What lapsed? His homeowners insurance? Or his business insurance? Because surely he had both to run a business, and normally they are separate policies?

I'm all for helping him out, but it just sounds irresponsible to not take care of your insurance. I don't know about Fred, but mine comes out of my bank account every month and renews all on its own.

Lapsed. Not lapped.

(I'm from Tomball, Texas)

Our prayers are with our photog bro. Thankful that he only lost material posessions Now is not the time to chastise our friend. Good grief.

WOW, I usually wouldn't say anything but MANNN can you be anymore insensitive? If you don't have anything nice to say "Anonimouse" or anything positive why say anything at all. Ahhhhhhhhh!

This is so terrible, I am so so sorry for all that Fred has lost!! But thankful he and his family are safe. Praying for him!

I don't want to be cruel, but I am guessing that he didn't have insurance - ever. I mean how do you not have either homeowner's or business insurance.

To ask us to donate our hard earned money for someone that is living the care free life - no thanks.

Wow, you guys are jerks. Do you think it's helpful to beat someone up in retrospect? Don't you think he would have gotten his crap together if he knew this would happen? You don't have to help Fred but you don't have to be a complete jackass either. Have a little compassion for someone who
is having a rough time and just keep your comments to yourselves.

Oh, and at least have the balls to stand behind your words and leave your names. Cowards.

Yikes! It took how many seconds for people to think they're better than someone who's been really hurt.

The truth is, it's too late to say what somebody should do. It's time to help someone. Jessica...you get 'em!

Jory,
Fred is blessed to have good friends and colleagues like you when tragedies like this occur. He's a spectacular photographer and I'm certain just as amazing a friend. I'll spread the word about the fund - you are so right; it is times like these where we can take part in the creative community and help.

That is really horrible! I will keep him and his family in my prayers. I cannot imagine what it is like to go thru something like this and my guess is the Negative Nancys here can't either or they would shut their mouths and have some respect. I'm sure the guy is having a tough enough time as it is without people trying to make him feel worse! It really isn't helpful.

This could be anyone. I dont care if he didnt have insurance or if it lapsed or if he did have it. this is devestating and I can not imagine losing EVERYTHING I owned and having your business and life come to a complete halt like that. Can you? I would hope someone wouldnt make me feel bad for an accident like this, and I think the negative comments are not necessary. I am thinking about Fred right now and hope everyone will have a more open heart.

How awful. :-( My heart sinks because I know exactly how he feels. We had a situation with a storage unit we were renting this past summer. We moved last year & had all of our belongings in a storage unit. We were late on a payment & the owner threw away EVERYTHING we owned. It was rather ridiculous. Yes, we were late on a payment, but it didn't make us criminals or ridiculous people. THINGS happen. LIFE happens. When people have unfortunate situations, struggles & tragedies...we need to be caring & not degrading. At least sign your name. For sure. And yes...all of us would go back and make different decisions concerning issues...but like Jolynne said...we can't go back and do what may have been the best decision.
JUST CARE FOR OTHERS. Period.

I am taken a back by this incident, and from reading these comments. I'm not even sure what to say to someone who is as insensitive as those jerks. Honestly, speechless.
I thought the photo community was better than this!
All the best to Fred, and hopefully he can bounce back quickly.

Jory..thanks for giving us a way to help out a fellow photog...it even hits a little more home after having just met you all but having relatives and friends who have gone through the same things!

And yes sometimes it's the insurance companies fault for the lapse and not the individual..it really does happen.

Fred...my heart really goes out to you in this time...my prayers are with you and your family!

Nice "holier than thou" attitudes, cowards. I believe this thread was about lifting someone up who is going through a hard time and instead of doing that, you come to dump on him? Compassion goes a long way. Being a jerk does not. Guess you've never made a mistake in your lives?

May someone crap on you the next time you are down and out.

Cowards.

That said, praying Fred stays positive and things start looking up.

Thank you for setting up this site Jory. Prayers and dollars help.

First, my heart goes out to Fred for all that he has lost. Having only met briefly, I still feel immense sorrow for his tragedy. To "responsible photog" and "Anonimouse" - shame on you. Absolutely no need to share the negativity.

