we had a house fire today.

[politicat]

In the empty, was about to be sold house.

So no one was hurt, but the house is probably a total loss. It is insured, but my faith in insurance isn't the strongest. (Thanks, Katrina.)

I have very few details right now, I'm in a lot of shock but I just can't put this in the lounge where it probably belongs. The last thing I want is a flame thread over my (formerly) flaming house.

[LiberalEsto]

1. I'm so sorry this happened to you

but it's good that nobody got hurt.
Best of luck dealing with the insurance.

[politicat]

6. Thanks. I think I may need that luck. Thanks.

[NMDemDist2]

2. oh crap PCat!

that just sucks! and you were finally getting it sold too....

i'm so sorry :hug:

[politicat]

7. Yep. That's the first thing I said when I hung up the phone with

my (former) neighbor who called to tell me that the fire department had been called....

"D@#%$$%^*()(*&^%$ -- we were just about to close on it!"

I can't bloody catch a break.

Thank you so much.

[AlCzervik]

3. i am so sorry!!! Thank goodness no one was hurt so thats the brightside

Again, i'm very sorry for our loss.:hug:

[politicat]

8. I'm really glad no one was hurt and there's nothing of sentimental value.

If it had to go, there are far worse times, I guess.

Thank you.

[Stinky The Clown]

4. I'm sorry, pcat. But there may be some hope for you .......

The house is what it is. Presumably it was empty at the time of the fire (empty of belongings, that is). The insurance company has little quibble room. Where they get you is to beat you up over the value of that old teevee or that old bedroom set or those old clothes that you still wore. In other words, they quibble over 'stuff'. Hopefully, you had no 'stuff'. Just the (quantifiable) house itself.

They'll try to wear you down. Wear them down instead.

Good luck. We're all pulling for you.

[politicat]

5. Thanks. Yes, it was empty.

And I just read the policy - as long as it wasn't vandalism, we're pretty much on legal clear ground.

I'd been out there this morning, in fact, doing some last minute cleaning (no good deed goes unpunished, right?). So I guess I'm really, really lucky that I wasn't there at the time when whatever it was went all sideways.

Now comes the pain and suffering of dealing with insurance companies.

[Warpy]

10. The fire department will do the arson investigation

and they'll determine where the fire started and the probable cause. The only disaster will be if homeless people or junkies had broken into it to squat while it was empty. In that case, you'll be stuck for the cost of demolition and your only hope will be to sell the empty lot for enough to cover it and the remaining mortgage.

Lesson: always pay for that vandalism clause if you're got a place standing empty for any length of time.

I sincerely hope it was wiring, although I doubt the prospective buyers will be particularly confident about the next house they find, having lost one to fire.

We're all hoping for the best for you.

[politicat]

12. We have a clue as to what started it, just not specifics.

I can't really talk about it, but it was not squatters. Like I said elsewhere in the thread, I'd been in the house earlier in the day to do some cleaning before the final walk-through (dusting and the like) and it was still uninhabited. (Our neighbors would have let us know if someone had come in that way, anyway - they're "that type".) The bigger lesson is that when the wind blows out the pilot light, pilot lights may not be good things. (Electronic ignition makes me happy.)

I do feel bad for the buyers - but am glad that it happened before they bought it and got in.

[SW FL Dem]

9. I'm so sorry to hear this

I hope you take some comfort in the fact that noone was hurt and you didn't lose the things you hold dear. Husb has some good points. Luckily, if you were about to close on the sale of the house, you have some pretty good evidence of what it was worth. The insurance co. may hassle you on the allocation of the sale price between the house and the land, but you should be able to get a lot of good info on that from your local assessor/appraiser.

Good luck.

[politicat]

13. Thank you. Today is definitely better than yesterday was....

We talked with insurance people today and are waiting on the final report from the Fire Marshall, but when I talked to him he gave me some preliminary findings. It's kind of sounding like one of those one in a gazillion things that is only one in a gazillion until it actually happens.

[wildeyed]

11. How horrible!

:hug:

Good luck dealing with the insurance. I am glad no one was in the house, but still, a house fire is a very traumatic occurrence.

[politicat]

14. Thank you....

I took fire extinguishers to the fire department for testing today, and tested the smoke alarms and am working on scanning all of the critical papers for this house so I can burn them to CD and send them to my sister in IL.

Lots of lessons to learn.....

Thanks again!

[eleny]

15. What a shock!

I'm so glad you weren't in the house. That no one was there. This gives me the goosebumps since you were there earlier. I'm glad you're feeling better today.

And yes, electronic ignition is a good thing.

[porter]

16. Been there - Done that

A couple years ago my daughter's house burned.
We had to remove the remains and start from the slab.

The insurance was not a real large hassle - except for living expenses for her and her son. Our biggest problem was with the contractor who rebuilt the home. He gave us a price for the rebuild and a time of estimated completion. Get the time in writing. I would even build in a penalty for excessive over runs in time and maybe materials. Back to the time. The 90 day estimate ran one year because of his problems with crews and his general business. We did check him out with BBB and several of the people who he had completed work on their homes.

[politicat]

17. We won't be rebuilding.

We'll use the insurance to pay off the mortgage, clear the land and sell the land. We have another house and while the headache of dealing with the fire department, the police department, the insurance, etc is FAR worse than the headache of selling the house, it's not worth the effort to rebuild the house and then sell it. Someone else can do that, and have no unpleasant associations.

Question: is it normal for the police to be involved? (Or am I just being a social justice activist paranoid? *grin* )