Our new year has been very eventful. After a wonderful, happy Christmas, we settled in for the new year and then everything went to pieces. It's been a dramatic start, to put it mildly. I'm not even really sure where to start, so I'll just jump right in...
Our new house came with a very large detached timber shed in the back yard, which we stored a lot of our belongings in. Mostly items we couldn't move into the house yet as the landlords have been painting and decorating around us. In the early hours of last Tuesday morning, that shed went up in flames.
It's not something that really had any publicity - it got a very short local article as "shed burns down", which made it sound like a small garden shed. We haven't made a huge deal of it either so, apart from a couple of nosy people driving slowly down the street to try and see where the fire happened, we've been left alone by everyone. Which is lovely, actually. That in itself has been an eye opener for the kids in the importance of keeping a distance after something like this happens to someone. Not family or friends, obviously, of course we love seeing them and having support. But it's a stressful time and the last thing anyone needs is random strangers or media just wanting the gory details of what happened.
As for the obvious question - how did it start? Well, heartbreakingly, our older kids spent a couple of days blaming themselves. They had a hangout area behind the shed and they were worried they'd accidentally left a mosquito coil burning, which may have ignited something that spread to the building. They were honest about it with the fire investigators and police, and were assured they weren't in any trouble, but they were naturally distressed to think they may have been responsible.
However, the landlord's insurance assessor and the fire investigators have since said that they believe it more likely started IN the shed; an electrical fault maybe? Looking more closely at the burnt out shell, I can see why they've drawn that conclusion ... the area of the shed closest to where the kids hung out doesn't have as much damage as other areas do. That, at least, is reassuring - it's been distressing to see how the kids' mental health is affected when they blame themselves for something like this.
So, on the practical side of things, the landlords shouldn't have any trouble with their insurance and we have contents insurance, so we are following up with ours too. We had around half of all we our belongings in that shed - not just tools and garden equipment, but so many things just not needed in the house yet. Boxes of craft items, some linen and clothing, books, camping and fishing gear, sports equipment, cooking gear and electrical appliances, dart boards, pool table, paintings, etc.
Of course, the worst things to have lost - which insurance really can't help with - are the sentimental things. Hundreds of photos and albums, our wedding memorabilia, family history records, sports trophies, items that belonged to the Caveman's Dad and my Mum before they passed away. Absolutely priceless treasures, to us.
Obviously the most important thing is that we're all physically okay and it didn't spread to the house. We're traumatised, certainly. It was the most surreal thing to stand there and watch the shed burn; we all felt absolute dread. We won't easily forget being woken by the neighbours banging on the door to tell us there was a fire. We will be forever grateful to the firefighters, who stopped it spreading to the house (or anywhere else!). We are totally in awe of what those guys do, they are worth their weight in gold. Our landlords have been great too.
I am currently on leave from work - not because of the fire; this break was already planned. However, I'd had intentions of sorting more of our belongings into the house, visiting family, relaxing and having fun. Now I'm just feeling a bit lost. There is nothing left anymore for me to bring in from the shed. I've caught up with only a couple of family members, as I don't really feel like being particularly sociable. I also don't know if the Caveman and I can leave the house for long while we're still dealing with insurance assessors and unsure of when someone will come to demolish what is left of the shed. We're all tired, stressed out and sick of looking at (and smelling) the charred remains of so much of our stuff.
Right now we're holding each other close, getting through it with humour and treasuring every sentimental thing we come across. It's been somewhat of a relief to discover a number of precious items I didn't realise I had already moved into the house.
It is in my nature to look for the silver linings. Admittedly, that's not always easy when we've lost so much, but we are also aware that it all could have been much worse. The house is fine and no one was injured.
We know we will be okay ... it just might take a while to recover from this.
