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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>So My House Caught Fire
Pestle 12:30 PM 11-17-2016
I had two babies that day. I smelled smoke, but since the ENTIRE TENNESSEE VALLEY is on fire due to a year of drought and multiple arsonists, I thought the wind had just changed direction again. Turns out the HVAC unit had burst into flame, but since I turned off the air when I smelled smoke, it didn't draw the fire or smoke into the house.

I went outside to see if it was really smoky out there, and saw smoke billowing out of the crawl space below my bedroom window. So I ran back in, grabbed both babies (left the pets) and ran back out. The fire department smashed a bedroom wall to get to the fire, and the joists below my bedroom and my kids' bedroom are burnt through, and there are scorch marks up the brick outside of the house. The firefighters pulled out both cats and the smoke in most of the house is almost completely gone--ServPro ran ozone overnight.

So I've had to close my business and we're staying with neighbors while I try to coordinate the HVAC installation, home repairs, and smoke cleaning. We can't get heat back into the house until there are joists to attach the ducts to, and we can't get the insurance to cover a hotel room until the contractors submit a timeline to project completion. So basically I'm just running back and forth between my house and the neighbor's house all day, saying, "See? Burned! Fix! Fix fast! Please fast!"

I hate everything!

The silver lining is that, if my thrift store clothing is more expensive to clean than to replace, I can just get a check from the insurer and look forward to many, many, many hours trying on clothing.

Wait--that's not a silver lining. That's the thought that finally broke me down in tears.

Nobody is willing to start work for the next two weeks because nobody wants to work any time near a holiday. ServPro disappeared off the face of the Earth, and then just told us they want me home all day tomorrow to review which items are cleanable. Uh, no--you can't tell me at 3:30pm to take the next day off. I'm temporarily turning myself into a nanny for my sibling pair, and I can't up and cancel at this time of day.

And until the gas is back on, I can't reopen, because even if I bought a window unit heat pump for the day care area of the house, there still wouldn't be any hot water.

This is horrible.
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AmyKidsCo 12:45 PM 11-17-2016
Oh no!! I am so, so sorry.

I guess the silver lining is that no-one was injured and it wasn't worse.

But it still sucks.
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Ariana 01:01 PM 11-17-2016
Oh no that is awful!!

Glad everyone was ok and you saw it before it got really bad.

Sending
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Snowmom 01:01 PM 11-17-2016
Oh my goodness.
I'm glad you're ok!

I hope insurance covers everything and you can get back to normal quickly!
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Baby Beluga 01:09 PM 11-17-2016
Oh no! I'm so sorry everyone (pets included) are okay.
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daycare 01:12 PM 11-17-2016
I am so sorry this happened to you and your family. Thankfully everyone was ok.


Hugs to you hope things are looking up soon.
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Blackcat31 01:26 PM 11-17-2016
Oh my goodness!! I am so glad to hear you are safe!!

I have a parent that manages our area ServPro and she said she is disgusted to hear they are treating you like that!

She said most of her job (as manager) is to work with the insurance company so that they pay the victim/lossee swiftly and quickly so that they can begin repairing or replacing lost items. She also said her office issues vouchers for hotels for the people they serve.

I am sorry your ServPro offices aren't treating you better!

I am happy to hear you, your family, your pets and your daycare kids are all okay!!! How scary!
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Heart12 02:27 PM 11-17-2016

So sorry to hear this happened to you!
So glad to hear you & your pets are safe!!!
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Josiegirl 02:34 PM 11-17-2016
Yikes!As everyone said, so glad you're alright, and your cats and the babies!!
But what the heck?? You're supposed to just live in limbo while they wait their sweet ole time to get things done? What would've happened if not for your friends?
Can Red Cross step in and help?
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KiwiKids 02:34 PM 11-17-2016
I am so sorry to hear this! I'm glad you and the kids and your pets are ok. Sending prayers your way that things come together quickly for the repairs.
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grandmom 02:51 PM 11-17-2016
Wow. So sorry to hear of the chaos.

