A large group of friends recently lost nearly everything they owned in a
devastating apartment fire last month. Since then, the building - and their lives - have sat in limbo while looters have been free to ransack the building at their leisure. What options, legal and otherwise, do my friends have to hold somebody accountable for this gross mismanagement?
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posted by deafmute
on Feb 17, 2011 -
9 answers
I inserted a power cable into a hard drive and it caught on fire (started smoking and crackling). Now I'm paranoid about leaving my computer on. How often does this happen, and why?
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posted by stupidsexyFlanders
on Jan 25, 2011 -
13 answers
Fire safety filter: My husband thinks that a lit candle left unattended on the back of our toilet in the bathroom is not a fire hazard, and I disagree. Please help us settle this argument with facts and figures.
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posted by frecklefaerie
on Jan 23, 2011 -
76 answers
Crappy New Year! What to salvage when returning to an apartment that has post-fire water damage? Give me some tips!
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posted by stray
on Dec 30, 2010 -
10 answers
Does anyone know if the music in the English trailer for The Girl Who Played With Fire is original to the film, or if it was pilfered from somewhere else?
SLYT
posted by New England Cultist
on Dec 21, 2010 -
3 answers
Where on earth can I find regular-sized (not the snug-fitting long johns) older kids' pajamas not doctored up with chemical flame retardants? I'm, of course, in the US. This probably wouldn't be a question in another country.
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posted by sixtyten
on Dec 9, 2010 -
19 answers
I lost pretty much everything I own when
my apartment building burned down about a week ago. I had been putting most of my energy & time into job search. Now I've had to take a big step backwards & deal with some basic problems involving recovering from a disaster & rebuilding my life from scratch. That's where I'm turning to you, the Hive. I'm looking for ideas, tips, stories & practical suggestions for starting over after you've lost everything in a disaster. I'm somewhat at a loss & anything you can do to make this process easier would be greatly appreciated.
posted by scalefree
on Nov 30, 2010 -
31 answers
Our downstairs neighbors have made a makeshift firepit in the backyard of our New York City apartment building. This seems like it must be incredibly illegal. But is it?
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posted by orville sash
on Nov 29, 2010 -
17 answers
Contaminated apartment/building due to fire - can my friend expect to get anything out eventually?
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posted by Disco Moo
on Nov 1, 2010 -
9 answers
How can I minimize the risk of getting fired from my current job when the boss finds out I'm seeking employment somewhere else?
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posted by anonymous
on Oct 19, 2010 -
14 answers
There was a fire in the next door apartment, and as a result many of our things were damaged. What should we be doing?
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posted by gushn
on Sep 26, 2010 -
17 answers
I am looking for digital copies of old songs by a band called Jonathan Fire*Eater...but there are problems.
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posted by kaseijin
on Sep 10, 2010 -
7 answers
The house I am preparing to move into has a "cosmetic" fireplace. It looks like a fireplace, it's built into the wall, but can't be used as one. What clever decorating ideas do you have for it? I'm game for anything--funny, functional, stylish, classic, clever, funky, hell--even some sort of tasteful heat retrofit--just anything that doesn't involve putting a fire in it (that would probably result in death).
posted by sourwookie
on Aug 18, 2010 -
26 answers
I bought a 100,000 BTU weed torch to kill the weeds in my driveway and etc. Can I safely use it to burn weeds in my lawn and other dirt areas without starting an underground fire that will spread for miles and burn uncontrollably forever? FWIW, I'm in Seattle.
posted by carterk
on May 16, 2010 -
14 answers
What can I carry that will let me easily, consistantly and reliable make burning?
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posted by Quadlex
on Apr 6, 2010 -
25 answers
I have a lot of paper - journals, art, etc. Fire makes me nervous! Are there any good fireproof/fire resistant storage options for an apartment dweller?
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posted by cadge
on Feb 16, 2010 -
8 answers
Does anyone remember this old game that came bundled with windows 95 (or possibly 98)? It involved walking around collecting different boots that let you walk across fire, ice, ect. I think it may have been called something like sim's sims or something like that. Pardon my lack of usable description of the game - I was 6 when I played it, so my memory is a bit fuzzy.
Thanks!
-Charlie
posted by AZNsupermarket
on Jan 11, 2010 -
6 answers
How did I not burn down my house? I realized I had run close to 5000 watts on a 15-amp line, where 1500 watts would be considered the most to put on the line.
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posted by dragonsi55
on Jan 6, 2010 -
9 answers
Looking for a briefly popular internet joke from a year or two ago. Setup was if the discovery of fire had been posted to slashdot (Digg? other?). Response is something like: "Too hot, smoke gets in your eyes, goes out too fast. Fail." Ringing any bells? Google is failing me.
posted by hihowareyou
on Dec 31, 2009 -
4 answers
Would spraying a stick-on (paper) CD label with artists' fixative make the disc unsafe to play?
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posted by katje
on Dec 8, 2009 -
7 answers
Seeking fire department incident response websites from anywhere in the world – updated on the fly (e.g.
Toronto) or whenever they get the chance (
Shropshire), it doesn't matter. Does your area's fire service do this?
posted by avocet
on Dec 6, 2009 -
10 answers
Looking for an Austin-area restaurant or bar with an outdoor firepit. A decent winelist would be swell.
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posted by bumbleintuit
on Dec 5, 2009 -
6 answers
How can we sell our house, when everyone is scared off by the vacant burned house next door?
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posted by leahwrenn
on Nov 17, 2009 -
9 answers
Before the sharp steel razor became generally available, what did most people shave with? Fire seems the best choice. Right?
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posted by penciltopper
on Nov 9, 2009 -
35 answers
Less than a year ago, my SO left a pan on the stove and the rental house burned. Now, the owner's insurance company wants her to pay.
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posted by anonymous
on Oct 20, 2009 -
13 answers
We want to add a wood stove to my wife's studio, currently under construction. Is outside combustion air a must or a maybe?
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posted by ulotrichous
on Oct 7, 2009 -
8 answers
I have a two part question about fires and making firewood. The two parts are related so I assume this is fine...
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posted by dance
on Sep 17, 2009 -
14 answers
Tomorrow I have to take psychological testing for a firefighter job. If anyone has been through anything similar I'd appreciate any advice.
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posted by brevator
on Aug 26, 2009 -
9 answers
Bizarre question. Where would I get a fabric tested for flammability in NYC on a Saturday? Asking for a friend, I assume it's for a theater production going up tomorrow night!
posted by roomthreeseventeen
on Aug 14, 2009 -
5 answers
