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Why didn't you have any smoke detectors?
Joined: Dec 2008
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Didn't really think about it...fire protection is the landlord's responsibility. There might have been fire extinguishers but I didn't know where they were. If I was home I would have tried a bucket of water. Not sure if that's a good idea with an electrical fire though...
You can stay at the Red Cross shelter for free, but it's not very nice. Should I do that? I'm currently staying at the Hilton for $49/night through priceline.
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So good that you weren't sleeping! It's still must be a horrible inconvenience in the middle of the term. I hope you didn't lose much of your stuff.
If you didn't have renter's insurance, I'd look into whether there might be some assistance available to you through your college or private and gov't organizations. Perhaps your college can sort something out for temporary accomodation or until the end of term? My guess is that some local individuals, alumni or service associations would like to help. So it might be worth putting the word out if you don't have other options? (local media might be able to help.)
You might have a valid claim against the landlord (which could be settled without going to court or through mediation). Just in case, I'd suggest making sure you have the landlord's information (individual and company) and a way to contact them if they relocate, a copy of your lease, some bills addressed to you at that address and records of your expenses. Try also to collect or make note of relevant information about the fire that's available to you (details, reports, investigations, other tenants, etc.) Your college law school might have a student run legal clinic that can give you advice or assistance. Some municipalities and courthouses provide information and mediator/legal aid referrals, too.
In any event, I wouldn't delay in making arrangements for return of any deposit or rent owed to you (the landlords don't sound particularly diligent ...)
Good luck. :-)
Youth hostels run about $25/night and are a lot of fun as you get to interact with a new group of young people every week from all over the world. They aren't private or comfortable for sleeping, but I usually stay at one whenever I move into a new town, until finding something permanent. Often staying for months at a time.
If you were looking for an excuse to take a chance in life with some new adventure, this could be just the spark that you one day look back on and see as an invaluable life changer. Many of your possessions are lost forever. That also could be a positive thing. Strap on on a backpack and camp out on the beaches of Hawaii (camping permits are $3/day), or take some other similar spiritual journey.
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I feel for you man.
My family's home caught on fire a few years ago.
Everyone was home, but luckily we all got out in time.
From what we could tell, it was an electrical fire that
spontaneously happened inside our walls.
We had fire alarms in our house, but the flames
burned all of them to a crisp....... :-(
Every person in our household ended up moving
to a different home. So it's like we're all split up
and we've only been together once since the fire.
Even now, the house still hasn't been fixed.
So don't be surprised if you have a long road ahead of you..... :-(
Good luck.
Edited: 2010-10-17, 5:28 pm
That article makes the house sound like a fire trap, it's amazing no one was hurt.
It's wonderful that no one was harmed though! I've started two grease fires accidentally this year, so unless I ban myself from kitchens I might be posting one of these threads eventually 