Hey guys, just wanted to stop in and say hello. I haven't been on here much in the last few months. Many of you know why and have seen the devastation from the lake. The house is located inside Chester Frost Park. We had a bad fire and lost everything that two families owned. we are all still alive. Its just been crazy with the fire and all the insurance BS. Its been tough dealing with losing everything my family owned (me and my wife) and also everything that my parents (Mom and Dad) owned. This included our two bass boats (mine and Dads). We all literally got out with the clothes on our backs. The fire was the worst I have ever seen. It got so hot that it even totaled most of the cars in the driveway as it melted the bumpers and every piece of plastic on them.
I have gotten to fish a few times with my club (TN Bassin Buddies-Soddy Daisy) and have enjoyed hearing about all the big stringers being caught on the lake. Its amazing that Chickamauga is producing like it is, but i always knew that the grass coming back would help. I wanted to say congrats to the guys catching the big fish and to say thanks to everyone that has called and text and stopped by and helped us dig out. and I would also like to say thanks to the guys that have taken me and dad fishing. you never know how much a simple phone call or text means to someone that is feeling down and out and has lost everything. anyway, keep up the fishing for us and catching those big sacks. We will rebuild our house and lives and get boats again one day. I will also be rebuilding the tackle website and hopefully it will be better than before. I love fishing and have enjoyed making many new friends here on the CFF. I think i was one of the first few guys that signed up on this site when it first started many years ago. Glad to see that it is still going strong.
I also wanted to tell you guys to be careful about leaving your battery chargers hooked up without supervision. my boat had an expensive onboard charger and expensive maintenance free batteries on it along with a cut off switch that cuts off power to everything on the boat. I wont mention brand names as I am not here to bash anyone or any brand. I hooked up the onboard charger the same way i had done 1000 times before. nothing was different that day and that is what baffles us as to why it happened and how the fire started. The only thing that was different was that my boat was actually 100% out of gas. i ran out of gas just outside the park and trolled the rest of the way in to the house. and that day i was too tired and hungry to go fill it up with gas. instead we put the boat in the garage and hooked up the charger and went to eat at Southern restaurant. Came back and went to bed and woke up to the fire at 2 AM. It was just by the grace of God that no one was killed that night. As i said, if I had filled the boat with gas it would have had 50 gallons of gas directly under my parents bed and I am sure they wouldn't have made it out alive. The fire was just another reminder of how fragile life is and how it can be taken away from you at any minute. and also a reminder that material possessions are just that and can be replaced. We did not have enough insurance to cover everything that we owned and several cars were also uninsured and were a total loss. We learned that gun safes are also not fire proof, more like fire resistant. I lost guns that my grandfather had given me and you cant put a price on the the sentimental value of things like that. Also we learned that every insurance policy has loopholes and ways for them to get out of paying for things. We have not settled anything with any of the insurance companies to date and we are still arguing with them. They sent the batteries and onboard charger off to a lab to determine the exact cause and we are all awaiting the results.
We lost all of our pictures and things that we had. we are left with just memories now. but some of my best memories have been made on the lake when fishing with my dad. so hug your family, tell them you love them. take your dad or other family members fishing and take lots of pics. you never know when things can change in an instant and you can lose everything or even worse, lose somebody. And most importantly, don't leave your battery chargers hooked up overnight while you sleep.
See you guys on the water.
Jimmy
I have gotten to fish a few times with my club (TN Bassin Buddies-Soddy Daisy) and have enjoyed hearing about all the big stringers being caught on the lake. Its amazing that Chickamauga is producing like it is, but i always knew that the grass coming back would help. I wanted to say congrats to the guys catching the big fish and to say thanks to everyone that has called and text and stopped by and helped us dig out. and I would also like to say thanks to the guys that have taken me and dad fishing. you never know how much a simple phone call or text means to someone that is feeling down and out and has lost everything. anyway, keep up the fishing for us and catching those big sacks. We will rebuild our house and lives and get boats again one day. I will also be rebuilding the tackle website and hopefully it will be better than before. I love fishing and have enjoyed making many new friends here on the CFF. I think i was one of the first few guys that signed up on this site when it first started many years ago. Glad to see that it is still going strong.
I also wanted to tell you guys to be careful about leaving your battery chargers hooked up without supervision. my boat had an expensive onboard charger and expensive maintenance free batteries on it along with a cut off switch that cuts off power to everything on the boat. I wont mention brand names as I am not here to bash anyone or any brand. I hooked up the onboard charger the same way i had done 1000 times before. nothing was different that day and that is what baffles us as to why it happened and how the fire started. The only thing that was different was that my boat was actually 100% out of gas. i ran out of gas just outside the park and trolled the rest of the way in to the house. and that day i was too tired and hungry to go fill it up with gas. instead we put the boat in the garage and hooked up the charger and went to eat at Southern restaurant. Came back and went to bed and woke up to the fire at 2 AM. It was just by the grace of God that no one was killed that night. As i said, if I had filled the boat with gas it would have had 50 gallons of gas directly under my parents bed and I am sure they wouldn't have made it out alive. The fire was just another reminder of how fragile life is and how it can be taken away from you at any minute. and also a reminder that material possessions are just that and can be replaced. We did not have enough insurance to cover everything that we owned and several cars were also uninsured and were a total loss. We learned that gun safes are also not fire proof, more like fire resistant. I lost guns that my grandfather had given me and you cant put a price on the the sentimental value of things like that. Also we learned that every insurance policy has loopholes and ways for them to get out of paying for things. We have not settled anything with any of the insurance companies to date and we are still arguing with them. They sent the batteries and onboard charger off to a lab to determine the exact cause and we are all awaiting the results.
We lost all of our pictures and things that we had. we are left with just memories now. but some of my best memories have been made on the lake when fishing with my dad. so hug your family, tell them you love them. take your dad or other family members fishing and take lots of pics. you never know when things can change in an instant and you can lose everything or even worse, lose somebody. And most importantly, don't leave your battery chargers hooked up overnight while you sleep.
See you guys on the water.
Jimmy
