Her story was carried on the pages of Facebook as she kept all of her friends informed.
It was an ordinary weekday night. She came home from work, fixed dinner, and was watching television.
In the distance she recalled hearing a persistent beeping sound. It did sound a bit like a smoke detector or a fire alarm, but she wasn’t concerned. In the apartments these alarms went off frequently. It was almost always a burnt dinner, or someone smoking carelessly close to a smoke detector.
Shouting in the hallway alerted her that this was not a cooking incident. In fact, her neighbor’s kitchen had caught fire. Sirens approached.
With her neighbors in the apartment complex, Liz gathered outside on the tree lawn. Like them, she took a few lighthearted pictures and shared them on social media, assuring her friends she was safe.
Her tone quickly changed as smoke began to pour from a second window, and flames flickered. The fire had spread throughout the apartment.
When firefighters arrived they were able to very quickly douse the flames the way that firefighters do: by pumping hundreds of gallons of water into the apartment. No one was hurt, thanks to the alarm and the quick thinking of her neighbors who alerted everyone to the danger. Liz went back upstairs, expecting to settle back into her interrupted evening routine.
Water World
She didn’t expect to find firefighters in her apartment, which was not directly below the fire. She quickly learned that fighting fires means working around the entire fire scene to make sure that the flames and embers don’t have a chance to spread and reignite. In her kitchen ceiling was a new skylight into her upstairs neighbor’s apartment. It was rimmed with insulation, dripping with water.
Quickly a call went out on Facebook and she found a place to spend the night. Her insurance agent was on the way. Sure enough, the apartment was a loss. Luckily, her renter’s insurance covered not only a fire, but the chance of water damage from a neighbor’s fire in an apartment complex.
The next two weeks were frustrating for her, because of the inconvenience. She was glad to share with her FB friends that it did not cost her any money. Insurance paid not just for the damage to her goods, but for the hotel where she spent the time while her apartment was being repaired. It replaced her damaged belongings as well.
She was pleased to pass on the lesson she learned: renter’s insurance is a real blessing.