Stay calm. Do one thing at a time.
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Mike 03:48 PM 11-17-2016
So sorry about the fire, but it's good that everyone is ok. I hope they get it back for you soon, and I hope you didn't lose anything that's irreplaceable. That's one thing I always worry about if I should ever have to deal with a fire. Food, clothes, furniture, all replaceable. Some personal belongings can't be replaced though.
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e.j. 04:16 PM 11-17-2016
Every month as I'm doing fire drill practice with the kids, I grumble about having to do it (in my head - not to the kids). I guess I need to stop grumbling since your experience shows fire can happen when you least expect it. Glad everyone is ok. Hopefully you'll be back to normal before you know it.
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EntropyControlSpecialist 04:52 PM 11-17-2016
I'm so sorry! Praying things get taken care of in a timely manner.
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MyAngels 04:57 PM 11-17-2016
I'm so sorry, but glad everyone made it out OK. Sending good thoughts your way that everything gets repaired and replaced quickly and you're back to normal soon.
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LysesKids 05:08 PM 11-17-2016
Originally Posted by Pestle:
I had two babies that day. I smelled smoke, but since the ENTIRE TENNESSEE VALLEY is on fire due to a year of drought and multiple arsonists, I thought the wind had just changed direction again. Turns out the HVAC unit had burst into flame, but since I turned off the air when I smelled smoke, it didn't draw the fire or smoke into the house.

I went outside to see if it was really smoky out there, and saw smoke billowing out of the crawl space below my bedroom window. So I ran back in, grabbed both babies (left the pets) and ran back out. The fire department smashed a bedroom wall to get to the fire, and the joists below my bedroom and my kids' bedroom are burnt through, and there are scorch marks up the brick outside of the house. The firefighters pulled out both cats and the smoke in most of the house is almost completely gone--ServPro ran ozone overnight. My daycare insurance wouldn't pay for the room, but did pay for my lost food (I could only save so much from the fridge/freezer)... they will pay for a room if a fire damages it, but not loss of power

So I've had to close my business and we're staying with neighbors while I try to coordinate the HVAC installation, home repairs, and smoke cleaning. We can't get heat back into the house until there are joists to attach the ducts to, and we can't get the insurance to cover a hotel room until the contractors submit a timeline to project completion. So basically I'm just running back and forth between my house and the neighbor's house all day, saying, "See? Burned! Fix! Fix fast! Please fast!"

I hate everything!

The silver lining is that, if my thrift store clothing is more expensive to clean than to replace, I can just get a check from the insurer and look forward to many, many, many hours trying on clothing.

Wait--that's not a silver lining. That's the thought that finally broke me down in tears.

Nobody is willing to start work for the next two weeks because nobody wants to work any time near a holiday. ServPro disappeared off the face of the Earth, and then just told us they want me home all day tomorrow to review which items are cleanable. Uh, no--you can't tell me at 3:30pm to take the next day off. I'm temporarily turning myself into a nanny for my sibling pair, and I can't up and cancel at this time of day.

And until the gas is back on, I can't reopen, because even if I bought a window unit heat pump for the day care area of the house, there still wouldn't be any hot water.

This is horrible.
Are you licensed or licensed exempt? I'm asking, because a few years ago I rented a large room in an extended stay with kitchen and told the staff a couple of grands were visiting daytime because I watched them while my kids worked. (I'm licensed exempt). I had no option because of the ice storm cutting off our power & heat for 5 days... I wasn't going to die staying in a house with -20 outside and no way to cook or stay warm, so next best thing lol.
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Pestle 06:02 PM 11-18-2016
Looks like it'll be mid-December by the time there's heat to the house. ServPro is back working again--apparently they came by last night to look over the damage and get started on making an assessment.

We should be in a hotel Sunday.

I'm not licensed yet--still in the process. I want to keep this above board, so I'm not comfortable moving the day care into a hotel suite, and am planning on just nannying for the time being. I only have two full-time families currently. It's a frustrating setback, but fortunately my mother just came into a significant amount of money and will be helping out.

Things that don't stink: I bought myself a Chromebook since we can't lug a PC around, and I told the contractor to repaint with the color I wished I'd originally used, and my friends on Facebook are suggesting hilarious new wardrobe options since the loss of the clothing is an opportunity to completely re-invent myself. ('80s shoulder pads? Quaker plain dress? Gothic burlesque? The sky's the limit!)
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LysesKids 07:11 PM 11-18-2016
Originally Posted by Pestle:
Looks like it'll be mid-December by the time there's heat to the house. ServPro is back working again--apparently they came by last night to look over the damage and get started on making an assessment.

We should be in a hotel Sunday.

I'm not licensed yet--still in the process. I want to keep this above board, so I'm not comfortable moving the day care into a hotel suite, and am planning on just nannying for the time being. I only have two full-time families currently. It's a frustrating setback, but fortunately my mother just came into a significant amount of money and will be helping out.

