Fire This Weekend in Team 5871 Chickadees Work Space

[xtine]

Hello, community -

This weekend there was a structure fire in the building where we meet, work, and store everything for our team. We also share this work space with another Boise State University student team. The building has been declared a total loss. Most, if not all, of our things have been lost to fire, smoke, and water damage. This includes our robots, at least 4 team laptops, and tools, among other things. No one from either team was there when the fire began, and no one was injured.

During my meeting with the fire inspector and others this morning, we dug through some of the rubble. Our "practice bot" might be partially salvagable, but all of the electronics are definitely gone due to smoke. I've attached a photo of some of the stuff that was extricated from the fire. You might be able to make out a robot on a cart in the char.

At this point we are working on acquiring components for a new robot so that we can continue to build and learn for the remainder of our meetings this month before Kickoff. If you are interested in donating to the team to help us in this effort, you can do so in one of two ways: (1) Send a check made out to the Boise State Foundation with "Chickadees Robotics" in the memo to Attn: Norma Arechiga, Boise State University, College of Engineering, 1910 University Drive, Boise, ID 83725-2100. (2) Donate directly through the Foundation online by going to https://give.boisestate.edu/ and searching at the bottom of the page for Fund ID: NR039 "College of Engineering Outreach Fund". We would also welcome in-kind donations or discounts for components and materials. Feel free to share this widely, and thank you for sending any good vibes our way.

Thanks everyone, and stay safe,
Christine
Lead Mentor, Team 5871 The Chickadees

[mwmac]

Christine, sorry to see the loss you suffered this weekend. Perhaps you could list some of the components and materials that could help get your team back on its feet.

[MARS_James]

Sorry for the loss but glad no one was hurt, if you don't mind me asking have you found a new space to build out of?

[xtine]

Thanks for the reply, Mike.

We would like to try to rebuild our comp bot from last year (our rookie year). This includes:

5 CIM motors
KoP base kit with pneumatic wheels
Radio
Battery
5 speed controllers (vics are fine)
VRM
PDP
RoboRIO
Power Cable
Assorted breakers
Anderson connectors
PWM cables
Limit/micro-switch
CIMcoder
pulleys and belts for our intake

We also lost tools, like socket sets, electronics tools, soldering irons, multimeter, etc. Luckily the machine shop is in a different building!

[xtine]

Thanks for the question -- we are moving to a temporary space in the Maker Space in our campus library for now.

[Nuttyman54]

Wow, that's terrible. Glad everyone is safe and you found a new build space.

I don't know if there's any precedent for this, but it could be worth contacting frcteams@firstinspires.org and seeing if you could make arrangements to get a 2017 rookie kit instead of a 2016 rookie kit. Given that you were rookies in 2016 and just basically lost all of that and more, it seems not unreasonable to try to arrange.

[ctt956]

Wow. Good to hear that the building was unoccupied when the fire started, and nobody was injured. The robot in your picture held up surprisingly well given the conditions, IMO. I can make out a wheel. It looks like an AM14U3, but bent. Since aluminum melts at over 1200 degrees F, the bent frame shows how hot it probably was inside the building. Not to mention additional damage caused by water and falling objects. Sorry for your loss. Best of luck to you in recovering from the fire.

Originally Posted by Nuttyman54

Wow, that's terrible. Glad everyone is safe and you found a new build space.

I don't know if there's any precedent for this, but it could be worth contacting frcteams@firstinspires.org and seeing if you could make arrangements to get a 2017 rookie kit instead of a 2016 rookie kit. Given that you were rookies in 2016 and just basically lost all of that and more, it seems not unreasonable to try to arrange.

+1. This sounds like a good idea. You may not get it, but it can't hurt to ask.

[s-neff]

That's rough to hear - sent a small donation your way through the Boise State website. Definitely worth following up on Numbers' suggestion to ask about a 2017 rookie kit, too.

[Levi Madden]

Do you know what the cause of the fire was?

[xtine]

Update!

We might be able to salvage at least part of our practice bot, and we have a few random items from last year's KoP that we were able to extract and clean up.

Right now we're looking at over $10,000 worth that was lost, but a final inventory has yet to be completed.

Thanks, everyone, for the kind words and financial support! The FIRST community is truly amazing.

~Christine

[zcohen]

I'm not trying to downplay the need for donations at all, but you guys have insurance, right? It definitely wont cover every single thing which is why donations can be so useful at this point, but this can also serve as a reminder to all teams that insurance is needed on everything owned by a team for this very reason. I couldn't imagine having a fire destroy all our things that have been collected over the years, but at least we would be able to buy much of it again due to our coverage. If teams dont have insurance on everything they own, sadly this may be a good example on why its so important to have it. It can be a huge cost to a team, but loosing everything without the ability to replace it is even more costly.

[xtine]

Originally Posted by zcohen

you guys have insurance, right?

Hi, Zachary!

The team should be covered under Boise State University/State of Idaho. We are remaining optimistic about receiving money from insurance to cover the cost of replacing many things. However, in the meantime, we have immediate needs that cannot wait for insurance. Others in the University have also had varied experiences with the insurance company, so I'm trying not to get my hopes up, either.

You are right that this should serve as a reminder to all teams to have insurance!

Thanks,
Christine

[Billfred]

AndyMark would love to do two things:

A) Send you a care package of our parts.
B) Gently nudge other parts suppliers step up to the plate and do the same.

I'll send you a PM with the specifics.

[xtine]

Originally Posted by Billfred

I'll send you a PM with the specifics.

Thank you so incredibly much, Billfred and AndyMark! That is beyond gracious.

I'll watch for your PM.

[ahartnet]

Also sent a PM with some things Pearadox can send your way.