What Happens After Your House Burns Down?

Looking for a safe place to stay.

Regardless of the scope of the fire, you will likely be unable to stay in your home. Even small fires can take a week to cleanup and bring your home back to livable conditions. Look for family or friends that you could stay with temporarily. If that isn't feasible, look into your local disaster relief agencies, or consult with your insurance company to see if they can arrange for temporary housing.

Waiting to reenter your home.

After a fire, you may have to wait a bit longer than you would like before entering your home. This means you may be without items that may have not been damaged in the fire for an extended amount of time and not know what is still salvageable. You can reenter your home once your local fire department officials have deemed it safe to enter.

Major organization.

After a fire, there is a lot to do that will feel overwhelming and require you to be organized in your efforts. You'll want to organize the following:

• Mail - If you aren't staying in your home, you'll want to have the post office hold your mail or forward it to wherever you are staying.
• Mortgage - Even when your house burns down, you have to pay your mortgage.
• General finances - If you lost any debit or credit cards in the fire, take steps to replace them. It is also a good idea to sit down and create a new budget based on where you are staying and how long you will be displaced from your home.
• Utilities - Notify your utility providers of the fire and pause service or payments if possible.
• Important documents - It's possible important documents such as birth certificates, social security cards, passports, etc. were destroyed in the fire and need to be replaced.

Filing your insurance claim.

Immediately after your fire, you will want to start your claim with your homeowner's insurance company. Your home insurance will help to guide you through some steps following your fire, such as securing your property, providing "Loss of use" expenses, and make recommendations for cleaning your property and restoring fire damaged items.

Keep in mind the following for your insurance claim:

• Be sure to get a copy of the fire report from your local fire department. This will help provide information to your insurance company in regards to the source of the fire and other important details about the incident.
• Document damages. Take pictures and notes of damage to your property to help ensure you get as much coverage from your insurance company as possible.
• Be ready to possibly negotiate with your insurance company. In an article detailing what they wish they knew before their house burned down, this blogger points out that your insurance company wants to settle quickly and for as little as possible. Be ready to negotiate for a reasonable settlement.

Taking care of mental health.

Fire victims often forget that they need to take time for themselves to make life feel a little normal again. Juggling work, children, marriage, and the stress of your home burning down can take a toll on your mental health. Unfortunately, you can't changed what happened to you and your family, but you can control what comes after and how you react to it.

If you have children, they may struggle in this aspect as well. Notify your children's schools that they recently had a home fire and may need extra support from a traumatic event.

In the case of a total loss or an extreme fire, don't shy from seeking help from a therapist. Losing all of your possessions and starting over can be extremely difficult even for the strongest people. Keep this in mind for other family members at home as well.

Practicing patience.

The process following a house fire is a long one. From boarding up your home, removing debris, cleaning smoke and soot, addressing flooding or water damage from the firefighting efforts, to rebuilding - the entire process can take upwards of a year depending on the extent of your fire.

Throughout this process, you may end up battling your insurance company, your city, or with your builder. Permits will need to be drawn up, and the restoration company handling your loss is even held accountable for properly disposing of your fire damaged materials. In all - you may become frustrated by the red tape throughout the fire damage restoration process.