[TenTec] equipment storage?

[denton sprague]

any comments on constructing a vault in a separate garage with 5/8 inch type x sheetrock and metal studs?
along with ham gear we got some nice paintings, books and family heirlooms  that we are trying to archive.
On Jul 24, 2013, at 1:35 PM, Stuart Rohre <rohre at arlut.utexas.edu> wrote:

> As an long time fireman, I will mention something to hams needing to store things, or to display things.
> 
> Heaven forbid you ever have a fire, but hot smoke and gases collect near the ceiling, and affect anything stored high, first.  Awards on walls, cards, gear stored on upper shelf of a closet may be exposed to products of combustion, and even flames.
> 
> I have seen clothes survive in a closet, which had its door tightly closed, even when most of the room was totally destroyed.  This particular house fire was in the home of a retired military man, who was very strict with his children, on keeping their closets closed at all times.  But, the least affected area of the closet re smoke was down low, near the floor, under the hanging clothes.
> 
> We found all the closets and clothes intact, even in a bedroom that was so hot that decorative candles melted on cabinet tops.
> That saved most of their clothing when all but one wing of three burned.
> 
> Sheet rock used in home construction can be a very good insulator, for a time.  Of course, it can be weakened by water, when firefighting streams are used.  Good fire training has us direct our water as a fog upward into the ceiling area of an involved room; hopefully with a dramatic stopping of the fire when steam snuffs it out, by reducing the concentration of oxygen in the room.  That one fire taught our department to be aware of closets so as to lessen damage to their fire resistance.
> 
> There is a risk in all things, and even my idea of insulating by styrofoam cooler, has the risk of how the styrofoam reacts to a fire.
> 
> It may be worth it to rent a fire resistant storage closet in one of the commercial storage locations that has everything from garage sized storage to narrow closet like compartments.
> 
> Safety to all, and check your smoke detectors on some easy to remember schedule like a holiday.
> 
> Stuart Rohre
> K5KVH
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