So let me start by saying this post is going to make me sound like a doomsday prepper, but I think it is important to share because honestly, who plans for this crap?!? I thought I would share a few lessons learned thus far that might be helpful and a good reminder to myself when we move back into the house and I am too busy running around trying to get unpacked.
1. I can only speak for North Carolina, but did you know that smoke detectors are only required in conditioned living spaces? Go take a look around your attic in NC and good luck finding a smoke alarm. This will be changed during the rebuild! I am so thankful everyday that if this was going to happen to us that it happened in the early evening. Had it been in the middle of the night, I don't even want to think about the level of devastation that could have happened. Once I get around to posting pictures of the interior of home as it is today, you will realize that the fire itself was very contained, mainly just to one side of our attic. The damage is water and this is why our house is now down to studs :) I don't even want to think about being woken up in the middle of the night, frantic, disoriented and in pajamas trying to escape a smoke filled house...sorry, not my idea of a good time!
2. This is going to sound crazy, but inventory your house. If this ever happens you will be SHOCKED to learn that literally EVERYTHING has value. Today we inventoried our toiletries. The very nice gentleman from the company that does this literally stood in the garage with a tape recorder reading aloud each bottle of shampoo, lotion and every other little thing we had in there---the make, the function and the number of ounces. Everything single thing you purchase has a replacement value. It can make one feel very high maintenance when you are being asked, "what exactly is cuticle remover?" I have since learned that they make an app for this. Apparently, you catalogue everything you own by taking pictures of it and then once you have invested the insane amount of time doing that, ever time you bring something new into the home, you add it to the inventory. I don't think Q-tips necessarily make the list, but you know what I mean. Again, we are so lucky because most of our things are recognizable. I can't imagine going through this process if it were all piles of ashes. Note to self, take the time to do the inventory...if this ever happens again (which I will be so pissed if it does!) this would be the biggest life saver.
3. Do some proactive research. In the moment of panic when the Fire Marshall is telling you to secure the property by boarding up the windows at 11:00 pm on a Sunday night, you will say yes to the first company who answers the phone. When that company arrives, thinking they are knights in shining armor, they start to give you the full court press about the road that lies ahead. If you have never been through this before, and you are like me, you will tell them to get started first thing in the morning and have the whole rebuild planned out by 8:00 am. It does not work that way. The number of different companies involved in this are insane! There is a company to take your clothes and your linens. There is a company that takes your salvageable goods. There is a company that evaluates your non-salvageable goods. There is a company that starts to demo your house...and the list goes on. The number of business cards we received in the first 24 hours was nuts. If you ever have to go through this situation, wouldn't be nice to have a vetted referral to call?
4. Lastly, know that stuff is just stuff and really dedicate yourself to making memories instead of collecting things. Memories you have of people do not live in the stuff you have. We lost some things in the attic that meant nothing to us and other things that meant a lot. For instance, all of Chris' Mom's blankets she knitted over the years, Madeline's crib, baby clothes and my Grandmother's beautiful dresser. Yes, some things you can never replace, but as sad as it was to watch those items be thrown into a dumpster in our front yard, it has not changed a single memory. I would give up that dresser any day of the week to have just one more conversation with my Grandmother.
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