fried ice cream boiled over. The firemen said it is more common than you think. Good luck and keep us posted.

P.S. My neighbor was lucky because I had a fire extinguisher in the garage (due to my hobby). The fire dept. only had to do mop up work.

This sucks. I hope you are all right. I am ver sorry to hear about this.

I'm very sorry to hear that. I would have to agree it sounds like a cooking fire. Hope all goes well and you wil be in our thoughts/prayers

Good lord! I thought I've made every possible mistake. That really sucks but I'm sure you're very well aware of that. It's pretty amazing how things can go to hell so fast.

I've never had an insurance claim due to fire but I'm on board with the rest in that you really want to call this a cooking accident. If you tell em you were making biodiesel in you kitchen, they're gonna deny you. At least that's what I would suspect.

Man, I process in my basement. I'm planning on moving everything out to the pole building when it's warm enough to process out there. I'll be being extra careful between now and then afte hearing about this.

I'm so sorry to hear about your misfortune. I'll add you and your family to my prayers tonight.

Wayne

how many times have you been told not to stir the oil with a lightsaber!
geese man , glad yer ok
couple of questions 1 how big a place was it.
and 2 what kind of building codes and things are in effect there. i have a couple of suggestions depending
3 can the utilties be gotten at eletric is usually pretty easy as is water but what about wastewater/sewer?
4 how big a lot/land parcel is it Ie is there somewhere to put something up?

DEFINITE BUMMER -- Had My house burn down once, tends to allow you to look at THINGS with a different priority for the rest of your life, the sun still comes up tomorrow. Best of luck.

Sounds like an "oil" related cooking accident. I am SO glad you and yours are OK. If your house is a total loss, look on the bright side you can get a detached garage (insulated) and all the trimmings for a good setup. I am not trying to make light of your situation since I have not had to experience this. Please keep us informed of progress on your new house and if you need anything (you and your family will be in our prayers here in Texas)

Ian

Glad to hear you made it out. Scarey stuff. The house next door nearly burned to the ground about a month ago. It was 2:00 in the morning and none of the neighbors heard a thing. No one was in the house fortunetly, and kind of odd.
Any whoo
People start fires using those deep friers every year when they deep fry their turkey for thanksgiving. I think you had a vegetable oil fire, deep frying some chicken, right.

One of my neighbors burned thier house down with a meth lab and the insurance still covered it . But I think that one might actually have been a "cooking accident" as well . Just no mention of what he was cooking . We really don't know for sure that is what caused it to burn but it has been widely speculated to be the cause . Insurance bought them a mobile home to live in while rebuilding and paid for the new house though .

Sorry to hear about your place though . It will likely be the loss of irreplaceable items like pictures and momentos that will be the worst . I wouldn't worry about the insurance company , they will pay the claim .

Wow Thanks you all for concerns and
your thoughts .
i have 2 houses on this property.
We live in one and used to rent the other.
But decided last year not to rent. (privacy)
So the rental house was the one i had my hobby in and burnt to the ground. My primary was very
close to going up but the local fire boys got here in time. Always give to the volunteers man are they underpaid.
So unfortunatly i think too many folks know about my homebrew to try and cover it up.
One always likes to brag about thier hobby.
adjuster is coming this afternoon wish me luck
..Gees what a mess.. but my wife and i are ok physically and we have our place to stay.

peace
ob1

Sorry to hear of your mishap but glad no one was injured.
Had it not been common knowledge what you do I would have said go with the cooking accident thing, but with people knowing you brew biodiesel (and an agressive adjuster will poll the neighbours)and to do that it requires heating of cooking oil you may want to go the route of complete truthfulness, however in the process explain that people have told you to try to cover it up but you figured honesty would be the best thing. It IS after all, a cooking oil fire that did the damage so maybe the adjuster will decide on his/her own to write it up as such.

My very best wishes for a fast recovery - this is terrible news, I really am so sorry to hear of it.

But, you are here to tell us about it and that is so much more valuable - no denying it.

Even though you don't realise it right now, you still have much, much more than many have. Fact.

Look at what you've got ...

You have a community of friends and supporters worldwide who are now sharing your grief - people are clearly genuinely offering moral support. And that is powerful stuff. You are not alone in this. And don't be too hard on yourself, what you did , we've all done, we've just been darn lucky we haven't had the same happen.

You have an inventive streak which will be of great value in helping you to build a fresh future for yourself.

You have a style of humor which will help you take a wry look at what's happened and find a brighter side to anotherwise bad turn of fate.

You are now a wiser man, and so are we all, and we thank you for your open-ness.

You know, it could well be that by what you've done, and by sharing it with us, you've saved one or more of us perhaps from death or loss of a family member. I know I'll be doing things differently now - I thank you. I've got 2 little kids and a wife in the house. Could've been them.

Wishing you strength, optimism, success and a speedy return out of this bleak period. It can only get better - look forward to a bright new future.

Let us know how you get on.

Yes, cooking oil accidents are fairly common, often with the most tragic results.

But may I suggest you delete this thread. You never know what the insurance man is reading.
all the best.
dva