I woke up at 2 AM to smoke in our bedroom.
I turned the light on and saw the wall was on fire!
Luckily, we and our cats got out and are fine.
Our house, not so much...
Here are the top 6 things I've already learned from this experience:
Have smoke detectors in every room. We had a smoke detector in the hallway outside the bedroom, but not in our bedroom. Had I not woken up or been downstairs, the fire would’ve been much worse before the detectors went off.
If you have animals, keep the cages nearby. Our cat cages were in the garage on the top shelf. It took precious time to go down there and get them and bring them back in and gather the cats.
Keep all important documents in an easy-to-grab, small, fireproof safe. We did not have time to grab those things during the fire, but once it was out, it was easy to gather important things (at 3 AM, in the dark) and leave the mess behind.
Check your insurance coverage annually. We do it in August each year and luckily it appears our coverage (Chubb insurance) is sufficient.
Even with insurance, you need to have some reserves. It took about a week to get funds from the insurance because they sent a check and the bank had to clear the check. Which meant we were responsible for expenses before the check arrived.
Do your very best to find a silver lining immediately. There always is one even if it’s cloudy initially. For us, this has allowed us to explore the city like we haven’t in many years. We’re seeing new neighborhoods trying new restaurants and have picked an apartment in an entirely different area of the city. Plus, we get to remodel the house and that’s fun.