Yesterday afternoon, my fiance’s apartment building was destroyed by fire. I won’t go into what caused it; it’s a tale of stupidity suited only for the BBQ Pit. Everyone got out all right, including all the pets except for one hampster. The walls of the building are still standing, but it’s going to be condemned and the floors may be gone. My fiance was on vacation and is currently driving back, so I’ve been talking to people in his stead, including his building manager. He has renters insurance and more than the clothes on his back, which is more than what most people in his building have.
What we don’t know is what happens next. His building manager will call in a salvage or recovery company, and some of his things may be salvageable. He had books, of course, and several plastic boxes full of slides, and there was no fire reported in his apartment itself.
If any of you have been through something like this or know someone who has, or has any expertise in these matters, we could use all the help we could get. I also won’t say “No” to any expressions of sympathy. This is rough. We both loved that place, and we’ve got a lot of memories tied up in it. He’ll stay with me until we get things sorted out, but it would be nice to know what we’re getting into.
Only time I’ve experienced this was in VN when my hootch burned down. I was away at the time. It was a total loss, so I just submitted a list of items and was reimbursed later. It sounds like he’ll not be allowed access to search for salvagable items, so I’d guess he’ll have to rely on his insurance company to try and recover anything possible. Depending upon safety considerations, the local authorities may, or may not, allow access to an insurance inspector/adjustor. If that doesn’t work and there are unreplacable items that he badly wants to recover, he might be able to get in touch w/ the salvage company that gets the demolition job.
It may be different for apartment buildings, but when we had a fire in our basement, a moderately large one, virtually all of the books in the house had to be tossed. Even in my room, the attic, three flights up, the smoke damage was bad. Clothes could be cleaned, but books couldn’t. 10 years later, I’ll never forget that electric smoky smell. Ugh.
We then had to itemize our losses which he’ll probably have to do. After a while it becomes so ridiculous it’s almost a good time. How many pairs of underwear did I have? And how many cartons of cigarettes?
Probably the city building inspectors will check to see whether or not the remainder is structurally sound. If it is the building can be restored using what’s left as a start. If not I suspect the building must be torn down because it is both an nuisance and a hazard. It will be up the owner whether or not to rebuild.
The owner will also need to file a claim with his insurance co.
The firemen on site should be able to tell you if it’s safe to enter the building and what loads can be put on damaged surfaces (e.g. it may not be safe for you to carry his bed down the stairs). If it’s safe to go in, you should recover such of his belongings as you are allowed to before the jackals do or the building is demolished. You can then inspect them for smoke and water damage.
First, Siege, I’m glad to hear your fiancee is okay.
Expect a lot of things to suffer smoke and water damage. In fact, expect a lot of things will have to be thrown away. Hopefully the important stuff will be recoverable.
My daughter’s old boyfriend had a fire in his house. They were home, it started in the garage, and smoke damage basically totaled the house, though there wasn’t a lot of fire damage. First, as mentioned, they got out what they could and had some of it restored. Insurance paid for a new place to live for over a year. They and the insurance company decided that it was better to pull down the house and rebuild from scratch. The problem was that either the insurance didn’t pay as much as expected, or they were too ambitious, but they argued about plans for a long time. (And we went out and updated our insurance.) It took over a year for them to be able to move into their new house.
I suspect it is much easier with an apartment, since you can just move and not have to worry about the rebuilding. Now’s the time he finds out how good his insurance is, (let us know.)
Did he have a list of possessions, or photos of his furniture stored at your place? Maybe he doesn’t need it since the stuff is still there, if damaged.
And he has my sympathy. The most valuable stuff is that without any real dollar value. At least he knows it isn’t his fault beyond any doubt.
I’ve have worked on several house and building fires as a claims adjuster. Let me know if I can answer any questions in that regard. If he hasn’t, he should contact his insurance agent and advise him of the fire and get the claim paper work going.
It’s hard to tell from your description how bad the fire was. If the building was only partially damaged and some of his belongings are salvage able then the adjuster (or a salvage contractor) will do the bulk of sorting through what’s salvageable and what’s not. If it was a total loss to the building and the company declares it a total loss your fiancé will need to make a list of every possession in the apartment and it’s value.
You will have to call the insurance company and an insurance adjuster will come to figure out the extent of your loss. The City Bulding Inspector will determine what repairs are needed or if the place has to be condemned. You will have to work with the City on all repairs, getting the necessary permits and making sure they approve of everything. It’s a pain in the ass, but easier than having them come later and making you do it over.
First, my sympathies for your losses, and I’m glad that your fiance will have more than just whatever he was sleeping in when the fire struck. And that he has a place to stay in the immediate aftermath - that’s worth a lot right there, not because the insurance companies are evil, or reluctant to pay up - it’s just something simple at a time when thought of any kind is hard.
While growing up my nextdoor neighbors had a fire, while they were out of town, that engulfed the whole building. The fire gutted the house. I had the grand fun of being the first person to tell our neighbors that it looked like what they had left was a shell with vertical walls. After everything was all over she thanked me for not sugar coating anything, but it was hard to say and to hear.
