Fire Updates

The fire at our house was July 8th.  I am trying to be patient and grateful for the outcome so far, but 6 weeks in a hotel and no progress on the house is driving me nuts!  I am grateful that no one was hurt, most of our belongings are salvageable and that insurance is putting us up in a hotel.  I hate to complain about living in a hotel because I know it could be much worse- we have cable, air conditioning, Internet, fitness center and breakfast every morning.  But I am tired of the food choices and not being able to cook.  Going to the laundromat, instead of being able to run laundry whenever I need to in my own house, having to wait for my car to be brought out of the garage instead of just pulling it out of the driveway.  We're staying at a hotel downtown, so traffic is a real problem.  My commute is much longer though I am technically closer in distance to work.  We can't have our pets here at the hotel, luckily my parents were able to keep both of them at their house because we would never be able to board them for 3 months.  The worst part, though, is that we are in the middle of our home study.  We can get most of it done, but the social worker needs to see our house and its in no state to be evaluated.
I suppose I would be more comfortable with the situation if I felt progress was being made.  But it isn't.  When I met with the insurance adjuster a few days after the fire, he assured me he would have the estimate ready in a week.  That was 5 weeks ago.  We have a contractor who is ready to get started, but he can't without that estimate.  Insurance needs to tell us what they are paying for and how much they are paying for it.  The contractor needs to go over the estimate and determine if it is fair and complete before he agrees to the job.  I trust the contractor.  He's hardworking and honest, he's worked on our house before and done major renovations on other old homes in our neighborhood.  I am losing faith in this adjuster.  He can't get his work done in a timely manner and he doesn't keep us up to date on progress, if there is any, on our house.  My husband is afraid if we press him, we'll be considered a nuisance and he'll low-ball our estimate.  I just want to get back in my house.   I don't hate it here at the hotel, but it's not home. 

House Fire

Friday morning we were awakened to our next door neighbor's house on fire.  The fire started in their toddler's room and quickly spread throughout the house.  Luckily the family, including the baby, a 6 year old and an elderly great aunt were downstairs having breakfast and got out quickly and safely.  Unfortunately, all the boys' stuff is destroyed.  We got out safely and my husband was able to catch our cats before they spooked and ran off. 

firetruck in the alley

The good thing about living in an urban area is the emergency response time.  The firefighters were there with 2 ladder companies in about 90 seconds- one on the street and one in the alley.  The bad thing with urban housing is that row houses share a wall and fire spreads quickly.  The firefighters ran into our house and cut holes through the ceiling out on to the roof.  They doused everything with water.  Our house thankfully never caught on fire, but the damage is immense.  The dining room ceiling fell in, the nursery has a hole to the sky, the bathroom is damaged- all the rooms we worked on remodeling this year.  The water damage goes into the kitchen, dining room, the sun room, spare bedroom and the basement. 

Our bedroom

Although we've lost a lot of our things, we are all safe.  I am sad to see my Bulgaria pictures from Peace Corps and my Kniga za Pechati (stamp book for Bulgarian National Sites) destroyed, most of the things can be salvaged or replaced.  Some important things were ok- my husband was able to get his trumpet, an antique and gift from his grandfather who passed and our digital photos were backed up on a hard drive at his office.

The insurance company is like a parent who steps in and takes care of everything.  Immediately after the fire, they had a contractor out at our house boarding up windows, skylights and putting a temporary patch on our roof (you can't put a tarp on a flat roof).  They have put us in a hotel across town, not far from home.  The insurance company has hired a fire response company to catalog all our belongings, salvage and clean what they can and store them while the house is restored.  We can choose our own contractor, and we are choosing the contractor who did our bathroom.  He's reliable, experienced, honest and likes restoring this old row houses.  All the hardwood floors need to be replaced, the windows (yes, the new windows) need to be repaired/ replaced, the skylight, interior walls, electrical, etc.   They've already started moving our belongings out to their warehouse to be stored and cleaned and tearing up walls and floors to start drying everything before mold can grow.
It's been an inconvenience, but not a tragedy.  The fire happened on my husband's second day at a new job and my last at a part time assignment.  We've been stressed because we both have travel plans this summer: I'm heading to Bulgaria to visit some old friends and he's heading home to see his parents and grandmother who isn't doing so well.  I am thankful that we are all ok and that the insurance company will handle the clean up while we are out of town.  I am so grateful my husband installed smoke detectors when we moved in and replaced the batteries a few weeks ago.
I'm including the evolution of the nursery bedroom.  I am thankful that no one was hurt and that no child was asleep in the room during this. 


Nursery when we moved in





Remodel almost done, new lighting and door added later





as of now

The new furniture, ceiling fan, door, and the damage goes beyond it to the spare bedroom and the water seeped into the walls and floor and through the ceiling.

All we can do now is count our blessings and move forward.  Stuff can be repaired and replaced and no one was hurt.  I am grateful the fire department responded so quickly and saved our house.