My house burned down and .. (i hope this is the right forum) (floors, phone)
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what I learned from it. First the fire is faster than you think, get out quick nothing is worth your life. Make sure you have updated photos of items in your home. Fireproof safe is a big help! I went back to my home everyday for a week..no mask DON'T do this. By the end of the week my asthma was out of control, I ended up at Urgent Care for treatment and steroids. A few days later I had bronchitis. The smell at first didn't seem to bother me which is odd with asthma everything does. May it was Adrenalin I don't know. But I found out the smoke/soot on everything is more toxic each day after the fire.
I can't go in our house anymore until all the walls, ceiling and floors are gutted, they are taking it down to the studs. Fire can burn anyone's house down, no one is immune. It doesn't matter if your a perfectionist like me or a slob.
Remember its stuff you lost, not a human being or a pet. Everything can be replaced and you really don't need most of it.
Call your insurance while fire is active, don't wait they will get there quick and clean up and securing your home can happen quickly. The insurance is there to help but they know your overwhelmed you won't be asking the questions you need to not yet. After the fire take a breath and write down the questions you have.
Check your policy, does it cover living expenses? a rental, rental furniture? do you have replacement policy for your belongings? And is your house covered correctly. We were blessed we have a great policy but thats because USAA helped me choose it, if they hadn't I wouldn't have gotten the coverage we ended up needing.
If you have any breathing problems be careful with the items that will be sent for restoration and brought back to you. Anything leather/suede has a horrible smell to me. It takes away my air. Clothes seem to be fine except some faded or shrunk. But the majority was fine.
Anything ( furniture, electrical items) thats in the room of a person with asthma , COPD or lung problems get rid of. The chemical smell will be there you may not smell it but they will. Make sure you talk to your insurance about it.
Next it takes time to recover give yourself a break. If you have children it will be even harder. They need your attention and help much more during this time. They need to talk so they won't be frightened their world has changed overnight. Pets will be lost, afraid if you leave the room. Eventually they will adjust.
Make lists of everything you lost compare to theirs. Keep receipts. Paperless is a great program to keep track of receipts. This has helped us immensely.
If you don't have a neighborhood where neighbors become involved when there is a disaster, get with your HOA form a compassion committee. Ours was just created a week before our fire. People donated meals, helped with our dogs, offered us a place to stay , and even offered us items we might need at first. USAA had us covered we were in a hotel same day and they rented a house and completely furnished it with everything you would need for day to day living. We were blessed!!!
When in the hotel don't wait for someone to find you a rental go online look at realtor.com and call , go look and then call your agent. I found it easier for me to look then wait on someone to do it for me. Within a week of the fire we had a house to move into. Once your back in a home then you can begin to breathe, relax. Then its the paperwork ...but if you have receipts, pictures its going to be so much easier.
And when you shop and you see someone in Pajamas, maybe thats all they have to wear. I had to shop at Kohls wearing my pajamas because it was early in the morning and I never got to change. I smelled of smoke probably looked a bit homeless. The fire taught me humility. I will never look at someone wearing their pajamas in a store the same way as I once did.
And keep your sense of humor, if you can't laugh your going to cry. I will update this as we rebuild. I mod said wrong forum and deleted. I think this info will help someone else before they have a fire. We found out last night it will be a complete rebuild. The fire had spread under the tub upstairs and into the walls.
House next to me burned two years ago on Thanksgiving morning.
Not to pick on the fire dept, but they took their time...it is a job, not an emergency for them.
They laid out their hoses, got staff geared up, organized themselves for the battle and then went to work. Slowly, methodically, without haste to put the fire out. That seemed to be their objective: Putting the fire out. If it burned (and it did...a lot!) more of the house, that was not their concern. Their concern was getting it out.
Point being, once the house is on fire, and as the OP pointe out, it burns fast (and VERY HOT) and will coinsure things faster than you can attempt to save them. Don't do it. Get out. Let it burn. It's gone. The fire department will do their job.
Time to start over.
In my neighbors case, the place was gutted. They tore down what was left, and rebuilt on the existing poured foundation. Today you would never know anything ever happened, expect, perhaps, for the memories.
Not to pick on the fire dept, but they took their time...it is a job, not an emergency for them.
They laid out their hoses, got staff geared up, organized themselves for the battle and then went to work. Slowly, methodically, without haste to put the fire out. That seemed to be their objective: Putting the fire out. If it burned (and it did...a lot!) more of the house, that was not their concern. Their concern was getting it out.
Really, their concern is to make sure nobody gets hurt or killed (including the firefighters) and second to that, to contain it so that other properties aren't in danger. As it should be.
As those two examples indicate, most house fires beyond something small with localized damage are probably going to require a full rebuild anyway. That's what insurance is for. Nobody is going to run in and risk injury to limit the fire to only 50% of the house vs 75%.
House next to me burned two years ago on Thanksgiving morning.
Not to pick on the fire dept, but they took their time...it is a job, not an emergency for them.
They laid out their hoses, got staff geared up, organized themselves for the battle and then went to work. Slowly, methodically, without haste to put the fire out. That seemed to be their objective: Putting the fire out. If it burned (and it did...a lot!) more of the house, that was not their concern. Their concern was getting it out.
P
We have an all volunteer FD. For them it is always an emergency. we are their friends and neighbors and they volunteer and risk their lives to help us.
