Posted: 3/5/2012 7:41:09 PM EDT
| Just a reminder..SHTF isn't just zombies & cool gear. Fire will F your best made preps in a heartbeat. If you live in an apartment, you're at the mercy of the lowest I.Q./careless resident. Their fire will displace you and your family. Even if the fire doesn't get your stuff, the toxic smoke will. Have all important documents stored on a thumb drive or copies in a safe deposit box. Fire drills, DO THEM!! Have a safe place to meet away from the structure & where Fire Dept., Police, etc. will stage. Make friends with the nosy neighbor, they'll spot trouble before anyone/anything. Have cash on hand, on your person (wallet/purse/pocket). A few bucks in loose change as well (hotel laundry, vending machines, etc.). Have insurance with a deductible you can handle. Pictures of ALL your stuff. Talk to your agent FIRST. The events happen fast, my first thoughts were only to get my family OUT. The aftermath sucks almost as much. |
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For the homeowners, you may want to consider a sprinkler system in the kitchen and furnace areas, and don't smoke inside the house. If you have a detached shed or garage, stash copies of your important data there as well.
The response time of my local FD is about 20 minutes under the est of conditions. A wood frame house would be fully involved and destroyed in less than that. Ops |
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I will second this thought being a former fire fighter. In a bad SHTF situation where fire service is not running (prolonged grid down, etc.) you don't need to be in an apartment complex to potentially have issues. All it takes is one house at the end of your block to go up to eventually burn down the whole neighborhood. Without someone to spray copious amounts of water on a fully involved structure fire it will eventually light up the house next to it, and the next house, and so on...
Factor in inexperienced homeowners lighting candles or trying to heat with a fireplace and you've got a recipe for suburban disaster. ALWAYS have a bug-out plan, especially if you live in your average subdivision in a wood-framed house. |
I'd like to mention that the good commercial brands of portable extinguishers like Amerex aren't much more expensive than their plastic, semi-disposable counterparts. I just finished cycling my Amerex and Badger portables through my local dealer for hydrostatic testing. Some of those portables were being tested for the third time, meaning that they were over eighteen years old. The peace of mind from having gear that you can depend on is money well spent 
My home has zoned smoke alarms and CO detectors, as well as a sprinkler system with pump and pressure tank that I had installed back when I bought the place in 1997. That peace of mind is awfully nice too. ETA: If a fire is too big for me to contain without professional help, I am hopeful that the steps I have taken will give my family enough time to escape unharmed. 
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Having experienced a "middle of night dead asleep with a wife and 2 kids" emergency fire, this is certainly something everyone should think about.
However, planning your BOB and emergency stash of whatever in the house on your exit means exactly sh!& when the walls are burning around you and smoke is burning your hair. Carrying 2 very young (3 yrs and 9 mos at the time) means you don't have hands to grab your stuff you've planned to grab. If you don't have kids that's great, grab your bags but when it comes down to it, there often isn't time to get what you planned. I second the fire safe ideas and safety deposit boxes OUTSIDE the home. Makes a hell of a lot of sense having had to reconstruct everything. Home insurance at a reasonable deductible is AMAZING, very literally put our lives back together. Talk is cheap, surviving the exit means everything. Stuff can be replaced. If you have questions, let me know, I'd be happy to answer what I can. It's not something I would wish on anyone. Ever. |
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The events happen fast, my first thoughts were only to get my family OUT. The aftermath sucks almost as much. This sounds like the voice of experience. Sorry to hear it. Everyone ok? Everyone's good as can be expected. Scrambling a bit trying to find a new place, work, battle with the property mgt., etc. Accumulating alot of receipts. Just gotta keep rolling. Thanks for the support guys! E.T.A.- I'm now a firm believer in offsite storage of backup documents. When your doors and windows are covered in plastic sheeting, you're not getting any access to the residence. If you have grab & go stuff @ home, great, but depending on the situation you may not be able to get to it. |
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The events happen fast, my first thoughts were only to get my family OUT. The aftermath sucks almost as much. This sounds like the voice of experience. Sorry to hear it. Everyone ok? Everyone's good as can be expected. Scrambling a bit trying to find a new place, work, battle with the property mgt., etc. Accumulating alot of receipts. Just gotta keep rolling. Thanks for the support guys! Was this recent? Glad you are plowing through and everyone is ok, all you can do for a bit. |
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SamK, glad to hear the family is okay and that your document preps have helped out..
