We had a five-alarm house fire one Saturday afternoon in January when I was in the second grade. My parents sent us down to the neighbor’s house for our safety (and to get us out of the way, I’m sure). Our loyal golden retriever did not get the memo and kept busting into the house to try and rescue us only to be escorted out by the firefighters.
We could easily have lost everything. Had my grandfather not arrived when he did for a visit, and had my brother not been so excited to show him some new football cards he’d gotten, my brother never would have discovered his room full of smoke in time to save the house from the fire that was creeping through the walls after the chimney cracked. Even as it was, my father called 911 and hung up thinking maybe it wasn’t a big deal before relenting and calling again. It was at that point my mom took the now fabled Black Forest Soup she was cooking for dinner off the stove. Dinner canceled.
We were lucky. Our family was displaced for about three months while they tore out the errant fireplace and chimney from our more than 100-year-old farmhouse (shown above)—notably, the original fireplace and chimney are still there, this was the newer one.
We had to rebuild most of our living room and my siblings’ bedrooms in addition to having everything from the walls and floors to textiles and toys professionally cleaned to get the smoke stains and smell out. Curtains, clothing, blankets, my mom’s wedding gown – bags and bags of stuff and memories carried out for cleaning.
I don’t think my siblings and I got to take anything out of the house with us that day. But my mom had boxes of family photos. I remember seeing the blue photo box with the white lid. The rest was left to the whims of the fire.
Home Fires and Personal Loss
Now I look around my adult home and think, if the house were on fire and we were all (humans and pets) out safe, what would I take out if I had time? I use this thought process to Artifct sometimes – making sure that in the worst case, I have the memory captured, and in best case, I have a record I can turn over to my homeowner's insurance agent for replacement of the (at least somewhat) replaceable items. I have even moved some items not on display or active use to airtight bins like home organization professionals advocate in case that would save them in a fire like the one I experienced as a child. Smoke and water were the primary sources of loss.
I asked my neighbor, Westlake Fire Chief David Wilson, about his experience with families in similar situations. "They don’t usually come out carrying stuff,” he told me. With the fire crew taking over the scene, families make requests of the firefighters to rescue sentimental items, like a painting in a study, a blanket from a bed, an heirloom gun from a safe, or photos from a closet. He added, “We want people to be prepared, though." You should know what you'd save and where it is located. It's so much harder, and clearly more emotional, after the fact. Families will sit stunned, making lists. It's painful to sift through memories of what was in hopes of going through what remains and rescuing the tangible representations of the past.
Be Prepared
As you prepare for the chilly fall and winter days and nights ahead, complete the home maintenance required to keep you, your loved ones, and your home safe. Use common sense too and avoid setting up fire traps with unattended candles, hot-burning lights, poorly screened fires, or even ill-placed (seemingly benign) glass objects that can act as sun magnifiers; we do after all live in a flammable world. Don't forget to Artifct those most precious items.
Here are a few non-profit resources with step-by-step guides, safety equipment tips, and even after-fire help resources.
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