Every morning and every night we are seeing more major fires in out tri-state area on the news. The latest one in Edgewater, NJ at the Luxury Avalon Apartment complex was colossal. It started around 4:30pm Wednesday afternoon and over 1,000 residents had to flee with nothing but the clothes on their backs. It started out as a small electrical fire, in fact the first responders told the tenants to go get a cup of coffee or a slice of pizza, and it’ll be under control in a short time.
Well, it got worse until it engulfed over 200 apartments and turned into an inferno. Residents were displaced and lost everything, clothes, wallets, drivers licenses, important documents, EVERYTHING! This was not caused by negligence or started on purpose, in fact authorities said everything was up to code, the units were equipped with fire alarms, sprinkler systems and emergency exits.
The thing is fire code in many states permit light weight wooden structures, including wooden trusses but this fueled the flames and made fighting the fire difficult. As flames moved quickly through the 240-unit structure, firemen made three rescues and no one was injured or missing. The building complied with construction and fire codes, Fire Chief Thomas Jacobson said, but he added: “If it was made out of cinder block and concrete, with concrete fire barriers, we wouldn’t have this problem.”
I was watching the NBC evening news and Lynda Baquero (Better Get Baquero) had a great segment related to the fire. It was all about renters insurance and the importance of renters having it. Ninety percent of homeowners have home owners insurance but only thirty seven percent of condo/apartment renters purchase insurance. She also had a spokeswoman on from the Insurance Information Institute who explained, in addition to having renters insurance, you also need to perform an inventory, whether you bring in an experienced third party company like Fairfield Home Inventory or do it yourself, the important thing is to get an inventory of your personal possessions.
Remember, everything you treasure, you’re most valuable possessions – furniture, electronics, photo albums, art, collectables, mementos from your parents, grandparents and family are in this dwelling that can be destroyed and turned into ashes in a flash. Renter’s insurance is not expensive but not having it can be an expensive mistake.