Things that don't stink: I bought myself a Chromebook since we can't lug a PC around, and I told the contractor to repaint with the color I wished I'd originally used, and my friends on Facebook are suggesting hilarious new wardrobe options since the loss of the clothing is an opportunity to completely re-invent myself. ('80s shoulder pads? Quaker plain dress? Gothic burlesque? The sky's the limit!)
Understand the hotel decision... I only had 2 kids when I did it, that's why the suggest; clothes wise, go with a capsule wardrobe & build on it (2 neutrals & a pop color to start with); less is more in certain situations lol
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DaveA 04:00 AM 11-19-2016
Glad everyone is ok.
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Pestle 11:09 AM 12-07-2016
They finally started work last Thursday. We SHOULD be back in by Xmas. I am not enjoying working from someone's home. Schedule, behavior, attitude much better when it's on my own turf.

In the time we've been closed, it finally, finally started raining. . . and didn't stop. So the crawl space is a swamp right now, which changes reconstruction. That's a blessing, actually, since it means we'll be getting ahead of the next disaster by changing the HVAC now instead of just replacing it.

Oh, and we had a rat. That's all we've had so far, but with the subfloor ripped up, I fully expect possums. And they don't make possum snap traps.
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daycarediva 11:16 AM 12-07-2016
Oh my goodness! You poor thing! Glad everyone is safe and hopefully you will have a home before Christmas!
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Pestle 11:21 AM 12-07-2016
Well, in the week of the fire, we ended up with a second car because a relative is having a severe reaction to her medication and can't drive or work, and one of the extended-stay hotel employees lost a family member in the elementary school bus crash, so I am griping but not actually complaining, if you know what I mean. I don't feel unlucky at all. Just resigned.
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Blackcat31 11:51 AM 12-07-2016
Originally Posted by Pestle:
They finally started work last Thursday. We SHOULD be back in by Xmas. I am not enjoying working from someone's home. Schedule, behavior, attitude much better when it's on my own turf.

In the time we've been closed, it finally, finally started raining. . . and didn't stop. So the crawl space is a swamp right now, which changes reconstruction. That's a blessing, actually, since it means we'll be getting ahead of the next disaster by changing the HVAC now instead of just replacing it.

Oh, and we had a rat. That's all we've had so far, but with the subfloor ripped up, I fully expect possums. And they don't make possum snap traps.
I just posted asking for an update.... lol!
https://www.daycare.com/forum/showthread.php?t=84853

Although not back to normal completely, I am happy to hear you are at least heading that way....
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Pestle 12:30 PM 12-07-2016
On the plus side, it's looking like the insurance will be covering the hard-wired smoke detector installation, which I had just had quoted at $900 the week before the fire.
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Controlled Chaos 12:53 PM 12-07-2016
I'm sorry you are going through this.

But I request you go the 80s shoulder pad route
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Pestle 01:04 PM 12-07-2016
Originally Posted by Controlled Chaos:
I'm sorry you are going through this.

But I request you go the 80s shoulder pad route
I will polyester business the HECK out of those shoulder pads!
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Pestle 04:13 PM 01-15-2017
We got back in Thursday evening. I have four kids tomorrow. The playroom is totally clean so we'll just have to spend the day in there with the doors shut; the main living area is open so there's still a lot of dust to wipe up in there before I let the kids into the dining/art area. The furniture is almost all back to where it should be. My bedroom is a sea of boxes--half of them stuff the smoke removal people returned to us, and the other have just random junk I need to sort through. And the laundry room is filled with bags of stuff the smoke removal people couldn't clean, so we have to claim it.

Also, both the dishwasher AND the washing machine are broken. We have a washing machine being delivered Tuesday but probably won't get the dishwasher replaced for a few more weeks.

And in the midst of all this, I have three interviews! "Here's my house. Imagine it doesn't look like this. Here's my yard. Imagine it looks like someone has been living here for the last two months.

BLECH.
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DaveA 03:55 AM 01-16-2017

Glad you're getting back to some semblance of normalcy.
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Play Care 05:23 AM 01-16-2017
Glad you're getting back to somewhat normal. Hope the interviews go well!
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Pestle 09:41 AM 01-16-2017
Today's interview just cancelled.

Just sent out invites to our "Post Flambe Soiree" open-house playdate for our daughter; she's been cooped up in a tiny extended-stay suite for two months. We are absolutely doing this:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...a7815a4f5e.jpg
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e.j. 10:19 AM 01-16-2017
Originally Posted by Pestle:
Today's interview just cancelled.

Just sent out invites to our "Post Flambe Soiree" open-house playdate for our daughter; she's been cooped up in a tiny extended-stay suite for two months. We are absolutely doing this:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...a7815a4f5e.jpg
With all I'm sure you've been through, I love that you've been able to keep your sense of humor!
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