Had a house fire - dealing with the aftermath?

cm1179 · 13 Jan 2013 at 02:05

what are you going to learn from this, OP?

looking at that photo, you were incredibly lucky. was the ceiling boarded over ie you had a fire break and that's why the roof didn't 'take'?

bit of advice, everything you did. don't do it again.

Azza · 13 Jan 2013 at 02:19

Incredible thread.

Artic7 · 13 Jan 2013 at 06:39

i hope you get sorted Tony,what a mess it has left.
Lets hope you have a better year

LOAM · 13 Jan 2013 at 06:56

I wouldn't even be walking around up there, amazed the FB haven't condemned it to be honest. Fire does a high amount of damage to timber and whilst its charcoaling protects it somewhat it won't be structurally sound. There's no way you should be living there.

churchhawk · 13 Jan 2013 at 08:23

Sorry, but you actually thught throwing a flammable blanket onto a gas fire would help LOL

Glad your OK and no one was hurt but come on, what were you thinking?

leaskovski · 13 Jan 2013 at 09:20

Could do with some more pics....

red11 · 13 Jan 2013 at 09:46

I'm not sure anyone has brought this up yet but for those of you who aren't aware, opening windows to 'let smoke out' is an incredibly bad idea as you will give the fire a continuous supply of oxygen. Close all doors behind you to contain the fire and limit its spread and leave the house!!

Abyss · 13 Jan 2013 at 12:00

Lethagized said:
My sister had a nasty fire last year. It started under a bed and caught on very quickly. Gutted the room where it started completely ruined the decor of the whole house. The heat was so intense at the source of the fire, it peeled the plaster off the wall, completely burned all the celing through into the loft. The window melted and flopped out, heat was so intense, the electric shower unit in the bathroom next door melted due to the heat radiating through the tiles.

That was just the start. Firemen came and extinguished it and that caused even more water damage. Plaster board falling off the ceiling and crumbling everywhere whilst being trodden in by the firemen. Every window and door in the house had to be replaced, it needed decorating from top to bottom with new carpets throughout. Even the roofing tiles needed replacing. Most of the electrical appliances had to be replaced because the insurance wouldn't insure her again unless they were renewed. I was dying to sneak that brand new panasonic plasma out which they only had for 2 weeks before the fire. It was written off and replaced for a new one.

The good side is, the insurance paid for the lot. Quarter of a million £ iirc because it's actually 2 houses knocked into one. They even had tens of 1000's worth of extra work done including a loft conversion, partition walls, on suite bathroom, brand new kitchen etc. It's a beautiful house now. It was nice before as you can see, but it's stunning now. I'm very happy for them because it was a damn hard to go through. They even say they're a lot better off now than before the fire. The house is done up exactly how they wanted it, but it was a painful thing to go through at the time. The whole of their lively hood rested in the verdict of the insurances decision. Luckily, they had a very good insurance cover which paid for rented accommodation whilst the house was being done up. It took around 6 months to complete the house.

Every other room in the house looked like this, so you can see what it meant when the word gutted is mentioned.

Is this in Cotgrave by any chance?

Swifty55 · 13 Jan 2013 at 12:22

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Draeger · 13 Jan 2013 at 12:54

Tony Williams said:
Is anybody here more exp on this?

Nope - but I am an expert on extinguishing fires safely. And to that end.......

Tony Williams said:
WHICH would have BEEN OK WITH A FIRE BLANKET (I advise everyone to learn from me and buy a few sets)

No, it really wouldn't have been ok with a fire blanket. Attempting to extinguish a fire such as you describe in a roofspace involving a gas heater with fire blankets would be akin to trying to take out a Challenger tank with a spud gun. Fire blankets are in my experience, terrible pieces of safety kit. Ok for smothering a post of slightly burning food but not much use for anything else.

Don't try and fight fires yourselves folks, get out, stay out and call us out.

Lethagized · 13 Jan 2013 at 13:24

Abyss said:
Is this in Cotgrave by any chance?

No

CircleFaust · 13 Jan 2013 at 13:33

PvtJoker said:
Absolutely bonkers.

indeed

PhillyDee · 13 Jan 2013 at 13:53

Draeger said:
Nope - but I am an expert on extinguishing fires safely. And to that end.......

No, it really wouldn't have been ok with a fire blanket. Attempting to extinguish a fire such as you describe in a roofspace involving a gas heater with fire blankets would be akin to trying to take out a Challenger tank with a spud gun. Fire blankets are in my experience, terrible pieces of safety kit. Ok for smothering a post of slightly burning food but not much use for anything else.

Don't try and fight fires yourselves folks, get out, stay out and call us out.

This. Even common sense says this! Fire blankets are ok for smothering pots, but thats all. Thats why they are only ever found in kitchens.

I have a small powder fire extinguisher, but in no way would I be attempting to fight anything bigger than a small fire. I took a fire extinguisher course at work (learned quite a bit tbh!) and even they tell you if its there next to you, use it, if not, leave it and leg it. (after setting off alarms of course!)

kPATm · 13 Jan 2013 at 14:57

Can anyone say "Insurance Job"

Holiday money eh

ste_bla · 14 Jan 2013 at 00:22

Oxy said:
Surely the insurance company will void his insurance?

I am how stupid can you be...

If I was Mr Insurance man I certainly wouldn't pay out.

Why? People drive into flood water and write their cars off this is really no different.