There were not enough time to get anything at all, not even your phone, keys, or wallet, you have nothing besides your clothes and any disability aids (like glasses, hearing aids, etc.). Anything that can’t sustain one hour of burning will be destroyed. All living beings are safe.
Things to thing about: money, sentimental stuff, journals, books, hard drives / digital data, and all of the time and effort you spend organizing your bedroom.
As someone that has had this happen, you will lose everything regardless of how long it burns. Just because it doesn’t burn doesn’t mean it doesn’t get damaged. With water damage from putting the fire out damaging all your electronics, to smoke damage covering everything in a sticky residue of ash and melted materials from the actual building. The only thing I had left were the pajamas I was wearing and a pair of shoes the firemen pulled out of the house for me. Had to get new shoes as soon as possible because they smelled like smoke and were sticky with ash and chemical soot. My PC was technically intact, but it was so clogged up with the sticky residue and ash so bad that I had to get a new one. My wallet survived and to this day (this was 12 years ago) still has a hint of burnt house on it, so say goodbye to all your clothes.
My advice: Get a fireproof box for the important stuff. Social security cards, birth certificates, etc. And this may sound stupid, but write down the serial number of literally everything you own because the insurance company will absolutely try to fuck you and you will have to make an itemized list of pretty everything you ever owned. We didn’t even get the insurance money until 3 years after it happened because of this.
I think the only thing I’d grab is my PC. Mostly just for the hard drives. I still have photos from the early 2000s saved on that bitch and I don’t trust Google or Microsoft to keep my shit safe either.
Yep. And what the fire doesn’t get the water will. Turns out fires that go out in an hour instead of burning to the ground do so because someone helpfully turned that fire into a flood.
I am sorry you had to go through this.
My advice: Get a fireproof box for the important stuff. Social security cards, birth certificates, etc.
This is a good idea. I will have to pick one up. It doesn’t have to be that big.
And this may sound stupid, but write down the serial number of literally everything you own because the insurance company will absolutely try to fuck you and you will have to make an itemized list of pretty everything you ever owned.
A video walk-around showing everything in a good amount of detail also helps a lot.
I have full replacement coverage on my insurance. I’ll get the marshmallows…
Just a heads up, as someone that has had their house burn down, start writing an itemized list of everything in your house. They’ll ask for it and it’s a lot harder to write down serial numbers from memory.
Have an offsite and cloud backups of that list. You don’t want to report that your list of missing items is the missing item.
Mostly I’d probably keep whatever is on my phone, since that is always with me. I have some yard tools in a shed that might be far enough to be safe.
Even if I had a fire safe, most inexpensive ones are rated 60 minutes or less, and many are not waterproof
While I park outside since my garage isn’t useable for modern cars, it’s a short enough driveway that I park right next to the house. Congratulations getting that EV battery extinguished in only an hour
I live in a log cabin so what would be left is a concrete foundation and a pile of tin roofing.
My tools are in a separate building so those would be left though, as well as my truck that’s not parked close to the main building.
All my legal doc are in the house, which would be a pain but to lose. Besides that, I welcome the destruction of my stuff.
A safe deposit box at a bank can usually be had for about $50/year.
I would lose everything. Even my car is technically in this house. I’m just thankful my fiancé and my kitties survived the fire.
Also write your address
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House fire 35 years ago. We had about 3 minutes to get out. Total loss.
Now I live in a concrete building.
Everything. Everything i have i put in that house i bought. My life will literally turn to ashes.
Well at least my 4 cats is safe. Not sure how the fucking house gecko hidden under my wardrobe survive that.
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we’ve recently cleared out our shed and then filled it with crates and crates of stuff. and it’s more than far enough away to be safe from a house fire that starts in the house.
losses would still be devastating but it wouldn’t be everything like most people in this thread.
Most important thing would be pictures and mementos honestly, but most of my stuff lives at my parents house because I do not have any space, so I guess some stuff would be safe.
Of course I’d lose electronics and gaming stuff too but that feels more replaceable than my other things.
Also would probably kill me to lose my cat’s ashes.
