Insurance more important than sprinklers

Home fire creates memories that live forever

The date Jan. 14, 2002 will forever live in my mind as the day we survived a horrific experience.
It was on this day that we all started out our typical daily routine. My wife was preparing for work, our youngest son was readying to attend his high school classes and I decided I would head for the gym.

All was fine until about three hours after we had all left. It was at that point that I received a frantic call from my neighbor with the mind-boggling line “You had better get home quick. Your house is fully-engulfed.”

I cannot tell you the panic that instantly ran through my mind, as I attempted to gather my senses while walking through the parking lot about 15 miles from home. Surely, this had to be a big joke, I thought, as I headed back to my car.

Heading west up the I-215 beltway in Las Vegas, a gazillion things ran through my mind as I looked toward the mountains to see smoke, which was the result of our 3,800 square-foot home custom going up in flames. Phone numbers started rolling through my mind ranging from my wife to my insurance agent and my neighbors (I had remembered that we left our Schnauzer, Blitz, inside in his kennel in an uncharacteristic move because my wife had feared he would get cold outside).

I called my wife’s boss to get him to drive her home. I then called my insurance agent (I accidentally called my former insurance agent first leading me to wiping egg off my face while driving like a mad man) before calling the neighbors to save Blitz along with our cockatiel, Steve.

The closer I got to the home the weaker I became. When I took the final two-mile drive up the road to our home and entered the cul-de-sac, there were countless fire trucks, an indescribable level of fear running rampant all over and the God-awful feeling that we were actually homeless.

Within minutes, a bus-load of individuals was loading burned and smoke-filled items out of our home. The front yard looked like a massive garage sale was taking place as the reality that our home was burning slowly set it.

A short time later, our insurance adjuster showed up assuring us that we would be taken care of. At the same time, he handed us a check for $2,000 for the essentials (like toiletries, clothing, etc.) and reiterated that he would have living quarters for us soon.

Just about that time, a little boy walked up to us with a handful of change to say “Hi. I don’t know who you are, but I want you to know that we are here to help.”

At that point, he dropped his change into our hands as nearly everyone within earshot wiped away the tears from their eyes. It was one of those moments that will forever live in our minds.

Our insurance adjuster found us a furnished home that evening, although we did spend the first night in a hotel. To borrow a line from the company, we were “in good hands,” although we truly had no idea until tragedy turned our beautiful home into a burned-out mess.

The fire had apparently been burning slowly all night long between the floors of our two-story home. Had it broken through to the second floor in the middle of the night, we might not have escaped.

Ironically, I had been involved in a struggle with the Clark County Commission working against the mandatory installation of fire sprinklers in single-family homes, a controversial issue that has raised its head again nationally. The commission reversed an earlier ruling and instead chose not to enforce the sprinkler ordinance.

Our fire was electrical in nature, and fire sprinklers would not have helped. In fact, the only key to the fire sprinkler issue was that they would have added $2 a foot to the construction of the home.

Truthfully, the maintenance aspect relating to fire sprinklers along with the possible water damage concerned me more than the fire itself. Many will agree that fire sprinklers are being encouraged simply because of the efforts of special interest groups, and not specifically because of the so-called safety issue.

However, the bottom line was that we were prepared for our disaster, although we didn’t know it at the time. We were dealt with fairly by our insurance company and because of that, we were able to carry on with our lives.

We survived the house fire while resurrecting our lives, but not without dedicated help from friends, family and yes, our insurance company.

But the fact remains that we could have been in dire shape were it not for the fact that we had an updated insurance policy with coverage we didn’t even know we had.

Fire can hit anywhere and at any time. The key is being properly prepared and frankly, I think the investment of my insurance policy was more important than the money I almost had to spend on fire sprinklers.