Wow...I am stunned by the shameful comments and judgement above. This is when folks should show compassion and sympathy. Fred Egan, I am so so sorry for the tragic loss...and for the heartlessness of some people.

My heart goes out to him and his family, what a tragedy. My thoughts and prayers are with him.

I don't even know Fred but I take serious issue with the " anonimouse" and responsible photog" - you guys are idiots!!! Life doesn't happen in black& white. If I'm correct Fred has kids so this must be real hard on him and his fam! Honestly, I'd love to put you two in your place!!!

My prayers& thoughts are with you and your fam Fred!

It's very obvious how inappropriate some people are. To criticize someone who is hurting reaches a new low. He's an amazing photographer and with our help, will bounce back from this. I will spread the word. We'll be praying for you Fred. Although we don't know you personally, we want to encourage you and lift you back up.

God bless.

I came to this link through twitter- I'm so sorry for Fred's loss. I would be in some serious mental distress after losing my possessions in a fire. Instead of judging, and tearing into this poor man, let's think for a second how we would feel if we had something like this happen. I have letters and trinkets given to me by loved ones in my home. These things are irreplacable. I also have camera equipment and computers that help me to earn my livelihood. I would be devastated- emotionally and almost financially if there were to be a fire here. Open your hearts and put yourselves in Fred's shoes. If you don't have enough compassion to care, at least have the compassion to keep your mouth shut.
My thoughts are with Fred today and in the difficult days to come.

Some of the comments made on here have reminded me of the Parable of the Good Samaritan found in the book of Luke. It's quite sad to think that people in our community will just pass us by, mock the situation and go about their day. I truly believe in this photography community and even though I have not personally met Fred, we can still see the magnitude of his status and help out. Fred, you're good hands! Stay focused, pray often and keep rockin' it!

Fred, keep your head up bro.. You'll get through this, just know where your strength comes from. I know you have close friends and family to help you through this time.. Just lean on them. Know that there are tons of people praying for you.. and don't the "RICHARDS" in the world mess with your head...

Keep rock'n

Wow; thanks for getting a place where we could help set up so quickly.
To Fred - all I can say is... well, nothing. No words for something like this. Somehow, someway you will come out of this stronger than when you went in. You and your family are in my thoughts & prayers.

I am supposed to be the guy something like this happens to. I don't know Fred but I'm pitching in because there but for the grace of God go I.

I do not know Fred personally but I have been following his work for many years now. He has been an inspiration to a young photographer struggling to make it in a very saturated and critical market and I was devastated when I saw his post on Twitter about the fire. What was even more devastating was coming to this blog to show my support to Fred and then seeing ignorant, negative comments. Seriously, open your eyes and think about how you would feel if it were you in this situation. Now, I know that times are hard for everyone right now and that being said, I am going to try and find some extra money to donate. I very much want to see Fred get back in the game.

Fred, you are in all our hearts.

High fives to Jory for setting this up. And much love to Fred.

No love for Internet cowards.

My prayers and love go out to Fred and his family. I will pass the word on and I agree, I believe the creative community will come together to lift him up out of the sadness of this situation. Take care, Fred and thank you, Jory- for allowing us to be a part of the good cause.

I had not heard of him before today, but I saw some of my friends on Facebook posting about this tragedy in their status updates, and I will definitely donate to help. As for those of you who are being judgmental and horrible: may God have mercy on your hearts. I mean, FOR REAL.

Done! I hate to see others get kicked when they are down. I will pass the link on.

So sorry to hear about this but so glad someone put something together to help.Do you need anything else beside donations? I could put the word out and see what else I can come up with?

I am glad you and your family are safe and I am sorry to hear the comments from such insensitive people. This could happen to anyone. It's easy to judge however this isn't the forum to do so nor is it approprate.

My prayers & thoughts are with you and your family.

I don't know Fred and I don't have much in my account to give, but I do know this. You cannot say you love God and treat people as he has been treated on here. I am appalled. People are such lovers of themselves that they would go as far as looking down their nose at someone who has experienced an unfortunate situation. Things happen to people all of the time and it is not always because of irresponsibility. You do not know what is going on in a person's life. For me, if I had to choose to pay an insurance premium or buy groceries for my family, guess what I would choose. How about you? Judge not because the day could arise where you could be standing in these same shoes and looking around wondering what happened to your life.

