This is me walking out of our home a couple days after it burned down with two of the most precious items I had been looking for. Nearly 2 days worth of digging and pulling stuff out of my home, these two small items were toward to the top of the list!
In my right hand is my daughters 'lovie', her little blanket that she has slept with since she was a baby. We have traveled as far as 30 mins to go get this puppy so she could go to sleep somewhere...trust me, I know, its sounds crazy...but thats what parents do right.
In my left hand is her 'baby'. The old, naked, beat up baby doll that she has dragged around every park, friends home and public place we have ever been to. Its that important.
You can see why these two items were on the top of the list.
MY POINT: After helping our first couple go through this journey, literally 3 weeks after we moved into our new home, I remember this couple, Brandi and Trent, just being disgusted with the idea of going into their home. But I heavily encouraged them to do it...and they were glad they did. Not only did they find irreplaceable items that they could get out, along with other priceless memories, they also found her wedding ring in the corner of their closet! You just never know!
So, if your reading this and your house just burned down, be prepared to go through it!
Now here are some instructions:
1. wait until the fire marshal sign off on the structure.
2. wait till your insurance agent goes through the house for coverage purposes. (I couldn't wait. Our house burned down on a Thursday afternoon and the adjuster wasn't going to be there till Tuesday next week. We got phones calls from our neighbors saying our home was getting luted at night and I wasn't willing to wait any longer on the adjuster to show up!)
3. Go to lowes/home depot and buy like 10-15 of those black bins with the yellow snap on lids and load them up..you can go through it all later! (Centrex Plastics, LLC Commander 27-Gallon Black Tote with Standard Snap Lid) here is a link: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Centrex-Plastics-LLC-Commander-27-Gallon-Black-Tote-with-Standard-Snap-Lid/3551290
4. Go buy some really cheap boots at walmart that can get ruined.
5. Buy some high quality masks to wear inside. The water, insulation, ash, mold...yes mold begins to form everywhere cause the water just sits. OR if you house is older, no telling whats in those walls...be sure to protect your air and your eyes!
6. Call a bunch of friends and/or family and tell them to get ready to get dirty.
These are just few additional tips...hope they help!
Brian
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