Our idiot supervisor tried to switch to a paid union FD. I think the union must have fed his campaign fund. He learned he was only elected supervisor, not god. Makes no sense. We have one of the best fire departments anywhere and they are often called to help in bigger cities. they not only know the people, they know our community. They will never get lost or get surprised because a road is closed or blocked by a low tree or whatever. They are FAST and very well trained. They have great equipment and most of all they care. Not saying paid people do not care, they do, but it is also just a job to them, not family.
We try to give back to them in little ways. We give their business preferential treatment, we bring them food, we encouraged our kids to look out for and befriend their kids. they are very appreciative. I think I will always look for communities with volunteer Fire Departments to live in.
to OP sorry about what happened to you. That is horrific. You have a great attitude about it and shared some very helpful information. Fire worries me out house is all wood and parts of it are 182 years old.
I am going to go home and check my smoke detectors now.
cp102, thanks for this informative post.
i appreciate your "boots on the ground" reportage.
we have been through several hurricanes.
this is what i would like to add:
1. pets. have paperwork to prove shots are up-to-date in case an emergency shelter requires that.
2. mold affects similarly as smoke/soot. the contamination and toxicity does not go away.
3. "And keep your sense of humor"....go shopping in your PJ's! i might just do that.
what I learned from it. First the fire is faster than you think, get out quick nothing is worth your life. Make sure you have updated photos of items in your home. Fireproof safe is a big help! I went back to my home everyday for a week..no mask DON'T do this. By the end of the week my asthma was out of control, I ended up at Urgent Care for treatment and steroids. A few days later I had bronchitis. The smell at first didn't seem to bother me which is odd with asthma everything does. May it was Adrenalin I don't know. But I found out the smoke/soot on everything is more toxic each day after the fire.
I can't go in our house anymore until all the walls, ceiling and floors are gutted, they are taking it down to the studs. Fire can burn anyone's house down, no one is immune. It doesn't matter if your a perfectionist like me or a slob.
Remember its stuff you lost, not a human being or a pet. Everything can be replaced and you really don't need most of it.
Call your insurance while fire is active, don't wait they will get there quick and clean up and securing your home can happen quickly. The insurance is there to help but they know your overwhelmed you won't be asking the questions you need to not yet. After the fire take a breath and write down the questions you have.
Check your policy, does it cover living expenses? a rental, rental furniture? do you have replacement policy for your belongings? And is your house covered correctly. We were blessed we have a great policy but thats because USAA helped me choose it, if they hadn't I wouldn't have gotten the coverage we ended up needing.
If you have any breathing problems be careful with the items that will be sent for restoration and brought back to you. Anything leather/suede has a horrible smell to me. It takes away my air. Clothes seem to be fine except some faded or shrunk. But the majority was fine.
Anything ( furniture, electrical items) thats in the room of a person with asthma , COPD or lung problems get rid of. The chemical smell will be there you may not smell it but they will. Make sure you talk to your insurance about it.
Next it takes time to recover give yourself a break. If you have children it will be even harder. They need your attention and help much more during this time. They need to talk so they won't be frightened their world has changed overnight. Pets will be lost, afraid if you leave the room. Eventually they will adjust.
Make lists of everything you lost compare to theirs. Keep receipts. Paperless is a great program to keep track of receipts. This has helped us immensely.
If you don't have a neighborhood where neighbors become involved when there is a disaster, get with your HOA form a compassion committee. Ours was just created a week before our fire. People donated meals, helped with our dogs, offered us a place to stay , and even offered us items we might need at first. USAA had us covered we were in a hotel same day and they rented a house and completely furnished it with everything you would need for day to day living. We were blessed!!!
When in the hotel don't wait for someone to find you a rental go online look at realtor.com and call , go look and then call your agent. I found it easier for me to look then wait on someone to do it for me. Within a week of the fire we had a house to move into. Once your back in a home then you can begin to breathe, relax. Then its the paperwork ...but if you have receipts, pictures its going to be so much easier.
And when you shop and you see someone in Pajamas, maybe thats all they have to wear. I had to shop at Kohls wearing my pajamas because it was early in the morning and I never got to change. I smelled of smoke probably looked a bit homeless. The fire taught me humility. I will never look at someone wearing their pajamas in a store the same way as I once did.
And keep your sense of humor, if you can't laugh your going to cry. I will update this as we rebuild. I mod said wrong forum and deleted. I think this info will help someone else before they have a fire. We found out last night it will be a complete rebuild. The fire had spread under the tub upstairs and into the walls.
I am so sorry you have had to go through this experience. Thank you for taking the time to help others benefit from what you have learned.
I will continue to posts updates, as we move thru the process. I also wanted to say I had never heard of the Steam Team before our fire. I am impressed with them. They are came immediately after the fire.They tarped the house and secured it within hours of the fire. Within hours of the fire the clean up began—they needed to remove the water that covered the floors. Every step of the way they let you know whats is happening. If you get confused or unsure on something they are just a text or phone call away.
I was surprised at how quickly they got clothes back to us within 2 days of the fire they had brought us a portion of our cloths cleaned and pressed. The rest we received within 3 weeks of the fire.
The Steam Team has begun demo on our house. We stopped by, the workers were friendly and explained what they had done so far. I feel very comfortable with the steam Team, everything they have said they would do they have done.
I know it will be a long process to rebuild our house. But I will post updates here because it may benefit soemone else.
If I have a water or flood damage I know I will call the Steam Team.
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