gun safe
My guns. My way.
“I still have my wedding album. That's a miracle.”
David and Tiffany’s home was completely destroyed by fire—twice in 24 hours. Their Browning Safe was the only thing left standing.
Life before the fire
Before fire struck, David and Tiffany had built their dream home on several acres in central Mississippi, and their days were filled with the lively bustle of a busy life.
David, a pilot in the Air National Guard, and Tiffany, a pharmacist, lived with their two young kids, Daniel and Claire, David's 76-year-old father Lloyd, and a menagerie of pets, including two golden retrievers, a poodle, several cats, and a flock of guinea hens.
David, a protector at heart, worked hard to ensure a safe place for his family—and before they even broke ground on that home, he’d already bought the gun safe that would go in it.
"We were out shopping at Discount Gun Safe in Pearl, Mississippi, and saw the Browning Safe there," David recalls. "We really liked the looks of it—and it was very big and robust. It happened to be on sale, and it was too good to pass up. I told John, the owner, 'Hey, we're building, it's probably going to be a year. I'd like to purchase the safe—would you mind keeping it here in your warehouse?' He said, 'Not a problem.' So we bought it that day."
Once they moved in, the family filled the safe with some of their most important possessions, including heirloom guns, deeds, passports, some valuable coins, and the couple’s wedding album.
"Most people put their wedding albums on their coffee table," says Tiffany. "Mine went in the safe."
February 7, 2025: The day everything changed
On a seemingly ordinary February morning, Tiffany was working at the pharmacy when she received an unexpected call from Lloyd's phone. She picked up immediately—he didn’t usually call.
But it wasn't Lloyd on the line. It was Officer Tomlinson with the county sheriff’s department.
"The officer asked who lives in our home,” says Tiffany, “and he asked if anybody might be home right now. I told him the kids were at school and David was at work, but Lloyd was there. He told me Lloyd and the dogs were all okay. Then he said, ‘Ma'am, your house is on fire.'"
“Ma'am, your house is on fire.”
Frantic, Tiffany raced home, calling David on the way. Once they arrived, they learned that, despite his mobility challenges, Lloyd had heroically tried to fight the fire, which started in Daniel’s room. He suffered smoke inhalation and burns to his head, shoulders, and arms while attempting to save the home, before firefighters arrived.
By the time the fire was out, Daniel’s room was completely gone, with a 20-by-20-foot hole burned through to the upstairs, but much of the house remained standing.
"There were three inches of water in the house from the 10,000 gallons they pumped on it," David remembers. "I figured there's no way it could catch back on fire, so I put my side-by-side back in the garage and left to spend the night at Tiffany’s mom’s house."
Home destroyed by fire
Lightning strikes twice
The next morning, as the family prepared to salvage what they could from their home, Tiffany received another devastating call from the same sheriff's officer.
"He asked where everybody was, and if we were all okay,” says Tiffany. “I said we were all at my mom’s, and he told me the house was back on fire. He said it was fully engulfed."
When David and Tiffany arrived, their worst fears were realized. The main house was completely gone—nothing but the concrete slab and brick walls remained standing.
"It was a pretty good gut punch," says David.
Browning Safe survives fire
"The fire got so hot that it melted the lock face off."
The Browning Safe: Tested by extreme fire
In the aftermath, the family found one additional thing that remained standing: their Browning Safe.
"The fire got so hot that it melted the lock face off," says David. He reached out to John for help.
“We were there, first hand, to help,” says John, who worked quickly to help the couple get their safe opened. Once they got their first look inside, they discovered the true test of Browning’s fire protection.
"Everything in there was intact.”

Despite the extreme temperatures, the Browning Safe had done its job. Here’s what survived:

The guns were salvageable.
“They were kind of rusty, but I’ve sent them to a gunsmith and they were able to restore them so they’re all functional—my dad's deer rifle, my grandfather's shotgun, you know, guns that had real sentimental value to me,” says David.

Documents were preserved.
“All of our documents we were able to pretty much saved,” says David. “They got a little charred and smoky, but they were still usable.”

The wedding album survived.
“That was one of the things that was most important to me that survived,” says Tiffany. “There was some light spotting at the bottom of the pictures, from moisture, but overall, I would say it's in 95% condition."
Lessons learned, and looking forward
Two days before the fire, it had been Daniel’s birthday, and his new remote-control airplane, a gift from his parents, was stored carefully, near his bed. The fire inspector determined that the likely cause of the fire was the lithium-ion battery in that new toy.
"The inspector said, 'You'd be surprised how often this happens,'" says David.
Today, the family is rebuilding. They've purchased a temporary home, to provide some stability for the kids while they’re working on a new house on their property. Lloyd moved into a nearby assisted living facility. And yes, they're getting another Browning Safe.
This time, they're planning for a bigger safe, and they’ll be keeping it in a new 13-by-8-foot tornado shelter room, with cinder block walls filled with concrete. “In case, God forbid, this happens again,” says David.
David and Tiffany’s Browning Safe did what it was designed to do: protect what mattered most under extreme circumstances. The couple might not have realized that no residential safe protects better in a fire than a Browning Safe. But they were definitely glad they had it.
For Tiffany, the survival of her wedding album represents something even more profound.
Home destroyed by fire
"I still have my pictures. That's a miracle."

David and Tiffany’s experience offers powerful lessons for anyone considering fire protection:

  • Plan for the unexpected: House fires can start from sources you'd never consider, so be prepared.
  • Store what's irreplaceable: Sentimental items are impossible to replace.
  • Buy quality: When everything else is destroyed, you’ll want protection that works. Browning Safes fire protection is unmatched.
Bigger. Better.
Browning.
See for yourself why no safe is better than a Browning Safe.
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What was in David and Tiffany’s Browning Safe?

Here's what their Browning Silver Series 49T Gun Safe protected from the fire:

  • David’s dad's Browning Bar 30-06 rifle (“I got my first deer with that gun,” says David.)
  • His grandfather's 1100 shotgun (“I remember dove hunting with my grandpa and my dad. He’d be using this gun and I’d be carrying my BB gun around.”)
  • David’s dad’s Smith & Wesson 357
  • Daniel’s first 22 (“It belonged to my grandfather,” says David. “My Papaw.”)
  • Documents, passports, birth certificates, etc.
  • Cash
  • Collectible coins
  • And the wedding album
See for yourself why no safe is better.  >Find a dealer.