With fire season winding down in Northern California, it is just starting in Southern California. However, there is always a potential fire season in your own home, from your appliances.
New clients of ours purchased a house about 6 months ago. They moved in, repainted, and really made their new house into their home. A few weeks later, there was a fire in their home. The fire started in a refrigerator in their garage, that somehow shorted out or had a loose wire and caught fire. Smoke and soot spread throughout their entire home through the air vents. Fortunately, the local fire department was there to put out the fire before it spread into the living area of the home. Thank you First Responders!
Our home owners were now left trying to figure out what to do next. Their Realtor called me for help and guidance and I was on the phone with our clients a few minutes later. With the help from a local remediation company, their garage was boarded up that afternoon and I called their insurance company to file the claim on our clients' behalf.
Fortunately, our clients are ok and they are beginning the process of putting their home back together. It will take several months for their home to be completed and insurance is helping them every step of the way.
Because the fire started in their garage from an older refrigerator, it is making me wonder, when is the last time you had your old refrigerator serviced? Have you looked behind it recently for dust bunnies? Have you pulled it away from the wall and cleaned up the vent behind and around it? This weekend, when you have an extra 30 minutes, please take the time to grab your vacuum, pull your refrigerator out, do a little maintenance check/cleaning. And when you have more time, make a quick call to a service tech to make sure you do not have any loose wires and it is operating the way it is supposed to.
