Accidentally left a candle burning after heading out with the wife for dinner 2.5 hours. Opened door to house on return and heavy black smoke began pouring out. Wife called 911, while I quickly found a small pile of embers right where the candle was in the den, and doused it with bottled water. Okay, fire out, 3/4 pets survived (lost one elderly cat
that we were pet-sitting for my daughter
). Killed power to house. Fire Chief/Supervisor on site told me I was lucky it caught fire but burned out, never spreading more than 6 feet from the candle. Nearly anything plastic within 10-12 feet melted. Worst, the entire upstairs, every possible location, is covered in a thick layer of soot.
Scene of The Disaster
The Chief said to take a zillion photos of every square inch. Start building a list of charred/melted/damaged items along with MSRP or receipt. This is also what my ins. co. wants from me to keep the claim moving forward.
Here's what the PPOT Brain Trust™ can do: I'd like to hear from others who've gone through the post-burn process, specifically, lessons learned, "I'd do this different if I could", and how to get maximum from my insurance company. Anything you can suggest/contribute is welcome. Help me brainstorm and I.D. some key 'must do' items.
P.S. The good news is our fully-finished and unscathed basement can easily function as a 1,200 sq-ft apartment. Full bath, kitchen (no stove) full-size fridge. I think the master bedroom bed upstairs could be cleaned and moved downstairs. This would work best for the wife's wheelchair, dogs back in 'their' backyard, etc.