She’s done it again! Tonya D Floyd has published her 10th book, and it’s available for you to order right now, before it hits the mainstream. Order your print copies here. Or click here to purchase a digital download.
But this one is different. No fictional stories, no poems, no jokes; just the real-life experience of the author going about her regular Thursday morning activities, and every awful thing that followed.
There are so many sites and manuals and checklists and preparatory publications that tell you how to avoid or prevent an event like fire, but Lessons I Learned From the Fire–A Cautionary Tale is a compilation of hard lessons that came AFTER a house fire that seemingly came out of nowhere and remains a mystery today. Learn what you can do if this happens to you, who to contact afterward, how to find the pros you’ll need to restore your home, what NOT to do, and much, much more.
It’s a master class, wrapped in a true story. Every homeowner and decision-maker should have a copy handy and pray you never need to follow the guidance within. In all likelihood, you probably will need it at some point. If not fire, a tornado or hurricane or flood could displace your family just as easily. And then there’s the other stuff I hope you’ll never need to know or use. Get your copy now. Read it and keep it with the important papers and the policies.
Excerpt
Lesson 1: Learn from my enormous mistake and do your research on any company BEFORE you sign on the dotted line for anything, ever. Search them up in multiple databases. Read reviews. Consider their years in business. Get a feel for the players/owners/representatives in person to see if any red flags pop up during the interaction. Do not ignore those if they do pop up.
Trust your instincts. Ask pointed questions. That said, some folks are slicker than grease, and really good at selling snake oil. Don’t blame yourself if they get over on you; you’re just a decent person who needed a service performed, and you fell into a trap you never saw coming, because you expect professionals to have integrity. They’ve probably been doing this for a while though. If you catch it in time, there may be legal recourse or consumer protections available to you.
It’s no excuse, and I know better now, but I was operating on trust when I chose to do business with this entity. I was completely out of my element, they came to me as a referral, and I was a decent, honest, hard-working homeowner who had just experienced a traumatic event. I wanted to get back into my home as soon as possible, and I trusted the professionals I hired to do a job they appeared to be more than capable of doing. It never occurred to me what was about to happen.
Lesson 2: Be prepared; anything can happen. Walk around your home and take random pics of things, generally noting where things are and capturing what you own. If you collect receipts like me, that helps too. If you ever have a disaster, fire, etc, you’ll need to file a claim for your personal belongings, in great detail. The description will likely need to include each item’s age, price, brand.
Familiarize yourself with your homeowner’s insurance policy. General sections of coverage are Dwelling, Other Structures, Loss of Use, Personal Property, and you may have additional coverages. I’m not sure how it looks for renters, but same advice. Know what your coverage limits are and what each section entails. Adjust your policy and coverages as necessary.
It was just a regular Thursday
morning….
See, I was minding my business at home one Thursday morning, around 7:30am. It was just my youngest son, our dog, and me. My son was getting dressed for school. At the moment, he was in my shower—because he had a tendency to move slowly and I needed to keep him on track so he didn’t miss the school bus. I heard a funny “poof” sound coming from his bedroom beneath me. When I went to investigate, I stopped at the doorway, in shock? Disbelief? Amazement? I don’t know exactly what the feeling was, but I had to move quickly to put out the little fire emanating from his nightstand, which was situated next to his bed.
So many thoughts, so many feelings, but no time. I ran to the hall closet where we kept the fire extinguisher, grabbed it, pulled the pin, aimed it at the base of the flame, and squeezed it. Nothing. What?! I went to the kitchen looking for something. Water? No, it’s electrical. I went back to look at the flame like it would tell me what to use. By now, the little flame that was dancing where the branded motorcycle lamp that made the cool engine sounds used to sit was a much wider, much taller flame, and I knew there was only one thing to do. I ran upstairs, where my son was standing in a towel by now, and I barked some orders at him: “Put on these clothes RIGHT NOW, grab your shoes and run down to the car!”
This could be you. Read about the entire ordeal and get useful, practical tips about how to navigate the process the proper way. Lessons I Learned From the Fire–A Cautionary Tale. On sale now.