Day 1: Cleaning

So I've been dreading this day for the past few weeks. I've been actively avoiding anything car/shop relate for some time now and just trying to escape it all. I recently took time off and went snowboarding in Colorado for the first time things felt normal again. It was great to distance myself and forget it all. But being away from it all also gave me the desire to come back and take care of business.

For the first time in over 3 weeks I finally returned to the property. God did I not miss it. As soon as you walk in, you immediately notice all the debris devoured in the smell smoke. Honestly, I can deal with the debris and rubble, but once I get the scent of the smoke, that's when reality really sets in and makes me sick to my stomach. Oh well, life moves on, and so do I.

I began cleaning the entrance and discovered damage to the floor, this was not something I was budgeting for and felt like things were only getting worse. The idea of sorting scrap metal with the mentality of "every nut and bolt counts" quickly faded after a few hours in. Filtering through this crap became way too tedious, and I just want to begin to rebuild. After a few hours later and piles of debris and scrap metal scattered every 20ft, the main room was pretty much sorted. It was the first sign of hope, I could actually see the floor and it was not in as bad of condition as I initially thought -- Everything will be OKAY.

The next step is to sort through the remainder of the building. This is where the remaining 5 cars were stored along with other tools, materials, parts and whatever else the previous owner left. For size comparison, the main area we were using was about 1,200sq ft, the remaining portion is close to another 6,000sq ft. Still a ton more to clean but one step at a time. Thankfully my friend will be bringing a skid steer in the next few days which should speed up the process. (And give my back and shovel a rest!)

What some of you may not have known is there was also a mobile office trailer in front of the building which caught fire as well. I assume when the roof caved in and blew out the wall, the backside ignited. It's in pretty rough condition as well but will be tackled much later on.

More scrap stored in the front half of the building

Final progress after day 1

Thank you everyone for your support and donations!

Now comes the help you have all provided to me. Once again, I can't thank everyone enough for backing, supporting, and pushing me to rebuild. I appreciate all the donations made, no matter how small or how large, every bit has helped a great deal and I can not thank you enough. The sheer thought that you had us in your mind means a lot. Even if you hadn't donated, I appreciate your support, words of encouragement and wisdom, they really do help us keep going.

As for the funding, today was the first time I put it to use. I contacted a dumpster company and will be having a 30yd container delivered tomorrow. In addition I have another 30yd dumpster arriving tomorrow for scrap metal. More updates to come!