I'm saddened to report that our frequent "Chevy Chattter II" contributor Stefan ("germanchevy") had a major fire in his workshop yesterday evening. Everything seems to point to an electrical short, perhaps caused by animals nesting in the wiring. The entire workshop was destroyed and he was injured trying to extinguish the fire. Stefan is in the hospital and expects to be hospitalized for a couple of weeks. To tell you how serious Stefan is about our hobby, his first e-mail to me was to let me know, AND to ask for help in replacing the lost parts for his '31 Coach -- he was in the middle of work on the differential and most of the rear end was in the workshop. He was just happy that the car itself was on jackstands outside and survived the fire.

I'm sure any PM's would be appreciated. I'll post more info as I hear it. Stefan is a great guy -- it's a shame that this has happened. He also will have lost a made from scratch 12-foot long working model (radio controlled) of "RMS Titanic" which he made from the original blueprints for the ship -- a real labor of love.

Be careful out there, guys.

All the Best, Chip

Very sad to receive a message of this nature. Just glad he was not more seriously injured. Wish you a speedy recovery.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery from down under, as I have follwed the postings from "German Chevy" with most interest.

Buildings, cars and models (sad to say can be replaced), but human life cannot.

I look forward to hearing progress of your recovery

Regards

Ray

Best wishes for a speedy recovery, you're in our prayers

We all hope that his injuries heal quickly and completely so he can continue his vocation and also work on his beloved Chevy.

Stefan,

Hope you are up and about soon. Our prayers are with you. I have a couple of extra rear ends with drive shafts complete and a transmission plus other parts but they are from a '31 coupe. If you need any parts like brake shoes, gears, and so forth from them they would be yours for the shipping. I spent 3 weeks in the burn unit so I know a little bit about what you are going through but my accident was at work so no personal loss for me. Just let me know and maybe we could work something out. Take care.

Best wishes from Canada Stefan! Get well!

Been there and not a good thing.
Hope you are doing well on the recovery end.
No one needs to go through that.
The car parts can be replaced.
Get well soon.

Here is my translation of the article from the Salzburg newspaper:

"Bad Reichenhall – A 48-year-old man was injured Thursday evening on both arms and his head when he tried to extinguish a burning garden house in Bad Reichenhall. The garden house, which caught fire from as yet unexplained causes, was used predominantly as a workshop and storeroom. The 48-year-old resident, who is the user of the garden house, had been called by the discoverer of the fire from his dwelling and had tried to stop the flames by means of fire extinguisher and water bucket, whereby he received burns to both arms and his head. After medical first aid by emergency doctors and rescue assistants of the Red Cross, he had to be taken for further treatment to the hospital in Bad Reichenhall, reported the Bavarian Red Cross. The fire departments of Bad Reichenhall and Bavarian Gmain responded with eleven vehicles and deployed 60 firemen and brought the fire under control quickly. Several firemen with breathing devices prevented spreading of the flames to other buildings and had to cut up the sheet metal roof with a power saw for the interior attack. First findings of the police point to a technical defect as the cause. The entire damage could amount to approximately 20,000 Euros."

I will try again to contact Stefan today. I'm sure he will appreciate all the very kind notes here.......

All the Best, Chip

Best wishes for a speedy recovery Stefan!

Stefan, Good luck with a speedy recovery and good health. Our prayers are with you and your family.

Sorry about your workshop loss and your injuries Stefan, We will have yo and your family in our prayers...
MrMack

Stefan,

Best wishes for a speedy recovery. We will be sure to give you some interesting reading here on the Chat site, to make your days of healing go a little faster. Stay in touch with us all.

Hey Stefan,

Sorry to here about the fire. Looking forward to having you back really soon.

Bruce

Stefan is still in the hospital and had surgery this morning, 13 July. They will not allow him internet access or phone usage, so we may not hear from him here until he is released. I know he'll be happy to see everyone's good wishes.

All the Best, Chip

I just noticed that today (July 13) is Stefan's birthday. What a lousy way to spend it, in the burns unit. Hopefully surgery went well and recovery will be quick. Our prayers and thoughts are with you Stef.

Dan

Hello everybody,

came back home from hospital yesterday, am on a good way, but must continue recovering. lot of skin is burnt and lost.
but to see the burnt down workshop made me very sad and depressed. did not sleep overnight since 10 days now and feel totally tired and exhausted. have no permission to enter the ruined house yet, too dangerous to get an new infection in my wounds. first view: parts not burned: Axle housing and torque tube with all inner parts (were outside at the car), but the complete brake with all parts was inside and burnt, maybe not possible to overhaul. and more, mostly small parts. began to search here in europe too, but there are not many 1931 cars and the only chance might be to find a hotrodder who has the original parts aside. but actually I found nobody. Very sad and depressing.
Stefangermany

Hi Stefan
Come again! Stefan when you can.
In Denmark we have many 1931 I have also some brake parts, maybe I have what you need, otherwise it is easy to find in DK. Let me hear from you what you need, I have spare parts catalogs so it'll be possible to find what you need.