Chip pan fire, house burnt - advice needed

guys,

An elderly relative of mine has just had a fire in his house - pretty extensive damage by all accounts throughout the house. It appears it originated from a chip pan fire.

The police and fire service have been around there this morning seeing to it, but i wanted to see if anyone had any experience in dealing with the aftermath of these situations - ie. clear up, insurance, police reports (if applicable)...

Thankfully he wasn't hurt in any way, but clearly shaken up by it all. Any help would be appreciated.

Paul

Glad he wasnt hurt but the Chippy should be open today Chief .

Glad he wasnt hurt but the Chippy should be open today Chief .

I appreciate this was intended as a joke, however this is very distressing for all of the family as the house (which has been in the family for over 70 years) is ruined, as is everythign in it.

Helpful advice would be appreciate.

First off ring your house insurance, or, if you live in Swansea your Caravan insurance.

Is it rented accomodation or is the house owned by your relative?

The fire brigade will assess if the house is ok to return too.They use heat seeking eqipment,examining the ceiling joists or anything that may affect the house structually.

The reason i ask if its rented or owned is the landlord would have to get in surveyors to assess the damage and if owned then it would be up to your relative i'd imagine.

I worked on a fire damged house last year and once all the white goods and furniture are removed then a good wash down and lick of paint done the trick.Obviously the extent of damge will determine how easy or difficult the revamp will be.

Its an awful situation for anyone and my thoughts are with you and your relatives as i know first hand how depressing this can be.

Thank god no one was injured.

Thanks - the home is owned by my wife's grandfather. She is over there now witht he police and fire service to try and assess the damage. she's only been able to look through the windows at the moment, but by all accounts the damage is quite bad, both up and downstairs.

I'll know more shortly, but I've asked her to try and get the insurance details off her gramp - problem is he's quite forgetful which could make the whole process a lot harder, especially if everythign has been burnt - will have to check his bank statements i guess to see who he was paying.

Nightmare situation.

Some hints and tips at the link..

http://www.winsol.com/smoke.htm

Sorry Chief i dont think you can do any more than what you are doing. If you can ring one of the major insurance firms they do share details so maybe they might be able to find who he is with. Or will be able to give you a number that you can check yourself. Once you make contact make sure you get him a decent place to stay until all repairs are completed.
Again very insensitive of me so sorry Chief hope all goes smoothly in getting his house back to its old self.

Thanks.

Mine was a cheap shot for which I apologise . Hope all is well for your folks

A similar thing happened to my Nan a few years ago. Thankfully no serious damage to her or her house, but chip pan fires do tend to cover everything with a layer of sticky black oily mess.

Lots of people on the estate pulled together - my Mum invested in a stack of cleaning products from Hypervalue and a couple of cases of lager - it was the best party in town and the bulk of the clean up was done on one Saturday afternoon/evening! We were able to re-decorate the kitchen on the Sunday.

Its nice when people, some almost total strangers, show that a sense of community still exists in the 21st century.

By Monday, the only evidence of the fire was a space on the shelf in the kitchen where her chip pan used to be - she doesn't have one anymore!

Hope everything goes as well for your family.

Where was the fire mate ? was it in pontypridd house burnt out by me in hawthorn today

The fire crew should have left the occupant a 'after we leave' leaflet, detailing the next course of action, if they didn't you could pop down the station and ask them for one, it's fairly informative.

I had similar about 10 yrs ago mate, thankfully no injuries. My insurance firm sent in professional cleaners to clean house. Now the important part, insurance claim, claim for everything mate. I, for instance claimed the following and more, full deco throughout the house (get some mates in the deco business to over quote and get it done yourself) , all furniture, smoke damage to clothes upsairs, all kitchen utensils (everything was electrical as it happens ), full freezer of food etc etc. It is important you claim for all house because you will be surprised at the smoke damage that travelled.
Now obviously the claim dosent come close to replacing things lost and the trauma of the fire itself but it gives a little ray of sunshine. Good luck

Oh and a funny story from that night, fire breaks out and fair play neighbour runs over to help. He follows mrs upstairs to get kids out. Whilst we all outside, I thanks him and he says 'don't thank me mate, let me thank you, cos I had a right eyeful of your mrs beaver as I was following her upstairs, she had no knickers on'

Oh and a funny story from that night, fire breaks out and fair play neighbour runs over to help. He follows mrs upstairs to get kids out. Whilst we all outside, I thanks him and he says 'don't thank me mate, let me thank you, cos I had a right eyeful of your mrs beaver as I was following her upstairs, she had no knickers on'