Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Collection Burns!!!

I can't verify this yet but maybe someone else can?? I just got a call from another Old Gasser and he told me that long time collector Gene Sonnen from the Twin Cities area, lost a building with his collection and hot rods in it over the weekend!! What a tradgedy that is!!
I don't personally know the man but I've heard stories of his car and memorabilia collection and it sounded impressive! Any loss of personal possessions to fire, is a horrible thing but to lose a very valuable collection to fire would be very tragic and disheartening to say the least! My sympathies to Gene!
Can anyone else fill in the blanks here?? Thanks--KEVIN

Kevin, I am very sad for this Old Gasser because it must be a true tragedy see disappear in few minutes many years of sacrifices, hunting, search, etc... This is the risk of each collecting because lot of stuff are close in the same place.

Enrico

Mike Rhein is a close friend who posts here, maybe he will be able to comment.

Kim

EVERY COLLECTORS' WORST NIGHTMARE!...FIRE!!! SAY IT ISN'T SO!

Tragic news,I hope it's not true..no offense to anyone.

Gene Sonnen is a first-class gas and oil, and old car collector. I have known Gene and dealt with him for years. What a shame this is. But, most important....it sounds like no one was injured in the fire. John in Wisconsin

SO. is this confirmed? how sad.. I have met Gene at Minneapolis shows in the past.. what a shame if it is true..

Stops my heart to even think about it.

Yes Geno did have a fire but not everything was lost he had insurance and its sounds like his fords will be ok! But still it sucks as a lot of those signs go way back to our early days of collecting!!!

Man that sucks. My wife was just talking about that over the weekend with my collection.

That is a real shame to hear. I've had a similar experience 8 years ago, let me tell you, it's absolutely horrible. I sure hope not too much was lost.

Wes

To those that have been to IG, Gene Sonnen sets up in the South East corner of the parking lot behind the hotel [next to grass & trees w/ a large shade tarp].

I bought a Quart Can from him at IG this past year and visited with him for awhile, seemed like a real nice guy.

Hi, it's Gene Sonnen here. Yes, I did have a garage fire on Jan. 20, 2010 and yes, I did lose part of my over 40+ year collection. At the time of the fire I was with friends looking at another collection and received a call from my alarm company notifying me that my garage was on fire. The apparent cause of the fire was a timer that shorted out. I had the timer in the garage to turn on an outside gas pump light. The St Paul fire department showed up and did a great job putting out the fire. Thank you all for your concern, and if I were you I would check out the status of your timers.

I CAN RELATE TO WHAT GENE IS GOING THROUGH!!! I HAD A FIRE IN MY GARAGE AND DIDN`T LOSE WHAT HE HAD BUT I`LL TELL YOU WHEN YOU WATCH YOUR COLLECTION GOING UP IN FLAMES !!,,,ITS A FEELING YOU CAN`T DISCRIBE..I WOULD SAY MAKE SURE YOU HAVE INSURANCE TO SAY THE LEAST!!... I`M REAL SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR LOSS!!...ALAN