Hey everyone!
I'm curious what kinds of experiences you all have had in terms of getting to a location at the worst possible time. My experience actually just happened a few hours ago. After a weekend of being cooped up inside due to heavy rain, the weather finally cooperated enough for a bike ride to an abandoned farmhouse that I discovered last August. I didn't have the chance to go inside when I discovered it but I had high hopes and expectations for this place. Evidently, however, it was never meant to be because by the time I arrived this evening, only the smoldering remains were left.




What I fail to understand, however, is how exactly the house caught on fire since we had had rain from Saturday afternoon until about 3 o'clock on Sunday. It seems to me the house ignited sometime shortly after the rain ceased which would have required a lot of lighter fluid since the wood would have been saturated with water. The tree that seems to have fallen on the house in the first photo looked more like it had been stacked there deliberately so I don't think that was directly related. The only other explanation is a controlled burn by a fire department but it doesn't seem very safe, in my opinion, to leave the fire going...

Anyways, enough about my disappointing adventure. Please feel free to share your own worst possible timing experience!

Was there lightning during the storm? A roof would certainly protect the interior so even after a heavy rain there'd be flammable materials protected from the rain.

Could you smell lighter fluid or some other accelerant? It does seem doubtful an arsonist was waiting for the rain to let up to go out and torch this place before the first urban explorer visits.

One time recently I walked into a local hospital just as the building we were in was being set on fire. I stopped going at night after that.

https://www.flickr.../72157648366313592

Me and my mate were exploring a very derelict old mill in a real deprived area on a weekday afternoon, a time you'd think nobody else would be up to mischief but it was set on fire while we were inside.

Years ago at the famous Pyestock jet engine testing site myself and my two companions got through the first fence only to run right into security patrolling the no-mans-land between the two lots of fences.

Just yesterday before I had an awesome hospital explore me and my mate were checking out a closed factory nearby, and just as he'd climbed up and in through the high window that was the only access point this big black dude in a flashy Range Rover pulled up beside us and demanded to know what we were doing, that we weren't allowed in there and after taking photos of us on his phone that he was going to call both the police and 'his mates', after some quick talking and protesting much to our relief he told us to 'do what you gonna do' (sic). I reckon there was some funny business going on inside that he didn't want us finding, but I also reckon had he had a car full of people and wasn't on his own things could have turned quite bad. We both laughed about it when we got back to the car especially when we saw a police car parked outside the front entrance as we drove off. Needless to say I'm not going to be heading back there any time soon...

In the first photo the ground looks like it was torn up by a bulldozer or something like that. Probably not the fire dept. but the landowner clearing the place out.

Torching it on a rainy day also makes sense because it lowers the chance of the fire getting out of control.

Mr Ferguson is correct, its an obvious demolition, bulldozer, 5 gallons of diesel oila.

(see scrape marks from the blade in foreground)

Posted by EsseXploreR One time recently I walked into a local hospital just as the building we were in was being set on fire. I stopped going at night after that. https://www.flickr.../72157648366313592

seriously man? I thought this place was your spot!

Yeah you guys are probably right on the money when you say it was a demolition. The more I think about it, I remember an excavator near the back of the property with a lot of mud in the treads which implies that it was moving around that day. Also, there were a lot of fresh tire tracks at the entrance to the property. Still wish they had waited another day...

Some of these other stories are pretty ridiculous though; thanks for sharing guys!

Hmm, my worst possible timing moment would be when I went to go on an exploration to an old NASCAR track, place was the shit. Every time I decide to go somewhere I research the area, look for nearby houses that could be potential caretakers, take note of cars that live nearby, and find places to park and escape. So I looked around for a couple hours, noted that there was indeed a house almost 20 feet away from the location and remembered the vehicle.

After an hour and a half drive and it now being late in the night thinking the owner would be asleep, I decided I'm going to get close and go up the driveway to get a look. I turn in right behind the same car I saw parked at the house. And then my retarded self decided to drive up behind him and sit there when he pulled in. Then after he sat in his car waiting I drove away.

TIP: Don't try to shoot an abandoned Naval facility while SWAT training is in progress.

Maybe not WORST possible timing, but here's one:

That kick in the gut you get when you realize that there was a really cool location that you didn't know existed until after its demolition. You found it too late.

Posted by siper TIP: Don't try to shoot an abandoned Naval facility while SWAT training is in progress.

LifeProTip.

Posted by IndoAnomaly LifeProTip.

Haha definitely worthy of /r/LifeProTips/

Posted by Jac Steel What I fail to understand, however, is how exactly the house caught on fire since we had had rain from Saturday afternoon until about 3 o'clock on Sunday.

Aliens.

Posted by siper TIP: Don't try to shoot an abandoned Naval facility while SWAT training is in progress.

I figured a guy with your skill would have been able to pull it off.

Posted by Rinzler I figured a guy with your skill would have been able to pull it off.

Totally.

Me and my friends were exploring an abandoned bar in Arthur, Ontario we found an unlocked door and as we opened it, someone came walking down the alleyway where the door was. We managed to disappear before he got to close though.

Once, a few hours after I left an historically relevant site, it burned to the ground.

Eventually, a local kid was arrested for arson, but that was a pretty scary few days when we thought that one of us may have accidentally started the fire.

Posted by Aran Maybe not WORST possible timing, but here's one: That kick in the gut you get when you realize that there was a really cool location that you didn't know existed until after its demolition. You found it too late.

Oh man, this has happened a few too many times to me.