[ripkenfan72]

I have been thinking about this for a while now. Since I have returned to the hobby again I have spent a little fortune and love the cards I've bought.

Do you consider protecting them from fire? If you do, what do you use?

I have a small metal box right now I have some of my most valued cards in. Let me know how you protect your collection from this danger.

[philly eagle in az]

If my house went up in flames, everything would be gone. I need to do some thinking.

[lambeau legend4]

Never really thought to much about it. I have a waterproof/fireproof safe, but I use it for documents & other valuables. My cards jus sit in a box on a shelf near my desk.

[collinsfanatic]

No sure don't. Anything that is not replaceable is in a fireproof safe and as for everything else it is covered under my renters insurance.

[ripkenfan72]

I may be paranoid or just like to be a little prepared. Not sure and I know there would be more important things to worry about if a fire happened......BUT if you put a little thought into it some could be saved and possibly sold (if needed) if protected properly.

[monsterx]

Homeowners insurance I assume...

[koolkellygirl]

My best guess would be to not start a fire in your card box...

My next best guess would be homeowners/renters insurance which I am presently looking into..

[biglump007]

Those fireproof safes depending on what kind they are aren't always fireproof. If it is one of the little boxes that say they are fireproof to x amount of temperature I got some bad news for you. Those things aren't fireproof in a house fire. A house fire get well above the temperature those things protect to and when it does the concrete inner liner cracks and the heat gets in causing the contents to combust. I know this for fact as several years ago my grandparents had a house fire a couple days before Christmas and they had several of these fireproof safes. Well all of the documents, savings bonds and everything else in them were burnt to a crisp. The fire inspector told me not to trust them cause a house fire gets three to four times hotter than what those boxes protect.

[quobbinnobbin]

When I checked into this several years ago with my insurance guy, he said cards are not covered under a normal homeowner's policy. It would require taking out a seperate, special policy.

[jacobystealshome]

i work as an consultant appraiser for one of the largest insurance companies, seen a lot of collections damaged by fires and floods:

1. quobbinnobbin: "when I checked into this several years ago with my insurance guy, he said cards are not covered under a normal homeowner's policy. It would require taking out a seperate, special policy. ".

this completely depends on who you have for insurance, but always ask. some are really good about it. some require separate policies, some require a statement of value. in my case, because i have an revolving inventory list, which changes day to day, i just use a generic line item as part of my renter's insurance. (i have USAA...theyre really great about this kind of stuff)

2. ripkenfan72: "I have a small metal box right now I have some of my most valued cards in."

now granted, i dont know kind of metal box you have. however: metal melts. seen it quite a few times where people had cards in metal boxes, and the box melted right down, right into the cards. also, if it isnt waterproof, it doesnt matter - if there is a fire, water is usually used to fight it. even if your metal case if good, if it even warps a little, the cards are susceptible to water damage.

there are no sure things. fire isnt your biggest problem though - floods. floods are gigantic problem. pumps stop working because of a power outage. roof collapses during a storm. you live in an apartment and your upstairs neighbor toilet stops up and floods his apartment and bursts through your ceiling (that one actually happened to me. i woke up, thought my wife was showering. water had burst through my ceiling on 4 different rooms, was coming through my light fixtures and through my electrical sockets). flooding is almost always a separate policy, so make sure you are covered on that