We heard the sirens at night. The next day my husband found the address in the newspaper. Feeling like a news hound, I took my camera.I parked on the shady street and began shooting pictures of the old Craftsman home with its typical front porch made of river rocks. The cyclone fence had obviously been put up overnight.
Within moments, the insurance adjusters and contractors approached me one by one. They'd been waiting in their cars. Was I was a family member? Could I give them the business? When I told them I was taking photos for my blog, they gave me their brochures. Legitimate businesses, every one of them. Each of those people was doing their job, just trying to make the deal.
What I learned: be ready for this before it happens. Make sure you have enough coverage. And if it does happen, you might want the help of a licensed claims adjuster. It's not necessarily in the best interest of your insurance company to pay you top dollar. At least it's worth looking into.
I'm not a news hound. It's a shock to see a burned building, especially a home.
13 comments:
How sad. Presumably no one was in the house at the time. So right, we all need to be insured.
Good shot. Great reporting!
There were people in the house, but they all managed to get out safely. Thanks, Jilly!
Very sad, I always think about what the people are going to do now. Some houses sit for months burned out, I can only guess its because of the insurance. Thank goodness everyone got out safe.
Glad to hear nobody was hurt, it looks like a bad fire. I feel sorry for the folks who's home it was, though it makes for an interesting post.
Thanks, Jim and Marley. I don't know much about the people who lived there; just glad everyone got out okay. I'll drive by in a few weeks and see if I can note any progress.
1. HAVE AN ESCAPE PLAN.
If you have more than one storey, how will you get safely to the ground floor?
2. PRACTICE THE ROUTE WITH FAMILY MEMBERS.
Choose a place for everyone to meet if they get separated. Teach kids to leave everything behind.
3. KEEP A FIRE EXTINGUISHER CLOSE TO THE AREAS WHERE FIRES CAN START.
These include kitchen, garage, fireplace, barbecue. There are different kinds of chemicals for different kinds of fires: chemical, grease, fuel, electric. Read the instructions.
4. If you've put them off, do these things right away.
5. Did you do steps 1-4?
Look at Petrea’s phot and ask yourself: “Why would I wait?”
Wow, thank you, Bernie. I hadn't thought about the garage, but we have our clothes dryer there, so it could happen.
If anyone else has anything to add, go ahead.
I like your phot, by the way. You're a first-rate photgrapher.
Thank you, Bernie. You're a first-rate typist.
Sorry, I'm a bit thick.
What were all those people doing outside the house?
Our next door neighbours' house burnt down (before we moved here). Their little 4 year old boy alerted them to the fact on a lazy Sunday morning sleep-in.
(I agree, Bernie K. is a very good typist.)
Sad to see the old Craftsman destroyed. Louis is glad no one was hurt. How destroyed the owners must feel!
Hi Louis and Ararat.
Ararat: they were waiting for the owner to arrive so they could pitch their company's services to him or her. They wanted to get the job. (The job being that of insurance adjuster, inspector, contractor, builder, etc.)
Good new shot, even though you say you aren't a newshound. How awful to lose your house this way and all your belongings.
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