magick.

vurt!

Woke up at 4am this morning to the cat going nuts and found a fire in the living room. Luckily I had an extinguisher handy so I was able to put it out quickly. The fire was small but there was a lot of damage. I'm this close to having a nervous breakdown (holding fingers very close together). Most of our wedding photos got burned, part of our couch, the TV, stereo and all the electronics, a lot of our books got damaged... it's just a mess in there.

After we got done with the police and fire people this morning, I just had to leave. I'm at work right now, unable to concentrate on anything. When we moved to our new place, I never renewed our renters insurance. I don't know where we are going to stay until the repairs are done. All I can do is vent but it doesn't feel very therapeutic. I wish I could go take a nap; I'm so tired but the day is just starting.

dude, sorry to hear, that sux

but glad you two are OK & unharmed and thank goodness your kitteh is watching out for you.

Shit Justin that's terrible. If I was near enough to you I'd offer to help out somehow, but not sure what I can do this far away.

Any idea what started it? Even without renters insurance, maybe someone is liable for the damage - maybe a contractor screwed up the electrics in the place? More hassle with suing, etc. but you might at least be able to recoup losses if someone was responsible.

Just remember you have friends online, here and elsewhere.

Yeah, I'd offer to put you guys up but I'm already putting up another friend down on his luck and I'd wager I'm not terribly convenient either being in OC regardless. Wish I could help more.

Don't worry about it guys. I have a lot of family in the area and they are all rallying to help. Brit's family in South OC has offered help as well. In fact Brit is dealing with the flood of family support, which is stressful in it's own way.

We think the cat may have started it by peeing on the surge protector that our TV and stuff was connected to. She has bladder problems and can't control when and where she pees. Normally we try to keep her away from electronics but we can't do that 24hrs a day. The power was out when we woke up and the damage makes it look like it started from that surge protector (which is a high quality Furman job). We'll see what the official reports turn up though.

The owner of the building has good insurance but I don't think it anything to do with the occupants, just the property. I'm not sure... I have a lot of calls to make. The worst thing was loosing the wedding pictures. We spent a long time compiling pictures, not just from the wedding but from when Brit and I were in high School together. It's just breaking our hearts.

and here I am whining about my AC

I'm so sorry justin, I wish there was more I could do than just send you a hug and a smile I really hope things work out quickly for you

Probably not likely as any short would be very brief and not hot enough to ignite anything. Most electrical fires start because of cabling rated below code being used or loose wiring connections routed through flammable material. If it was an electrical fire, I'm pretty sure the cat didn't cause it.

Well, we know now that there are only three outlets in the apartment that are properly grounded and most of the outlets have nothing connected to the ground lead at all. The ones that are properly grounded are all in my office/studio... I did the wiring in there myself.

There is still no official word on what started the fire, though they are fairly certain it was electrical.

well, looks like i'm f**ked

our company is increasing sales at an alarming rate but cash flow has not kept up and boss is talking about "drastic cuts in hours." Seeing that my division has been hardest hit by the economy, I can't see how I'm going to have a full time job by the end of Monday. And that's if I'm lucky.

but i'm supposed to go out on sales calls now and put on a brave face. yay me.

that sux

Man, it sucks to hear that. Especially when I know you're under a lot of stress as it is. So many of my friends (highly skilled/experienced people) either have lost their jobs or have had their hours cut by companies that don't really understand the value of their workers. Hang in there Deb.