What we Learnt After Having a House Fire
One saved photo of a precious family memory – (camping along the Murray River, Victoria.)
You might think that a house fire will probably never happen to your family and I sincerely hope it doesn’t. However, despite our best efforts to keep our family safe, my husband and I now say that one should never say never! A house fire happened to us. In short, we are all OK and that’s all that matters. As you’d expect, it was scary but we also learnt so much, on so many levels. What did my family need?
The Story: We completely lost significant parts of our home and a new vehicle. We had to evacuate our daughter while she was sleeping. She got out safely but later, she showed signs of PTSD. This had to be handled by professionals.
The periodic flashbacks we all experienced, not to mention the chaos and displacement, material loss and emotional trauma are all factors that do still haunt me as a mother. When I ‘go there’ in my mind, I am aware of my own unhelpful thoughts and with professional help and guidance, my family members are acknowledging their individual experiences from that night. We do know we are all OK and we will be OK. Our kids and doggies are fine but they were shaken. One bonus is that we are here to share our story with other families, prompting them to consider what they can do to help themselves in this situation, should it ever happen.
So, What did we Learn?
Considerations we Wished we Thought About Before we had a House Fire:
1. Serviced smoke alarms?
Yes, our smoke alarms were new and working well. The fire accidentally started outside, in a carport. By the time we heard the smoke alarms, the exterior walls and roof were well alight. Luckily, there was time to evacuate. We all look back with a shudder and still say, “THAT FIRE SPREAD SO QUICKLY!” The flames rose so very high.
2. Do we have a meeting point in case our family is separated?
On the night of our fire, there was a terrible time when we lost track of our two girls (in their early 20s) even though we knew they were ‘out.’ We had caring neighbours on opposite corners, caring for each of our kids and their frightened dogs. The Problem: There was a frightening time when we didn’t know where they were, as we couldn’t see them due to the chaos, the thick smoke (my car was well-alight) and the flashing lights. Thank goodness for lovely and amazing neighbours! However, some of the panic may have been prevented had we prepared with an agreed upon and accessible assembly point to gather at. You need to ascertain if everyone’s out and safe. We didn’t have an assembly point and we could have alleviated some stress.
The smoky scene captured that night
3. Do we know where our nearest fire hydrant is?
Once the fire brigade came, we were asked where the nearest fire hydrant was. I thought surely, they’d know, but they need to double check. Check your Fire Department’s website and phone for further information. Depending on where you live, this signage information might not be relevant. It might just save a life or two. Check out your state or territory’s websites.
4. Have we recently checked our insurances?
Were we insured? Yes, but we still lost many sentimental photos, childhood keepsakes (baby mementoes, school reports, artwork, kiddies’ Christmas decorations and so on – all so upsetting!) Review the amount and dates of household and vehicle insurance. Sure, we dutifully paid insurance on time, every year, but the sinking question of, “Did we pay it this year, I can’t remember?” surfaced during our interrupted sleep, after the fire was extinguished. That was purely our fear taking over! Check the level of cover and review your needs asap. We were only ‘just covered,’ but thought we had enough cover for everything. We were mistaken.
5. How should we use Cloud Storage?
If you are a child of the 80s or, before, you probably have boxes of envelopes (together with negatives) stuffed with various photos that you intend to scan ‘some day.’ Don’t delay. Make time to scan all sentimental pictures and take photos of your valuables and receipts (for insurance purposes.) Store the files in a Cloud for safe-keeping. The photos will be fire safe there. Ask a savvy teen if they want to earn extra pocket money. If money is an issue, ask a teen to take iPhone pictures of your photos until they are properly scanned.
A photo of a treasured photo is better than nothing!
Granted, this may not be the best quality of a copy, but honestly, right now, we’d be grateful for any snaps of our lost photos! We did manage to save more than you’d expect. Apparently, there are ways to repair water-damaged images.
If you’re worried about cyber-safety, think about whether you’d prefer to deal with a box of ashes (as we did) or face an unlikely risk of someone accessing your photos among millions of other photos. What do you think now? Update your e-security if you’re still concerned. It’s a personal choice.
Some retrieved, older photos. We were surprised to find them in burnt boxes!
Many photos and collectibles were lost!
Looking back now, despite the hardship, we are richer for having had such a reality call this year. We haven’t rebuilt yet and that’s OK. It will happen. Our family’s Christmas will be extra special this year. We think that we might even ‘get it’ now. After the fire, we have learnt that our possessions are just ‘stuff.’ We’ve heard it before but now, we know it.
We still maintain that house fires are horrific and some of our lost ‘stuff’ was important, even special. Compared to some families, we were lucky we got away relatively unscathed, despite the trauma of the ‘what ifs?’ I trust this article helps other families. With bushfire season, an annual threat here in Australia, there are other survival considerations. Plan to have a family discussion soon. Be safe!
