Tips for Recovering from Home Fires

Living and suffering from a fire in the home is a situation that, in reality, can become traumatic and wreak havoc of various kinds. Feelings of stress, anxiety, helplessness, sadness, and even despair and loss -for everything we had built-; they loom over anyone before their, more than possible, disappearance. The destruction of our goods and properties causes a shock of unfathomable emotions for the people who survive this circumstance and who, after it, must move forward.

Despite the great disposition that exists today among the different professionals who face these "home disasters" (firefighters, emergency personnel, insurance companies ...), only those who have suffered the consequences of a fire in their home, know what can lead to feel. In any case, reaching a good understanding of the situation and finding answers to the questions that invade us after seeing part of our work and future dreams wrapped in smoke and flames, is the key to overcome and efficiently cope with those feelings and recover from the side effects produced by fire.

The most important thing to keep in mind is to put in the hands of a trusted company the maximum protection that can offer us with a good home fire insurance. Finding this safeguard after suffering a fire at home is reassuring and the main objective to transmit by any insurance, given the consequences that may appear after a claim such as the one that concerns us. It is not something that the law requires us to do and we can always want to think that “it will not happen to us”, but we can never imagine if, unfortunately, that circumstance will affect us sooner or later and if, in that case, we will regret not having arranged deserving fire insurance.

After the initial shock, faced with a situation that no longer has a reverse gear; recovering after having suffered a fire in the home has different connotations based on the character and personality of each person. Undoubtedly, there will be consequences and feelings that will intensify for a time, until the wound itself manages to close and heal..

Logically, it is very normal, to feel more irritable than usual or to have radical changes in our mood. Those patterns of behavior, anchored in the vivid memories of an evacuation, or of witnessing the advance of the fire; they have in our will and in some little advice that will help us to recover from the fateful experience, the cure.

Needs after suffering a home fire

After suffering a fire at home, there are certain key points that we must be clear about in order to know how to act even with doubts and fears that may plague us at first. These are actions that we must carry out after the fire, whether or not it is, to a greater or lesser degree:

• We should never enter the damaged home until the competent authority tells us that it is safe to do so. The fires still and considered extinguished, are not completely extinct, so there may be embers that make the flames reappear; or areas such as ceilings and floors that incur the risk of dislodging or sagging.

• It is important to understand the health risks. Smoke, soot, traces of dirty water ... The combination of all of them can affect our body given the high toxicity of some of its components.

• You have to contact the company that made our home fire insurance, quickly.

Upon entering the home:

• The emergency services will surely have disconnected water, electricity and gas. Never try to connect them again by yourself.

• An inventory must be made of the damaged goods. No object should be thrown away, no matter how damaged it is, until, both personally and the insurance company itself, we have finished the inventory.

• Clean the house. Based on the severity of the fire suffered, we can carry out the cleaning on our own or hire the services of a specialized company.

• Do not forget that personal documents or money destroyed and lost during the fire must be replaced to continue rebuilding our new home..

• It is convenient to keep all the receipts of the money invested after the fire and until all the procedure is solved.

United is better

The most important step in recovering from the fires at home is the support of each other, allowing all kinds of hidden emotions within us to spring up outside in order to face them and, without a doubt, overcome them.. The ideal, although it may be late at first, is to resume the habits and customs that we had as a routine as soon as possible..

Although living a fire at home, or simply facing the consequences of it, becomes a expensive and painful process; the reality of our day-to-day life makes us realize that it is a transitory situation, a specific moment on the road through which we have had to pass, and that, after a time of adaptation, we will once again recover from the blow and feel ourselves well. Let's not forget that, first of all, if the damages have been material, the fire insurance will help us in everything that it covers; but the most important thing is not to have to regret personal injury and to be all together again, even if it must be in a new home.

After the shock, reactions such as denial to protect what may no longer exist are normal. Therefore, if we realize that by ourselves we cannot fully overcome this trance, it is time to ask for help. Requesting professional support is an option available to all people who have witnessed tragedies of this kind: local support groups with others who really know what it is like to recover from a fire at home; treatments with expert psychologists ...

Photo: Norma Andrés / www.pixabay.es