What is it about a house fire that seems to bring out all the looky-loos.

It would be rather strange if everybody in the area just ignored the fire.

At the very least people are curious, and of course most of them would be concerned.

Johnnybelt no matter what the incident is everybody wants to see something happen its human nature I have spent countless hours at accident scenes helping out and whether you choose to believe it is up to the individual I have witnessed drivers pull right up to emergency personnel and ask them to move so they can take a picture.

I don’t like it but its actually not illegal to do that

yes unfortunately, a lot of people slow down to observe a motor vehicle accident even when the ambulance and police are there. Give the victim some privacy.

$200,000 in damages. seems like they managed to save the foundation.

I live in the neighbourhood. The flames went up initially and were visible from our second storey. Got pictures from the park of the smoke rising a few hundred feet. Remember, this is a neighbourhood where some people happen to know each other and that is basically the people who were there.

Interesting to see how the firefighters responded to one of the most common aspects of such a house fire – the fire in the concealed space of the attic.
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Damages …. I would say that the $200,000 is a low ball estimate. One might be able to save the ground floor walls and floor framing above if there is no charred wood. Plumbing, furnace, electrical on that floor my be salvageable if no extensive water damage. Second floor and roof, everything goes.

Then, we have to remember contents as well as temporary housing. There was a car in the garage from the looks of it. It may not have been damaged since it is protected against water as long as the windows were closed.

It is going to be $200,000+ by the time one looks at all those things. If they remodelled a kitchen or bathrooms in recent years with new appliances, it could easily be $250,000+

It would be interesting to see whether they had insurance and if they did whether they will be able to build on the existing foundation and remove the entire superstructure. I would cetainly want to do that if it were my house.

HeSpoke: “a lot of people slow down to observe a motor vehicle accident even when the ambulance and police are there. Give the victim some privacy.”

Agreed. Yes, unfortunately it is human nature. Just like people who rubberneck at car accident sites. It’s too bad that there has to be gawkers around when you’re experiencing such a horrible moment in your life.

also remember that onsight damage estimates given to the press by the fire department are just that – an estimate based on thier past experience. The actual insurance adjuster may not come out anywhere near this number, better or worse.

“an estimate based on thier past experience”

Do they actually have past experience? If they did, they would have to get reports of actual insurance payouts. I doubt that is public information. That ought to be priviledged information between the insurance company and the owner.

I mean, there is not just structural damage there. There are all the other costs associated with such a replacement situation.

I would think it is simply a very approximate figure. In other words, it is not a $50,000 repair job, nor a $500,000 repair job. Firemen are not trained to do estimates. Appraisers are trained to do that and even more so, quantity surveyors.

thats basically what I said Gus – the number the fire Chief gives to the media is at best a “guess”. No insurance company would ever say “cut him a cheque for whatever the fireman figured the damage was” ;)

Well, not really. I was qustioning what the experience was.

Has there been feedback to the fire department from past fires which identifies the actual costs of replacement so that they can be compared to the guesses and fine tuned over time.

Such an iterative process would be experience. Simply guessing without continuous feedback is not experience. Experience implies self correction…. not making the same mistake over and over.