SECURE WHAT IS LEFT OF YOUR PROPERTY
No one tells you think but you are responsible for securing your property. The fire department will put that yellow tape you see on TV for crime scenes around what they can. This does not keep people out. You need to secure power tools and wood and board up your windows. Or have someone to do it. Save your receipt if you pay someone else. Save your receipt if you buy wood and tools. This should be covered under LOSS OF USE in your policy. More on that later.

CARRY A NOTEBOOK WITH YOU EVERYWHERE.
The dollar store has those little pocket or purse calendars and or notepads. You will want to note every interaction you have with everyone that has anything to do with the fire and getting back on your feet. You will be dealing with so much information and phone numbers in the coming weeks there is really a serious NEED for a notebook. Write down dates, times if you can or approximations, and what exactly took place.

FOR INSTANCE.
Insurance adjuster arrived at 10PM on Monday. He said a check is in the mail but we are wondering why he didn't put it in our hands if he was coming to meet us. Adjuster pressured us on where we shop. Adjuster left us one contents ditto and told us to make copies. I have no copier, thanks adjuster guy.

CONTENTS;
You will also want to jot down things as you remember you lost them. Start your list ASAP. You will be going to stores everyday. You will be constantly walking past things that will jog your memory of the things you lost. Try to have different pages for different rooms, and write the things you lost in approximately which room as you remember. This makes things easier on you and the easier the better. Leave at least ten pages per room. You may not think you had that much stuff but you did. Even things you didn't use, forgot they were there, everything. No claim is too small.

SAVE ALL RECEIPTS!!!!
You will be using whatever money you have in the bank until the first check comes and clears. We implore you to take all the help you can get from community and neighbors. You will need a temporary place to stay until you can find an apartment. Should you buy something, anything, get a receipt. All costs that are incurred due to the fire qualify under LOSS OF USE. Adjuster might argue this fact with you; note it in your notebook. Keep all receipts in a safe place. Note on them when you get a chance what they were for.

FOR INSTANCE:
Gas receipt 50.00
Filled neighbors gas tank for use of their van.
If you had to use their van due to the fire, and normally would be driving your own car but the tired melted inside the garage because of the fire...this is LOSS OF USE. Again adjuster guy may argue this fact with you. Try not to take it personally.

Mainly LOSS OF USE is rental on an apartment, and rental of furniture. Yes renting furniture is a good idea, more on that later.
START LOOKING FOR TEMPORARY RESIDENCE IMMEDIATELY!
We encourage you to rent a trailer, house, apartment, something as close to your work as you can. If you have kids try to get them within the bus route. Think ahead. You can technically rent a place as big as your house that burnt down. But, do you want to? What if you have problems with the insurance company and have to pay for it out of pocket? Can you afford it? You are responsible for your mortgage payments until the mortgage is either paid off by the insurance company, or the home is rebuilt, you are living there again, and would have to pay for it anyway. Keep that in mind. Is this a place you can afford without assistance?
Ask around. Sometimes someone died and the market is bad and people don't list homes for rent but word of mouth of your situation travels fast.


WHY RENT FURNITURE?
Well do you really want to buy all your CONTENTS while your living in a temporary place and have to move it? You won't have the room. You don't even know what your new house will look like yet. There could be building codes that your old plan no longer falls within. Your new living room or entire house may be laid out completely different. Go to a rental store... Try to rent things as good as you can get them. This makes it more joyful and you need joy right now. This is covered under LOSS OF USE. We had a 31k limit in our LOSS OF USE.  Some have actual sustained loss, though you may find yourself fighting with them more to agree on costs. LOSS OF USE doesn't actually exist. It is simply a ceiling on how big costs can go. You want to use this wisely but also remember, if you do not use it, it does not exist. USE IT!

PEOPLE WILL OFFER YOU APPLIANCES AND FURNITURE. Tell them to donate it to Red Cross if you have insurance. If you don't take it. You can use some chairs to sit on until your furniture rental arrives, but taking 'gifts' of permanent furniture CAN count against your CONTENTS. Technically it's replaced. Think about that. Some adjusters are much nicer and easier going that others of course like anything else. Remember you do not know your adjuster and he does not work for you in your best interest. He works for the insurance company and of course whether it's written somewhere or not, the less they have to pay the better.

