House Fire Scenario

[Scythe13]

Another lovely scenario to play with.

You go out shopping, you and your partner, OH, kids, etc. When you get home you find a whole host of fire engines and the alike outside your house.

They say they don't know how it started, but your house has burned down.

What do you do now?

How do you live day to day?

How do you cope with work?

How do you pay the bills?

Does your account have enough money for food?

Do you have access to your bank account? What if it's a Saturday and the bank is now closed?

Where now?

[bigpaul]

contact the housing association.

[Straight Shooter]

Already lived this one,...( i got by with a little help from my friends )

not nice........but not that difficult....ALL LOSS ADJUSTERS ARE BASTARDS !

[Scythe13]

Sorry to hear about that SS. I understand if it's a bit raw and you'd rather not talk about it. But if you're okay to say, it would be good to know what contingencies would have been of benefit. Small things that would make a large difference.

[Scythe13]

Read 48 times (granted 3 by myself…this being the third) and only 2 other responses?

Personally, discussing this with my wife, we plan to keep a bag of clothing at her mothers, as well as copies of all of our important documents on an encrypted USB stick, along with £100 in cash. In the documents we plan to keep up to date insurance docs. Also, in a small box with the USB stick in, we'll keep copies of car keys, incase we lose any of those in the fire. Plus copies of important photos and the alike.

Most other things will be replaceable.

[Straight Shooter]

S13.....for the last two and a half hours i have been typing a reply of the full story of my FIRES yes THREE FIRES only to loose the text
as i was typing the last bloody word ....i am now so pissed off i will redo it all on the weekend BUT worth the wait i can assure you all.

[Midnitemo]

it could happen but I'm insured and not really a fan of keepsakes and memento's everything I have that I need could be replaced , documents/valuables live in a fire resistant safe and I have the added bonus of two houses so I would be back indoors in short order.

[Mortblanc]

Crap!! I knew I should have turned off that heater!!!

I would still have access to all my funds no matter what day of the week it was. I keep one credit card for just these emergencies.

All important papers and documents are in Safe Deposit Boxes at the bank.

I would get to a motel for the night, stop at a store and buy a couple of pairs of jeans and a 5 pack of underwear and tee shirts and start making phone calls.

Make arrangements for the electric to be returned to service and move into the RV out back.

Start working on building a new house.

[CharlesHarris]

Mortblanc I suspect has lived this scenario, at least hit the right buttons in my experience.

Important papers in the bank safe deposit box vital.

Each person has their own grab &go bag if they must leave the house now, without warning.

Each vehicle has a locked, rigid storage container with essentials.

Household has a month's supply of cash in portable fireproof box for contingencies.

Three moves equals one fire!

Have an evac plan, pre-scouted route, Primary, Alternate, Contingency.

Prior arrangement with trusted family member or neighbor, a place to crash while you pull things together.

I guess you don't have tornadoes?

I've done tornadoes, hurricanes and floods. Not a lot of difference. You can live in your car and hold down a full time job, but it sucks.....

[Tarrel]

One of the services provided by the Red Cross ( in the Uk) is an RV that can be parked outside the stricken house (or nearby) for the occupants to stay in for a day or two until they get their act together.

Well done for raising this, S13. Not something I'd considered or planned for, but I will now!