It has been some time since I posted, but a fire has a way of removing focus. Most people have no idea what life after a fire is like. I know because I tried to tell them all too often about what we was going through. We have heard some truly horrible insurance stories from others in similar experiences and have had the opportunity to experience some of the horrible insurance experience.
April 12, 2012, my husband, Terry, was making lunch when the neighbor stopped for some help. He went out to help her and forgot about lunch. After assisting her, he decided to mow the lawn. As he was mowing he could smell smoke and went to check it out. Terry discovered our home was on fire. Terry tried calling 911, but with no success. So he called the neighbor and she called 911. With 911 called, Terry entered the home and the rapidly-spreading kitchen fire. As he entered the home, our family dog, Hailey, also entered unbeknownst to him. Terry’s goal was to get to the kitchen sink, where three days earlier, he had placed a fire extinguisher. Terry was able to reach the fire extinguisher, activate it, and knock the fire down. Now, Terry had a dilemma! Where was the door? The house was filled with black smoke and fire extinguisher powder. He searched and searched and took what he thought was his last breath, when he located a door. Nine minutes after calling 911, according to police, the fire engines arrived. A few minutes after that came the ambulances. In that short time, our kitchen was destroyed by fire and the rest of the house’s interior was destroyed by smoke. Shortly afterwards, the medics checked out Terry and the fireman located Hailey, and was giving her oxygen via a mask. Immediately Hailey was taken to the local veterinarian office. Hailey was very sick and required treatment in the cities for almost two weeks.
For months before the fire we had focused on home improvement projects. Our home was finally completed and now after the fire, it sat full of blackened soot and smoke. The days immediately following the fire were the hardest. This is when you have to deal with insurance and contractors and hotels and rentals and reorganizing your life – more or less – those days became overwhelming. After the first few weeks of sympathy, friends and family go about their business, which is understandable, but the victims of a catastrophe lives with its challenges much, much longer. Unfortunately, we have been forced into rebuilding our existing home from scratch, at least the interior of it. Nothing inside survived the fire and smoke damage except the frame of the rooms. Everything was gutted on the first and second floor and parts of the basement. Since the house was gutted, this meant we had to select cabinets, countertops, paint colors, lights fixtures, bathroom fixtures, tile, wood floors, carpet, and window blinds, just to name a few. It appears that there is always one more decision to make.
We are looking forward to moving back home. Our home will look quite different than before the fire. It’s been over four months since our fire, and I can say that the worst is over. There’s a lot more work to finish up, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel now. Our lives have been turned upside down by this fire but we forward to the day when Hailey can join us, and we are all reunited in our home.
