NEED HELP: Disaster Recovery for a Housefire

Factual Questions
1

Hi Straight Dopers,

My house burned last night in a fire. Actually half did: the garage, & two bedrooms were burned.
The kitchen, living room, dining room, & two other bedrooms have extensive smoke & soot damage.

We are getting ready to have Disaster Recovery people come in tomorrow to see what we can salvage.

Does anyone have any words of wisdom for what to do after a housefire?

Insurance & disaster recovery people have been called. House is boarded up.
Jewelry, currency, gathered & stored.

We just don’t know how to decide where to live or what kind of furnished apartments or motels are available/best when it’s an emergency situation.

Someone suggested vinegar for getting smoke out of our clothes. Does anyone have any other recipes/tips?

Looking for people who have gone through this or works with disaster recovery for a living…

Thanks much,
JungleBurnt

2

You’d think the disaster recovery people that are coming tomorrow would kinda be experts at that sort of thing.

Don’t spend a lot of time worrying about getting the smell out of clothes. Your insurance company will be replacing them and the wedding dress and tuxedo already smelled like fire and brimstone.

I’m very sorry for your loss. I hope everything works out for the better.

3

I only have a little bit to contribute - I once worked a temp job for a week or so cleaning soot off of dental records that had been in a fire. We used some kind of special sponge that was dry-ish and kinda sucked soot up off the papers and x-rays. They were pre-treated with some special chemical or another.

I’d guess the disaster recovery people will tell you all about that, but I just thought I’d let you know there are products available for that sort of thing. Hope everything goes well for you. Good luck!

4

RULE # 1: DO NOT SIGN ANY PAPERS OR "CONTRACTS." You have already signed a contract with the insurer (your policy) and it is up to them to arrange for the work. 99% of the time, (or more often), a contract handed to a disaster victim is a rip-off consigning your rights to the “contractor” who intends to do sub-standard work or take the money and run. Once signed, your insurance company cannot help you, because those contracts generally assume all your rights.

Find some modest rental property to live at. Hotels get very wearing very quickly, and if you have a limit for “living expenses” in your insurance policy, you do not want to exhaust them if your recovery takes longer than expected.

Let the pros handle the cleaning. They have a lot more experience with removing creosote than anyone else does.

However, be prepared to make some hard choices. Some things can be cleaned, but the cleaning solvents will take years off their lives. You have to decide whether you want them cleaned, only to fall apart next spring, whether you want to throw them out, asking for replacement value, or whether you want to keep them, damaged. We scrapped the new living room curtains, but chose to live with the smoke-covered books (many of which were out of print). (31 years later, there are still a few books with the creosote odor on them, but it is extremely faint.)

When they remove the furniture for cleaning, YOU TAKE INVENTORY as it goes out the door, noting the pieces AND THE PIECES OF PIECES, (table leaves, how many, what size? does the armoir have extra doors inside? etc.) Even the best cleaning company has a bad day and you don’t want to “remember” that you’re missing the leaves in the table when you go to celebrate Thanksgiving in your newly cleaned home.

Take photos of the damage.
Find any old photos of the rooms before the fire. A good photo can help determine the colors and the condition of paint, wallpaper, drapes, etc. A bad photo can still remind you of objects that may have been destroyed that you would not think of until after the settlement had closed.

Be honest about what was damaged/destroyed. If the insurance company catches you lying, they will put you through hell justifying everything you claim. (*[ anecdote alert! ] * My parents were on separate phones on a conference call with the adjuster and the contractor. The adjuster asked about the uneven expensive slate floor on the porch behind the garage that looked as though it might have been water damaged in the fire. My folks simultaneously exclaimed, “No, that floor was already uneven.” They didn’t get challenged on anything else they claimed throughout the recovery.

5

Great advice from TomnDeb. They’re right about cloth furnishings, etc. If you wash them, they fall right apart. On the other hand, oven cleaner will work wonders on stuff (dishes, glass) that even a brillo pad won’t touch.

6

JungleLove you wouldn’t be a poster named lindsay or Special K would you?

7

Thank you so much for your advice! Restoration people are going to do a lot of the work, but my mom being cheap underinsured the contents-- our insurance guy thinks.