This is also my number one concern, i have a wood frame home. I keep a small bob in the truck with an updated flash drive. I just realized, i don't have a spare key to access my truck box, so i will fix that today. And i need to put a small bob for the wife and son and pets in my workshop, just in case. Thanks for the timely reminder and i wish you the best of luck in getting back on your feet. |
| I carry a emergency escape fire hood when I travel and at work (I work on an offshore drilling rig). If I ever have to rescue my children at home, this will be invaluable as well. My kids sleep VERY soundly so a smoke alarm probably wouldn't wake them until it was too late. One thing that was just pointed out to me was that the vinyl windows in our new home do not have a ledge on the bottom so that a child could easily open them. I am in the process of finding some 'lift handles' to put on the bottom. If you have kids, definitely check this. |
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The family below my apartment started a fire in their kitchen by forgetting about the french fries they were frying in the kitchen. I came home from the dog park with my dogs to find 3 fire trucks hosing down my apartment building. It took 8 months to get everything taken care of with my insurance. I lost $1000 from having to pay for my apartment even though I couldn't live there for over a month while they cleaned everything up and rebuilt what needed rebuilding. I still need to talk to my insurance about my rates but they actually raised my rates because of this fire even though I wasn't at fault.
Like what was said before, keep copies of documents, money and extra clothes somewhere else in case of some kind of disaster. Also keep ALL of your receipts of EVERYTHING you buy. Keep track of the extra miles you drive while displaced as well. My insurance only payed $.30 on the mile but something is better then nothing. Be prepared to fight with your own insurance company even if your not at fault. I had to fight my insurance company the entire way. |
| So far State Farm has been good to us. Found a new place, things are getting better everyday! Landlord's actually a client of mine, so thankfully he gave us the automatic "yes". Can't wait to get settled in, relocation has been my heaviest concern after the fire. Thanks for the support guys! It's hard to not show frustration/anxiety when you're the rock of the family, talking a little here helps alot. Stay vigilant. |
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So far State Farm has been good to us. Found a new place, things are getting better everyday! Landlord's actually a client of mine, so thankfully he gave us the automatic "yes". Can't wait to get settled in, relocation has been my heaviest concern after the fire. Thanks for the support guys! It's hard to not show frustration/anxiety when you're the rock of the family, talking a little here helps alot. Stay vigilant. Stay safe
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So far State Farm has been good to us. Found a new place, things are getting better everyday! Landlord's actually a client of mine, so thankfully he gave us the automatic "yes". Can't wait to get settled in, relocation has been my heaviest concern after the fire. Thanks for the support guys! It's hard to not show frustration/anxiety when you're the rock of the family, talking a little here helps alot. Stay vigilant. I have state farm as well. They were amazing for our fire. Didn't have to fight anything and they made sure we got top dollar for everything. Could not give a higher recommendation, they were simply incredible. Being a rock and sorting things out for the family is important but make sure you take time for yourself. You might not realize it right away but its tough and takes a toll mentally and physically. |
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As I'm sure has been posted a bunch of times, this reminds me of the HYST (Have Your S#!t Together) preparations spelled out in the Listening to Katrina blog found here: http://www.theplacewithnoname.com/blogs/klessons/
I keep a complete set of documents in a secure encrypted partition on a tiny little thumb drive I carry with me all the time, and a set of documents at my office as an off-site backup. Excellent reminder to update those docs with the latest stuff. Thank you and good luck to you and your family! |
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Thanks for posting this. Lately I've realized that a fire is one of the most likely contingencies I might face, and at this point I am COMPLETELY unprepared for it.
I'm sure I'd get out, but my preps would be toast, as would my guitar collection recording gear and everything else. I am currently paying a minimal insurance for any damages I may cause others, but haven't had the money to buy insurance that covers my possessions. One problem - I've talked to insurance companies and they don't want to cover my dozen + electric guitars, mics, recording gear etc., unless I pay outrageous amounts. Same with my firearms unless I give every serial#, etc. And they wont cover me at all with the amount of ammo I have, let alone cover it for loss 
(ETA - townhouse apartment dweller, btw) |
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Thanks for posting this. Lately I've realized that a fire is one of the most likely contingencies I might face, and at this point I am COMPLETELY unprepared for it. I'm sure I'd get out, but my preps would be toast, as would my guitar collection recording gear and everything else. I am currently paying a minimal insurance for any damages I may cause others, but haven't had the money to buy insurance that covers my possessions. One problem - I've talked to insurance companies and they don't want to cover my dozen + electric guitars, mics, recording gear etc., unless I pay outrageous amounts. Same with my firearms unless I give every serial#, etc. And they wont cover me at all with the amount of ammo I have, let alone cover it for loss
(ETA - townhouse apartment dweller, btw) Have you looked into insuring your guns through the NRA? 
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