Our adjuster had a stealthy cell phone number he calls from. It shows up as "Line 1" or "unavailable" or "anonymous." So if you look through your missed calls, you don't even see him as showing up having called. He leaves a voicemail of course, but everyone and their brother is calling you to see if your OK or if you need anything and you will have about 30 messages that you just don't have time to get through. This will cause Mr Adjuster guy to accuse you of not returning his calls. Our adjuster guys business card where we assume an answering service takes messages for him, doesn't even answer the phone after 5PM and there is no voicemail and nothing to leave a message on. And he has the audacity to accuse us of being hard to reach. HA!

It took us a week to get our first check cleared. Keep that in mind. It doesn't exist until its cleared the bank. so you are spending up any money you have and any donations until then.

FAXING THINGS TO THE ADJUSTER
while ever adjuster is probably different most of them work from their homes or are only in the office in the early AM and do not return again that day. Their entire job revolves around traveling. If you need them to cut a check to a rental place you MUST TALK TO THEM LIKE THEY ARE FIVE YEARS OLD. Your apartment, trailer, rental house and furniture rental place will be faxing him an estimate.

TELL EVERYONE YOU HAD A FIRE.
You really can't get enough help in the coming weeks. Take everything that is offered to you. Don't feel weird about it. Thank everyone graciously and make sure they understand how much it means to you.

LAWYERS WILL START CALLING.
Just take their numbers down and tell them if you have problems you are not above hiring a lawyer.
It may come in handy and though they seem a sort of an ambulance chaser, they are proving to be aggressive.4

The first thing you should do is make sure everyone is out OK and safe. Animals are pretty smart. If there is a way out they will find it. Do not risk yourself or others trying to get them out.

Next call 911- If you don't have a cell phone knock on neighbors doors until you get someone to answer. Try to imagine who is the most likely person to answer the door and go to that house first.
We went to our neighbor across the street. In hindsight this was NOT a good choice as he never hears his dog bark in the middle of the night, how would be hear me pounding on his door yelling fire! He of course, did not answer the door and I just wasted time.

If there are other buildings attached to yours try to make sure everyone is out of them. Should the fire go inferno, people come first.

Tell 911 there is a fire. Let them know if everyone is out or not. Give them the address if they don't already know it. That is all that can be done with 911. You will be lucky if they don't hang up on you. I asked them what I should do next, she said there was nothing I could do, and hung up on me.

Fire department could take a while to get there. A police car will more than likely be the first on the scene. He won't know what to do either. I asked ours to make sure the neighbors were out of their houses. Duh!

Be prepared. When the fire hits the attic it's all over. Giant flames and things popping and screaming will catch you off guard. It is very tough to watch. Your neighbors will come out and start calling you if they know your number. Answer the phone, don't answer the phone, it's up to you.

Take all the help and support you can get. Some friends and neighbors will pitch in. Some will not. Don't take it personally some people are just not good in a crisis or see everyone else helping and figure you are ok.

Everyone will stand outside and watch your house burn. More police will come and watch your house burn down. if it's too far gone when they get there the fire department will watch your house burn down and just hose off the surrounding buildings. No one bothers to tell you that it's too far gone. You just kind of get that idea.

Everyone will ask what started it. If you woke up in the middle of the night you do not know. If it was a kitchen fire and you know, if you want to tell them, that is fine. If you do not know--DO NOT SPECULATE.


When most of the fire is out or there isn't much left of your house but "hot spots" they will hose those down and there will be just smoke. This is a good time to call your insurance company.
IF YOU DO NOT HAVE INSURANCE CALL RED CROSS. Do that right away!
They can help you out replacing the things you need and have some idea of temporary housing. Churches are also a good place to go for help.

If you know who your insurance company is call right away. If you don't try to remember where you bought your insurance. Generally this at least provides a location to start from. You won't get a person on the phone but make sure you leave a message saying you need to start a claim and that your house burnt down.. Give them the address and you shouldn't need your policy number. They will get a copy of your policy out to you that day. Ours arrives the very next day.

One by one, sometimes two by two, people will start coming to talk to you now.  Remember there is a jerk in every crowd, in our case there were a few of them. They don't make these people go through Dale Carnege courses. How to Win Friends and Influence People, is not required reading. Some of them will be rude and insinuating. If they upset you make sure they know they are out of line and are upsetting you. If they keep upsetting you tell them you no longer wish to deal with them and ask for someone else. I kicked everyone off my property I was being treated so badly. Just a bunch of young idiots standing in what was left of my house and making assumptions that I was lying because I did not know how many recliners I had, or exactly where a certain chair was. We dealt solely with the fire chief after that. Nice guy, sensitive and didn't forget that he was standing in what was left of my house while questioning me.

