June, 25, 2010

Bob and Koneta Vogt of Columbus Grove, Ohio were happy they bought a K Building back in 1997, but it wasn’t until a fateful day in April, 2010, that they realized just how fortunate they were with that decision. Mr. Vogt, an avid gun enthusiast, was in his K Building making buck shot for shotgun shells when out of the corner of his eye he noticed a flicker of light. That flicker of light turned out to be his worst nightmare. The oil bath located near the shot maker had ignited and was quickly becoming an out of control blaze! In addition to the oil bath, Mr. Vogt also stored small quantities of gasoline in the 30x45 K Building. He knew he had to get control of the fire immediately before it spread throughout his building. He began yelling out to his wife who was nearby in the yard, “Get a fire extinguisher!” Moments later she came running with a household extinguisher that wasn’t nearly enough to control the growing inferno. By this time the fire was spreading to the contents of the building and was growing at an incredible rate. The fire started to burn the moisture barrier in the ceiling, and many of the wood purlins and girts in the building started to ignite. Realizing the fire was much larger than they could handle, they called the Columbus Grove Fire Department to come and hopefully keep the fire contained to the K Building and not jump to other nearby structures.

Convinced that they were going to loose the K Building and all the contents and helpless to fight the fire themselves, Mr. Vogt began to consider what would happen if the fire were to jump to other nearby structures. It was then that he remembered the 24 pounds of gunpowder he stored in a separate building not twenty feet from his now burning K Building. Following the advice of Koneta, they closed all the windows and doors to the burning building. This advice would prove to be most fortunate. Twenty minutes had now passed since the fire began, and the Vogt’s heard the wail of fire truck sirens off in the distance. Thankful help was on the way, both Bob and Koneta were stunned to watch two of the three responding fire trucks drive right past their burning building! If it weren’t for Bob waving his arms by the side of the road, it was very possible the third truck would have driven past as well. In defense of the fire fighters, they were expecting a fully involved structure fire with billowing smoke and flames. In reality there weren’t any flames, and the smoke was barely visible from within the K Building. Closing the doors and limiting the amount of oxygen available to the fire cut the lifespan of the fire itself, as long as it didn’t burn through the structure. Any opening would have most certainly rekindled the flames and potentially spread the fire to the other structures, including the Vogt’s home.

Thirty minutes passed since the fire erupted, and fire fighters opened a side door and began to spray water on the inside of the building and it’s burning contents. Within the hour the nightmare was over and the fire was extinguished. It was then the Vogt’s realized how fortunate they were that the fire was contained to the K Building. That evening after the fire trucks left, the Vogt’s began to inspect the heavy loss to the building’s contents. All around they saw examples of items burned beyond recognition while other items were seemingly unaffected by the devastating fire. It was during this inspection they began to look at the K Building itself and realized despite the intense fire, the building they thought would certainly be a total loss was still standing. Not only was it still standing, it was fully intact structurally. As Bob pointed out, “The K Building saved itself”. Repairs to the Vogt’s K Building included replacement of the steel covering and 60 wood purlins and girts along with an overhead and two walk doors. Repairs to the building were completed by the end of May and the nightmare was now a memory.

Looking back to the events of the day, Bob and Koneta are very thankful they purchased a K Building. They are convinced if it had been a pole building they may have lost everything, including their home. The fact that a K Building utilizes a limited amount of lumber, the fire had little to burn on the building itself. As Bob pointed out, “ I bought the K Building because it was economical and I wanted a building that would last forever. This building is incredible”.

In the end, two factors had a very positive effect: closing the doors to the fire, and the building being constructed largely from steel components.

Happy their lives are back on track and thankful this nightmare is behind them, Bob was quick to point out, “If you build a building and it isn’t a K Building, it isn’t worth it!”