The insurance company stepped right up, had housing arranged for the family even before they got back. They ended up, after looking everything over, keeping the walls and rebuilding inside the framework, but it was an extensive rebuild, and took about a year to complete.
As for things - between the effects of the fire, and the effects of the fire fighters, your fiance is going be best served, I think, by assuming that everything in the apartment is gone. Even if the fire never made it to his apartment, the smoke and fumes are likely to have contaminated everything of a porous nature. And water damage on top of that is quite likely. Between the smoke, water, and temperatures, I wouldn’t expect anything electronic to survive. CDs and DVDs might survive if there were no fire in his apartment, and the heat wasn’t too high - but again, don’t count on it.
Having said all that, fire is odd - things can survive with minimal effects. So don’t give up hope.
The best thing, is knowing that your fiance has renter’s insurance so he’ll have some recompense for his losses. That won’t replace heirlooms, but at least he’s not facing the worst of the financial hit.
ABSOLUTE FIRST RULE OF DEALING WITH A FIRE OR OTHER DISASTER AND INSURANCE:
DO NOT SIGN ANYHTING EXCEPT THE CHECK FROM THE INSURANCE COMPANY.
These events draw frauds like flies. Often someone will show up “from the insurance company” asking that you sign for their assessment (or even to show they were there), and buried in the fine print (or retroactively attached on another page) is a declaration that you are assigning them the rights to “negotiate” for your settlement. They then go to the insurance company with your assigned rights and skim off the money you need to recover.
A lot of states have finally made such activity illegal, but that does not stop the sharpers from trying to find language that lets them slip around the law (or they simply break the law, using a P.O. Box and then change it with no forwarding address once your chaeck has been given to them).
Siege, I can’t answer any questions about the fire, but I wanted to say how happy I am to hear that your fiance is ok. Scary things, fires…my husband has done reconstruction on some burn outs - they’re one of my biggest fears.
Right after we finished our house and got everthing moved in and settled video-taped our house’s contents. We went room to room and documented everything. We have lots of antiques, and their value is based largely on their condition - something important to know when insurance comes into play. We also wrote down the make, model, and serial number of all the electronic gadgets. All this information went into the safety deposit box at the bank.
Yes, it took some patience and some time, but it was time well spent.
The fire started around 3:00 pm Saturday. I saw the smoke around 3:30 and got to his place to find it completely engulfed. According to his building manager and the fire marshal, the building will have to be condemned. Sensible fellow that he is, he called his insurance agency on Saturday afternoon (I was able to find their number on-line) and he already has a claim started. He’s not worried about money at the moment. He also started a mental list of possessions while driving back yesterday. He’s pretty meticulous, so he should have that finished soon.
There are, however, things which won’t be easy to replace. I think the odds are reasonable that the boxes of slides have survived, but what I don’t know is if they’re on shelves in what remains of his third floor apartment or if they’re in the rubble in the basement. Thanks to pinkfreud over in Cafe Society, I’ll be able to replace one particular book, but we don’t know if we’ll be able to salvage the rest. Come to think of it, if anyone’s got a bunch of recent National Geographics, or Consumer Reports going say, 5 or 10 years back, I’d be willing to take them off your hands.
Tomndebb, I’ll pass on your advice. One funny bit of luck is I nearly went to your neck of the woods for a Regional Gathering this weekend. I’m glad I didn’t now.
Sorry for the double-post, but I’ve just had some terrific news! He was at the building earlier today when some fire fighters were there investigating smoke coming from a second floor apartment. He explained about the plastic boxes of slides, said they were on the wall right next to the fire escape, and begged them to please throw down any of them they could find. The firefighters threw down more boxes of slides than he could count.
Excuse me while I do a happy dance around the thread! Not a naked one, though. I’m posting from work.
I am glad your fiancee is ok. Glad he got his slides. If he is able to salvage any clothing he can wash them in vinegar to get the smoke smell out, then wash them regular with soap. Out of curiosity did he call the local Red Cross? I only ask because I am a volunteer for my local Red Cross (Disaster Services). I have been on many fire calls where I assist the clients, get food and clothing money and shelter if they have no where to go. Hope everything works out.
If he has clothes he can salvage, his renter’s insurance will likely pay to clean them. We got embarassing piles of dry-cleaning bags back(they were the ones assigned to clean everything, not just the dry clean stuff) A fire is a horrible, but useful way to prove to yourself how much shit you have in your house.
-Lil
I spoke to the Red Cross on his behalf the afternoon of the fire while they were on the scene helping the folks affected by it. I got their information for him, including the card of the woman he was there and encouraged him to use their help.
He’s on site now and has been for most of the day. He’s been able to recover a few more personal items. There’s still a lot of loss, though.
I also heard about a cat which has used up a couple of its nine lives. It seems it rode out the fire in a closet and emerged around 10:00 that night (the fire started around 3:00). The building manager was also able to recover another tenant’s grandfather’s medals. He’s been on the scene almost constantly since the fire and really seems to be doing all he can.