The Fire chief will ask you a series of questions. How did you know there was a fire. Do you know how it started. Did you trip and circuits lately, can you draw me a layout of the house, do you smoke, what did you do in the last few hours the night, day, etc before. Again if you don't know the answer to anything DO NOT SPECULATE. That is their job. Let them do it.

You will be asked leading questions. Do not answer them. I don't know, or I don't remember, or I can't think right now, are all good answers. Remember you are traumatized and may have just barely escaped with your life but lost everything you own, or a portion of it, at least to smoke damage, flood...etc. You have rights and it's OK if you can't talk or don't feel comfortable, or can't remember if you left the Christmas tree lights on, or were using your wood stove, or wherever they think the fire may have started.

Someone actually asked me if I was the first person to call 911. Now how the heck would I know that?

Insurance adjuster guy shows up that day. REMEMBER THIS MAN DOES NOT WORK FOR YOU. He works for the insurance company. He will record your conversation. This makes you feel uncomfortable.
DO NOT MINIMIZE YOUR LOSS.
For instance don't say, we don't own much, we only shop at Walmart, we don't have anything expensive. Do not let him lead you into saying what your stuff is worth. Don't attempt to answer all the places you normally shop at. He just tried to get a round about idea of where your TV's etc were at.

He only interviewed my husband and not me. He asked my husband what was in each room approximately. My husband knows about as much about that as he does where he left whatever it is hes asking me for. He also asked where we shop. He told my husband how to write down how many pairs of pants and how much they cost. He said forty dollars and my husband said he doesn't own pants that cost forty dollars. Well the last time he shopped for himself was before we met ten years ago. This is not the person to be taking this interview.
Which ever one of you knows more about what was in the house and can speak intelligently about it, the better. Make sure he understands the things you are listing are not your only possessions and that you are feeling trauma and just can't think clearly.

DON'T SAY THINGS LIKE I'M A 100% POSITIVE.
You might think you are but when you think about what is in each room of your house, even the things you haven't used in ten years, even the things you had extra of, even the things that were given to you and you never used--these are all of your possessions. They have to replace everything. Nothing is too small to claim. More on that later.

DO NOT LET HIM LEAVE WITHOUT CUTTING YOU A CHECK.
Make sure he understands that he needs to send you out a check for at least 2500 the next day.
Most of these guys work out of their homes and are on the road all day. They do their paperwork in the morning and then never return to their office if they have one. Make sure he gets a check in the mail to you. You need to understand that check could take a couple of days to get there. The bank might hold that check for days before clearing it.

An INVESTIGATOR will come shortly after that. He will get there so fast because as time goes on things change. He wants to be fresh on the scene while its fresh in your head.
He will interview everyone who lived there. He will record everyone who lived there while he interviews you. He will be intimidating. He will say things like "I worked for the state police for seven years and nothing gets by me." He will ask what you did the day before. How you knew there was a fire. If you know how it started. If you've ever had a fire before. He will tell you he comes back as many times as it takes to find out what happened. Just let him run through his thing and don't worry about him. Again if you don't know or you aren't sure say that.
He will ask you what is the most valuable thing in your home. This could be a trick question. If you say something electronic, it could send up a red flag. I said my moms bibles and my husband said his grandmother's grandfather clock. The guy walked through the house and stayed for an hour or two after talking with fire chief and arson guys, and then left and never came back.

We had to call in to the fire chief to find out what started it. No one bothered to tell us.

My name is Nicole Underhill.
I woke up in the middle of the night to find I was surrounded by black smoke.
There was a noise so fierce outside the bedroom door. It said one thing unmistakably. FIRE!
I beat my husband as he is not such a quick riser, grabbed the cats and we were out the door.
From the road the smoke billowed straight into the sky under the moonlight. I am not even sure if there was moonlight, but there was smoke. High and tall and thick just billowing up over the house claiming the sky. It dawned on me that it was extremely disturbing that something so scary and horrible could also look so beautiful. The things that run through your mind in a crisis. Truly amazing.
 
I ran to the neighbors house and beat on their door. Just this horrid feeling, not unlike when you lose your gravity on a roller coaster, was consuming me. The neighbors never answered. There is such a raw feeling of horror that comes over you when you are in deep trouble, need help, and just can't get it. It's difficult to put that kind of helplessness into words. I sincerely hope that none of you ever have to experience this kind of trauma.
 
