Sigh. Vibes for my mom? There was a fire today at her assisted living facility - everyone is fine,

[Flaxbee]

but her room is just soaked and smokey -- the fire was in the hall/region of the building where her room is.

They were going to have the facility's holiday party tonight. No party.

She's at my sister's now; I hope anyone else displaced has family to go to...or maybe some extra beds at the facility can be used until their rooms are clean and dry.

Scary, but nothing awful. Just scary.

[In_The_Wind]

1. That is scary.

I'm glad your mom is ok.

[Flaxbee]

2. She was frantic until they found her cat -- once she was located, all was

well.

I'm going to be there next week so hopefully I can help her clean up, or sort what's left...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. Oh, my dear Flaxbee...

Major vibes for your mom, and you, and all the other residents. What a mess, and especially right before Christmas.

I hope they can clean it up pronto!

[Flaxbee]

4. Apparently a 'disaster response" team comes in pretty quickly for the clean-up...

but replacing much of what was lost - bedding, tv, clothes, etc. will be a task. My sister is going to scoop up a lot of papers and photos if she can, then I'll go through everything to see what we can salvage. I'm going to take all the photos home and scan them for her... I don't think things actually burned, but they did get soaked by the sprinklers, and then got smokey.

Thanks.

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. I hope everything can be saved. The loss of special things would be

so traumatic on top of the scare.

[politicat]

13. Small chest freezer + paper towels

Freeze anything papery, interleaved with paper towels. A frost free freezer will evaporate all of the water out in a while. It can take a couple months, especially for thick books, but it does work, and photos are usually back to good in a week or so. No plastic, and I recommend flat fold, pop-up boxes of paper towel to rolls for ease of assembly.

Link with more details. http://theepicenter.com/tow05166.html

[Flaxbee]

18. thanks very much, politicat!

My sister grabbed what she could before the disaster response team came in (since it's an assisted living facility, there are teams like this in place or on retainer or whatever) and set everything outside in the garage so it could hopefully freeze... I don't know how careful she was (I'm certain no paper towels were used) but maybe in the coming days I can do some of that if it's not too late.

[GreenPartyVoter]

5. Oh my gosh! How awful! Glad she is ok. *hugs*

[Flaxbee]

9. thanks, GPV

She and her kitty are safely ensconced at my sister's... she's exhausted, but OK. Apparently most of the damage came from the firefighters who responded with vigor because there are so many elderly present. I'm glad they did, but for some reason they also ripped out the toilet in her bathroom. Lol.

Whatever, so long as everyone's safe.

[GreenPartyVoter]

16. They ripped out her toilet? LOL I can't even imagine what safety protocol that falls under.

Last edited Sat Dec 22, 2012, 12:27 PM - Edit history (1)

[Kali]

7. aw, that is terrible

so sorry, but glad they are OK

[Flaxbee]

10. Apparenlty it's a big ole' mess, but I really don't care so long as

she, her kitty, and everyone else there are fine!

[csziggy]

8. My heart skipped a beat - GLAD your Mom is OK!

And her cat!

I hope you can salvage what is important.

[Flaxbee]

11. She has some photos - it's always the photos, isn't it? For good reason

And probably some other things that hopefully can dry out. The bedding, furniture, etc... all replaceable.

Thanks, csziggy.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

12. (((Vibes)))

to your mom, her cat and her neighbors; it must be very stressful.

[Flaxbee]

19. thanks, Joe Shlabotnik

I appreciate it.

Stressful, but not as bad as it could have been. She had no 'renter's insurance' - she's one of those Romney-moochers who lives off Social Security and when the state's Health and Welfare is done with her assisted living and medical expenses every month, she has a whopping $90/month to spend lavishly. My sisters and I can help gradually, but we can't replace everything all at once ...

[irisblue]

14. ((vibes)) n/t

[Flaxbee]

20. thank you, irisblue

[Solly Mack]

15. That is very scary. I'm so glad everyone is OK. I'm glad for your Mom

and for your family.

[Flaxbee]

21. We are relieved, too -- I had to call all extended family last night

and it was much better to say "Everyone is OK, but there was a fire..." rather than "There was a fire..."

[LiberalEsto]

17. so sorry about the fire and mess

I hope things work out for everyone to have a good holiday.

[Flaxbee]

22. thanks, LiberalEsto...

It'll be good to be there -- help my sister, and comfort my mom, and get started on replacing a few things so she feels a bit more secure.

She has early Alzheimer's, and while she still pretty much has her mental shit together, stress does tend to fray her mind a bit more than normal.