Fred, my thoughts and prayers are with you and your loved ones. I am donating to you because we ALL deserve to have people care about us.

Jory,
It is so nice of you to help your friend out in such a horrible situation.

Fred,
You still have your passion, talent, family, and friends. I hope that they all are enough to get you through this. Maybe a job as poster boy for State Farm will be in your future...

Man I can't believe how insensitive people can be. No wonder this world is so ethically and immorally incorrect. If it happen to having you regardless of homeowner's insurance or not..people helping you out in time of need would be GREAT. Besides it takes a wile to even get the benfits from the hoeowners insurance. So yeah unless you have rich friends or money stashed away..people should help eachother

Kudos for setting this up to help a fellow photog out. I've never even met Fred but can sympathize with his loss; a terrible thing that happened and hopefully this effort helps him out. Not too impressed by the negative comments. Insurance doesn't cover everything anyways and he's probably already heard more than enough about the insurance subject. Now that it's after the fact I think we should focus on assisting if one can, sending prayers if one is not financially able to assist and keep the negativity to yourself.

Wow! First off I have to say Fred, our prayers are with you and I hope everyone does what they can to stand behind you. I could not imagine this but I do know that God will provide and make a way for you.

As for those that do not have any compassion, I pray that someone would never treat you the way you have responded to Freds loss. You are very smart to not put your name as it would tank you in a heartbeat.

Wow. All I can say is WOW. I can't believe some of the things that have been said in the comment section. (to you naysayers - ever heard of KARMA? Ever been in a tough spot yourself? Get a heart.) Fred - I am SO sorry to hear of the loss of your home and personal possessions - a truly devastating time for you. My thoughts and prayers are with you & your family.

Terribly sorry to hear of all your losses. I cannot donate in dollars, but I do have an over abundance of stuff, even some photography lights. Pleas let me know of things that you and your family may need. I would very much like to help.

side note to the judgemental, asshole, bullying, better than thou, jerks with cruel intentions and very poor taste:

FUCK YOU!

Seriously.

I don't know Fred at all, but reading this broke my heart. I will be posting this link for my friends and family and hopefully enough donations can be gathered to help out this man who so desperately needs it. I can tell from reading the comments that this man is lucky to have so many caring friends.

Sad to here but would be happy to send an old work laptop 2 help see him get started back on his feet.Just contact me with details an ill foward.also if you can think of clothes(sizes ect) ill send a whole package over from here,ive added this to my wall page an will encourage all my oz friends to dig deep also

Cheers

Mick

This is horrible news...my heart breaks for him and his family. I will gladly donate--AND, I'll even throw in a few bucks for a Anonimouse and Responsible Photog!!

Saw tweet in California and rallying to help. May God multipliy the donations and restore all that was lost. Every little bit helps. None can cast judgement as we ALL have had unfortunate events at one time or another.

Some people never cease to amaze me.. But I'm praying for him and will definitely donate whatever I can.

I originally wanted to spread some hateful thoughts to the jackass up top for his remarks but something tells me Karma is a %$&%^...... Fred is an inspiration to many so if you can hit that paypal button up top and help a brother out.

I dont know Fred, but some of my best friends are good friends with him, and thats enough for me. And to quote the great Dave Barnes:
"Prayers and money should not be confused, but I pray that both still are used... Only Love can save us all."

Search your heart and Give.

if there is anything that i have learned from Fred and the other most awesome photographers in this world, it's that we are not in this (the world of photography) as a competition. we're here together and i think it's awesome that you (jory) have made it possible for us to express this unification. keep up the awesome-ness you awesome photographical world!

My prayers and good thoughts are with you, Fred. I'm deeply sorry to hear about this, and I'm just glad that you are okay and not hurt in the fire!

Our thoughts and prayers are with you Fred. We feel awful for you. This is our worst nightmare, we hope you can recover everything. Sometimes bad things happen for a reason, so try to look for the good that can come from this unfortunate event. You are still one of the dopest photographers EVER.