I ran down to the end of the street to our friends house. Her son Mark answered the door and let me in. The kid was so smooth, he dialed 911 and I was told just as long as everyone was out there was nothing else I could do.
Well aside from stand outside and watch my house burn. The flames broke through into the attic and that was the end of that. Thirty and even fifity foot flames shot high above our house. Things blew and screamed and all I could think about was thank God I woke up. Thank you God.
I don't even know what woke me up, more than likely it was the sound of the raging inferno outside the bedroom door. We had a smoke alarm but I am not sure it could be heard over the other noises.
 
My husband moved our cars out of the way for the firetrucks. Something I hadn't even thought of.
Though the fire department was within four miles it took an eternity for them to arrive. They didn't even start trying to put it out. I was confused. It seemed as though they took their time running the big hose down to the hydrant. I even asked the ONE guy who was carrying this 400 lb hose if he needed a hand. He didn't even answer me, like I was crazy for even asking. I didn't understand why he wasn't hustling.
When the hose was finally hooked up they only sprayed down the garage on either side. Apparently it was just too far gone... But of course it was by that time. I don't know much about fires... maybe they just call it a day when things are too far gone?
 
Well it burnt to the ground. Everything. Then came the fun part. They were trying to figure out what happened. Well gee if you got in there and put it out maybe just maybe you might have some inclination. I had been awake for well over 24 hours and the woman on the department was rude if not wicked. I nearly lost my temper right there on the spot. Asking me things like "How can I not know where my furniture was?" Well you know I can't really think right now. They seemed to be forgetting that they were standing in what was left of my house. Unreal.

THE FIRE CHIEF WAS AWESOME. THANK YOU WHOEVER YOU WERE. YOU ARE A TRUE HERO. YOU MADE THIS MUCH MORE BEARABLE. WHAT A HECK OF A GUY. NO WONDER HE IS THE CHIEF. (Kind of cute too) He told me if I had opened the bedroom door we would have been incinerated. It was aprox 2000 degrees in there. There is literally nothing left of our things. metal melted... plastic vaporized. So powerful.
I tell you those lessons they teach you from Kindergarten about getting low, not opening doors, get out fast,... it all comes right back to you... Thank God... I just knew not to open that door.
There were a couple of firefighters that seemed to be professionals, thankfully.  
 
The police and fire told me to call my insurance company right away. Though it was 4 or 5 AM they said it didn't matter. I called.
The fire chief interviewed me in the ambulance/fire truck, and had me draw a plan of the house. He was nice. I appreciated that. We had a circuit trip three days ago and he thought enough to ask that question. I had completely forgotten about that.

The first on the scene was the owner of the insurance company. Nice guy. Seemed to care. Gave his sympathies. Then our adjuster showed up. recorded a conversation with my husband and asked him approximately what was in every room. This is a man who does not know where his own tools are. UG! He didn't even interview me, I guess he liked what he got from my husband and was satisfied.

Next came an investigator. He interviewed us separately like criminals and also recorded the conversation.  He made sure we knew he was in the 'state police' for seven years. Clearly an intimidation tactic. "He never misses anything." And "He will come back as many times as it takes." Well good buddy figure out what the heck happened. He asked us what was the most valuable thing in the house. I said my mother's bibles. My husband said his grandmothers grandfather clock. I thought that was cute, but then considered what if you said my HDTV big screen? Would that send up a red flag of some sort?

The arson unit showed up. I guess this is normal. We were well into the next day by now. No one had shown up for us. No one handed us a checklist on what to do now. What happens to us now. Where we go. My best friend put some coats in our truck and blankets. Michelle a neighbor brought us deodorant and toothbrushes with paste she'd just bought at the store for us. I borrowed a pair of sweats from other neighbor.

I asked police and fire what we do now. Aside from telling us to call our insurance company there was nothing. No advice. No card or help line they put in our hand. No place to call for help. No suggestions. Red Cross is on Mack Ave in Detroit about 50 miles away. Our local Moose chapter did nothing which we are members at.

I searched online what help. What happens now just had a round-about list of things that would happen. Most of them already had and I wished I would have known that the adjuster does not work for my benefit and that I should never minimize my loss.

I decided to start www.firehugs.com to help people when things go wrong. My experience was fire, but most disasters, floods, tornadoes etc... all take the same toll on a family.

We will tell you exactly what to do in case of fire or other disaster. We will answer all questions and via blog you can share your stories with others. Believe me it helps.