Every year fires kill in the United States more than 2,500 people and over 12,600 end up with serious injuries. Direct property loss due to home fires is estimated at $7.3 billion annually. Terrifying numbers.
Recovering from a fire can be extremely difficult, both physically and mentally, returning to Normal may seem impossible at the time. Quite often, the hardest part is knowing where to start and who to contact.
INSURANCE
The first thing you need to do is contact your insurance company or agent; after that call your landlord. The insurance people will give you detailed information on your home’s immediate needs such as pumping out water, covering door, windows and any other openings. They will probably ask you to make a detailed list of everything that was damaged by the fire. They will tell you what you should do to keep your home safe until it is repaired.
If you are uninsured and in need of shelter, food and medicines, contact the local disaster relief service, like The Red Cross.
At the residence
Do not enter a damaged house or apartment unless you received the OK from the fire department. Roofs, walls and floors may be damaged and could fall down.
Do not reconnect the utility services by yourself if the firefighters disconnected them before they left.
Do not throw away any damaged belongings until they are inventoried.
Documents and Finances
Contact your credit card company and report credit cards lost in the fire and ask for replacements. Try to find documents and records, if you can’t find any you will have to replace them. Save all receipts for the money you spend, they will serve you to demonstrate to the insurance company how much money you have spent with the fire loss.
Have a safe holiday season!
