People who follow me on Instagram have already seen photos:we had a fire in our rented house. You can read today how it all came about, what the consequences were and what we did. I also give tips on what to do if the same happens to you.
At the end of July we went on holiday/visiting family in Munich for a few days. You can read part of our holiday in my experiences with the Flixbus and 5 budget tips for a holiday in Munich. We had a great time and enjoyed all kinds of free outings. The only day we spent a lot was that Thursday when we decided to take a cruise on the Starnberger See.
It was a beautiful day, the weather was good and we enjoyed being together. That Thursday we went out to dinner with my aunt since it was her birthday, not knowing that a few hundred kilometers away a small disaster was about to happen.
Late that same evening around 11 pm we got a call from the boy who took care of our animals and our plants. He had gotten hungry, put a pan of oil on the fire and… had forgotten it. The moment he remembered, he drove back to our house like a spear. When we got there, the house was filled with black smoke. He immediately opened the windows and doors everywhere and of course made sure that our dogs and cat were safe.
The pan with oil had therefore started to burn and that flame had flown into the extractor hood. Miraculously, the flame went out by itself, while there were all kinds of combustible stuff around. Including a roll of kitchen paper, even more cooking oil, etc. Yet the fire itself was limited to the pan, yet another pan and the extractor hood.
Of course we were devastated, but we didn't think it would be that bad. Put in a new extractor hood, clean and you're done. The most important were our animals and the young. They were all unharmed and had no major problems. We therefore decided to finish our holiday, because we would go back that Saturday anyway.
Fortunately, we didn't know what to expect at the time, otherwise we would have had even more stress…
To be honest, I was shocked when I got home. The boy had worked all Saturday with his parents to make the house below a little presentable. They have been brushing and cleaning and yet it was still black everywhere. Upstairs it wouldn't be too bad, so we went up in good spirits. Much to my dismay, everything above was full of soot. The clothes, the beds, bedding, everything I touched was black. And then I collapsed…
There you are with your family in a house of which you do not know what is clean and what is not. It was about twelve in the evening, so we had to sleep somewhere. Fortunately, the rear space above turned out to be somewhat clean and we could use four kinds of mattresses. Duvets were unusable, we made do with 2 sleeping bags for the children and some large bath towels for us. The smell of smoke combined with the soot that you encountered everywhere became too much for me and I was struck down by migraine for two days.
Fortunately, my husband was able to get a few days off from work, because all kinds of things had to be arranged.
To prevent that you, like us, no longer see the wood for the trees and are sent from pillar to post, here are a few tips on what to do in the event of a fire in a rented house:
The household insurance and the home insurance will send an expert to assess the damage. In addition, an action plan is immediately drawn up. This goes really fast:the expert walked through our house and inspected everything that was covered with soot. Unfortunately, there was quite a lot of furniture that had to go. Our sofa, the dining chairs and various electronics, among other things, were damaged beyond repair and had to be removed. Clothes, mattresses, bedding and things like that had to go to the dry cleaners.
The building expert also paid a visit and noted everything that had to be replaced in the house. This includes things like the extractor hood, an irreparable ceiling and the like.
A day after the loss adjuster of the home contents insurance, Dolmans came by. This is a company that specializes in calamities. They cleaned the house from top to bottom. And to be honest, I didn't expect the walls to be so black. But it was really unbelievable how much soot was actually everywhere in the house.
The clothes were also collected via a Dolmans dry cleaner. And then you are quite shocked when you see how much stuff you actually have. This company also removed the extractor hood (or what was left of it) and demolished the ceiling in the kitchen. All in all, the house has been cleaned for almost 4 weeks. Not surprising because everything is taken apart, cleaned and then packed, so that it can no longer get dirty.
When everything was clean, it took a while before the contractor came to take everything in. Fortunately, both the contractor and the home insurance company cooperated and repairs could be started within a few days. A new ceiling has been placed and a large part of the ground floor has been repainted. Unfortunately, there was also sawing and drilling, so there is nothing left to see of the cleaning work.
The contractor completed the work at the end of last week and we can finally use the ground floor again. At least, the kitchen, because we don't have another settee and no dining chairs yet. We have received a small amount from the household insurance, unfortunately that is not nearly enough to purchase all kinds of things new.
The insurance works with the new value minus the depreciation. And to think that all the apartments such as the TV, food processor, printer, etc. were just a year or less old. When we remigrated in July last year, we had to start all over again. Now we unfortunately have to do this again with many things.
My pantry is completely empty, as is my freezer. All foodstuffs were in a stair cupboard that was black with soot. Because it concerns food, everything must be rejected and disposed of. The freezer was out for two days and I didn't dare to use the meat in it anymore. The clothes were returned after almost a month, ironed, steamed and all. All this time we did it with the clothes that were on holiday (which was not much, because we were only gone for 7 days). Unfortunately, my fairly new pillow, another pillow and many decorative pillows (new) from my daughter can no longer be cleaned.
The kitchen is now as good as furnished, the things have been repacked (compact and sorted). Now we have to wait for a few other dining chairs and a settee (we can borrow/borrow from someone for the time being, so that makes a difference).
However, we will have to buy a lot of other things again. Think of things like a printer, a new food processor (indispensable for me) and much more.
If you think a small fire won't do much, you're wrong. I never thought that a fire that didn't get past the extractor hood could have such a devastating effect. Unfortunately we were unlucky, because it was a fire in which oil was involved and electricity and plastic melted. And the same applies to soot as to water:it gets into everything.
The house we rent is an old and drafty house. So the soot has gone through all the cracks and holes to the top floor. Incidentally, that probably saved the lives of the dogs, otherwise they might have suffocated from the smoke.
Because this is such a big house, cleaning took a long time. And when I was finally happy that everything was shining and shining, the contractor came and I can now clean everything downstairs again. The impact cannot therefore be overestimated.
Instead of the children being able to enjoy a nice quiet summer vacation, every day was stressful. I wanted to go out with the kids, but had to stay home every day because people were coming over. Sleeping in was not an option, because before 8 a.m. workers were already on the doorstep. My daughter has great difficulty with people touching her things:this has been the case for weeks now. We barely had any clothes, we had to make do with a few shirts, one or two pants and some underwear (luckily the washing machine still worked).
It was also an attack on our health. I have three people with asthma in my house and I also reacted quite strongly to the smoke smell (this was partly the reason that I was flat with a migraine). My daughter's dog is also clearly traumatized and never leaves my side for a moment. All in all, it has left its mark on our family.
Unfortunately my daughter had her birthday during the same period and due to all the stress her birthday got a bit wrong. For the first time in my life I couldn't make a cake for one of my children. Ordering cake was also unsuccessful, since there are traces of peanuts in everything. Unfortunately, it was not possible to really celebrate with her. The party that was planned for her was cancelled.
Fortunately, despite all the stress and problems, there are also some positives:
Have you ever experienced a fire in your house?
