Stay on your Toes

[LadyLocust]

I think most here realize we had a fire recently. We are finally beginning to clean it up. I just thought if there was a way to help others with our travesty, I’d like to do that.
For starters: keep an inventory list. I have done this in the house but not in the garage- shame on me. I know it’s tedious, but it’s a good thing to have. I now compare it to knowing what we have in the bank.
Thing two: our kitchen faucet also went kaput this past week. That is minor by comparison, but I shut the water off until the plumber could arrive. (Yes I know how to change one. We are renting so not allowed). I had to haul water from the bathroom to the kitchen to do dishes etc. Imagine if it was from the river or even just outside. It was a good reminder of how easy we typically have it.
Feel free to add morsels of actionable items. I know there are many here with significant skills. Let’s just help each other.

 

[Peanut]

Good idea on the inventory! Fire has been on my mind of late. In fact I mounted a 2nd fire extinguisher in dad’s kitchen last week. Mom’s dementia is really bad, she shouldn’t cook but dad can’t watch her every moment. Even if he was there I don’t know if he’d think to use the extinguisher. I’d previously mounted one below the sink right beside the stove but it’s in the cabinet. Mom thought it looked tacky on the wall. This time I didn’t ask, just mounted on the wall in easy reach while they were at church. I don’t think she’s even noticed it, at least I’ve heard no complaints.

Photo's are a good thing too. Go through your house and take pictures of every room. Then there's a visual record of what you have.

 

[Weedygarden]

I think most here realize we had a fire recently. We are finally beginning to clean it up. I just thought if there was a way to help others with our travesty, I’d like to do that.
For starters: keep an inventory list. I have done this in the house but not in the garage- shame on me. I know it’s tedious, but it’s a good thing to have. I now compare it to knowing what we have in the bank.
Thing two: our kitchen faucet also went kaput this past week. That is minor by comparison, but I shut the water off until the plumber could arrive. (Yes I know how to change one. We are renting so not allowed). I had to haul water from the bathroom to the kitchen to do dishes etc. Imagine if it was from the river or even just outside. It was a good reminder of how easy we typically have it.
Feel free to add morsels of actionable items. I know there are many here with significant skills. Let’s just help each other.

Thank you for this thread. I am so sorry for your loss and the difficulty that goes with that. Has the cause of the fire been determined? I'm just curious, because that too may help us.

We had a house fire when I was a young teenager. All of my clothing was lost in that fire, mostly due to smoke damage, not actually burning.

I appreciate the reminder to inventory. Things like tools would be the more expensive items and more challenging to replace, I would think.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Fires are always on the top of our minds here. A couple years ago there was a fire that burned to within a half mile of our property line. In total it burned over 300,000 acres. Before we evacuated we went around to every building and took pictures of the outside of the buildings and pics of everything inside.
Prior to that fire I signed an agreement with the Forest Service giving them permission to dip water out of our pond if they need it. I also gave them permission to drive up on a hill near our old barn site. From this point they could see much of the nothern fire line. From there they could direct the tanker planes and helicopter ops. About 25 miles away we had another property that burned 100%, every weed, stick and tree was lost.
Fires are the biggest threat up here where we live. The fire a few years ago started over 30 miles south of us. We thought we were plenty far enough away, nope.

 

[angie_nrs]

I'm sorry for your loss LL Thank you for being kind enough to try and help others to not have to face the same misery.

Many years ago, I took a video camera and recorded everything we had in one barn and house b/c that's all we had at the time. I put the tape in the fireproof safe inside a fireproof box at the house. If I remember correctly, hubby went through the barn opening drawers and cabinets and explaning what type or brand of equipment he was showing if it wasn't readily apparent. He mentioned if he bought it new and how much he thought it was when he bought it. We just went along and chatted at the camera while we were filming to add a bit more information.

We really should do that with the new barn and the house now b/c things have changed a lot since then. However, I believe the insurance company will only cover for the top amount that you told them your belongings were worth, so that is something to keep in mind. Maybe going through and video taping our stuff would make us rethink the dollar amount we have chosen.

Today I went outside and vacuumed as much lint as I could from our dryer vent. I had jersey gloves on so I took all the fins off the exhaust and crammed the vacuum nozzle in as far as I could. Then I shoved my hand in as far as I could and grabbed a bit more lint, while also cleaning out the metal exhaust tube with my glove so that lint can easily slide on outside. After that, I came inside and vacuumed out the dryer lint trap and as much of the lint that I could reach from there. Hopefully that makes a difference in reducing a fire hazzard. I knew it was time for a lint cleaning b/c the dust was starting to build up indoors.

I think it was Jazzy who mentioned the fire blankets a while ago. I bought some and have them in the barn and in the car. They would be invaluable if you had a small fire and the extinguisher didn't work.

 

[LadyLocust]

@Weedygarden. We won’t get the report for about a week. There are two or three possibilities. I’d rather not go down that hole right now.
@angie_nrs one of the things with having a list is knowing what you have (or have lost). Some things we might need to replace that we don’t remember off the top of our heads.

 

[Bacpacker]

Video is a great way to record your stuff to compare to inventory list.

Another thing I'm going to do while I'm off work is to go thru our home and auto insurance. With inflation the way its been I'm sure our coverage isnt where it should be.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Video is a great way to record your stuff to compare to inventory list.

Another thing I'm going to do while I'm off work is to go thru our home and auto insurance. With inflation the way its been I'm sure our coverage isnt where it should be.

That's a good idea. We met with our insurance guy a couple months ago to review our policies. We added a lot more coverage to reflect all the changes here.

 

[Tirediron]

it has prolly been mentioned before, but at least once a year a dry chemical fire extinguisher should be turned upside down and shaken, if you have a rubber mallet a bonk on the bottom can help loosen the chemical if it has packed