So we had a whole bunch of church friends come over yesterday & they picked up the glassware to clean & keep at their houses until way down the road when I guess my mom will have somewhere to keep it.

My brothers’ rooms were damaged the most, besides the garage, but they are married & live elsewhere anyway, so they got most of the stuff they wanted.

I think everything will be fine, it was just a big shock & I know from experience that an informed person is going to make the best decisions.

I printed out your reply Tom, a very heartfelt thanks to you… I am going to take it to my mom. My parents are divorced & my mom has lived in the house 28 years, so she’s in shock/having a hard time emotionally detaching from the house.

But we have lots of friends & it would be just plain worse if someone was in the hospital.

My brother’s & my childhood pictures burned off the walls, but people are saying they have pictures of us for my mom & I know I have some digital pics if my hard drive wasn’t warped from smoke & heat damage.

No one else need post to this thread, because they’re going to scrape out the insides of the house in fairly soon anyway.

Thanks to all who have tried to help in this situation that I have never been through before.

Hugs & thanks from Fort Worth, Texas,
Melissa Speed

8

Just a suggestion to boarders–keep your negatives to your photos in a safety deposit box in case you have the misfortune of JungleLove.

9

Better advice–buy yourselves a small fireproof safe or strongbox.

Mosler makes some goo ones.

They help with burglers, too.

10

I mean–Mosler makes some good ones.

11

I have been doing insurance for 10 years. I spent 1 year doing property.

The most important thing is not to hire a Public Adjuster. They will take a percentage of your insurance recovery and will rarely help increase the amount you get. They are not good for you.

Second: shoot straight with the adjuster, but be firm and aggressive. They are often over worked. Stay in contact, give them the proof they need, and be firm about getting items replaced.

As for your clothes and furniture, you will probably never get the smoke smell out. Sure, they will promise to get it out, but it rarely works. Make sure you check everything out before you accept it back. IF it is not wearable, insist on replacement.

9 times out of 10, these cases are dealt with quickly. Good luck

12

JungleLove, I’m sorry to hear of your loss. I’ve seen many, many, many people whose homes have been hit by fires, and I’ve got a pretty good idea of just what your going through.

The East Haven, CT Fire Department has some excellent tips for post-fire recovery on their web site.

http://nearhome.com/ct/easthaven/fire/after/index.html

I have quite a few friends in EHFD, including the Chief, who, may I say, knows what he’s talking about (he’s a hell of a teacher). They have these tips made out into a brochure, which they give out to those who have had a fire. Have you had any contact with the fire department since they left after the fire? They may be able to guide you towards a place to stay or give you other hints for after-the-fire recovery.

If you have any questions, don’t hesistate to ask me.

Jeremy…

Normal quote removed in light of the situation.

13

Yes, my mom underinsured the house.

Fortunately, my twin brother works for State Farm, so he turned those vulture public adjusters away at the door. One arrived the morning after the fire.

The worst thing, honestly, is how the fire affected my mom. The shock affected her so that she wasn’t able to prioritize what needed to be done.

My brother commented that it feels like we’re the parents (we’re twenty-five) & she’s the child. In this situation, I am Glad I am not an only child, because all of us kids have pitched in & done some kind of research or help.

My mom was worried about her LAWN, folks, after the house was torched. She went through the refridgerator & deep freezer contents item by item to see what she could save. She had friends take the milk & dairy products to save, because “they were still good & a waste to throw away.”

I have been dealing with that for a week & two days now.
Where is she right now, while I’m here at my brother’s house? One guess.

At the barbequed house raking through various minutia.
I want to help her, but then half the time I’m fighting the urge to scream & pull my hair out, because she’s clinging to every last old sock & holey pair of underwear.

We are now staying at a suite with a kitchenette, which is has wonderful fresh air & electricity, but my Mom’s at the house from dawn till dusk.

We bought out the remaining amount on the mortgage, but the paperwork won’t be completed for 60 days.

I grew up there, but I wish someone would condemn the property, so my Mom can’t keep going back in there.

I am graduating with a Masters in Information Science in a week, which is good, but, damn, how it never rains but it pours.

Thanks for the open ear,
Melissa