When the Fire Is Out : Professional Designers, Cleanup Crews Can Go a Long Way in Easing Pain of Rebuilding What Flames Have Destroyed

It’s been more than a decade since Jane Deming smelled smoke and walked into her living room to investigate, but she still remembers the tiniest details.

Smoke was curling up from behind the couch. And when she poured a teapot of water on it, the fire sizzled. The draperies and pine paneling “went up like a match,” she said.

Within minutes, the flash fire had nearly consumed the small 1930s house in the Fullerton hills.

Deming was not harmed, but all that remained of the original structure when the firefighters left were the foundation, the roof, part of a wall, and the newer garage and a music studio that were added in the 1970s. The additions were testimony to the effectiveness of fire doors, which sealed them off and kept the flames from spreading.

Although the fire was out, the long process of restoration was just beginning.

Recovering from a house fire, even if no one is injured, can be traumatic, expensive and all-consuming.

“After the fire is out, (victims) are left with a dark, wet, smelly, depressing mess,” said Dorian Hunter, Deming’s friend and interior decorator.

It was Hunter who spent the night of the fire in Deming’s driveway in a borrowed camper with the lights trained on the burned-out house to discourage vandals. And it was Hunter who helped Deming put the pieces back together in the months and years that followed.

As Deming surveyed the wreckage the morning after her fire, she saw that the backs were burned off of all her books, that artwork and most of the antique furniture--family heirlooms--were destroyed and all her clothes were covered with soot.

Today, the 77-year-old music teacher’s house is a showplace with a sunken dining room and glass walls that capitalize on the hillside view. There is adobe brick in the entryway, Indian art on the walls and contemporary furniture in most rooms.

But it took two years and cost Deming thousands of dollars to rebuild and replace what her fire insurance didn’t cover. Rebuilding her home cost about $60,000, “and that’s a lot more than the insurance paid,” Deming said. Replacing furniture and other household items cost thousands more. She offers Lesson One in house fire preparedness: Make sure your fire policy pays to replace lost items at current costs. Deming’s policy covered items at a depreciated rate.

Even though new items have replaced the old and Deming is back in a home she loves, the fire, which was caused by faulty wiring, took treasured books, oil paintings, water colors and family photographs. And those are precious items Deming says she will always miss.

Deming isn’t alone.

In 1990--the most recent year for which the State Fire Marshal’s office has complete figures--there were 1,007 residential fires in Orange County.

Typically, staff at the fire departments call the Red Cross to help fire victims once the flames are out, said Aria Sabol of the Orange County Fire Department. Her department also is preparing a “Victim Recovery Handbook” that firefighters soon will be able to hand to fire victims. The book will provide information on loans, emergency housing, replacement food and clothing, and medical and psychological counseling.

For many, the services that Hunter provided Deming would go a long way toward easing the pain of recovery. An interior decorator tends to stay with a fire repair job from the start of the cleanup until long after the last contractor is gone.

“We work with the inside of the house, and that is where the people live. We also can put together the recovery team--the architect, landscape planners and other professionals” who are essential in a major rebuilding program, she said. And while a designer’s fee--typically about 10% of the cost of the work--isn’t covered by fire insurance, many people find that designer discounts on furnishings and other items can offset a big part of the professional fees, Hunter said.

Cleanup comes first.

With the loan of a neighbor’s telephone book and phone, fire victims can call someone like Dave Troxell before the last firefighter leaves the scene. His company, Nationwide Disaster Cleanup, works with Fire Services Specialists of Laguna Hills, dispatching work crews day or night. The initial charge is $125--the remainder of the bill depends on what cleanup is done.

He recently worked on a residential fire in Orange caused by faulty wiring in a hair dryer that was left plugged in. The dryer melted into a Formica countertop in the bathroom, and parts of the counter fell and melted the vinyl floor. Heat fused the wiring in the light fixture, and smoke spread throughout the 1,500-square-foot house.

When Troxell’s workers arrived, they boxed up all the owner’s books, paintings and decorative items to be cleaned at the company’s facility in Orange.

They cleaned windows, upholstery, window blinds and all the air-conditioning and heating vents, which were then sprayed with “soot set,” a mist that hardens soot so it doesn’t fly around.

They took down curtains, removed, washed and replaced all kitchen items and carted the family’s clothing out for dry-cleaning. Walls were chemically sponged to remove soot, drywall was repaired in the bathroom and adjacent bedroom, mattresses were treated, electrical and flooring repairs were made, the carpeting was cleaned and the whole house was repainted.

The cleanup bill for that small bathroom fire?

A total of $9,720.56, which the homeowner’s insurance paid, Troxell said.

In addition to the cleanup work, his company took photographs for the insurance adjuster and helped the owner list everything that was destroyed in the fire.

Insurance companies recommend policyholders videotape the contents of their homes and store the tape with a friend or in a safe deposit box, said Deborah Young of State Farm Insurance.

Deming said her experience with her fire insurance company taught her that inventory photographs of antique furniture should be taken in black and white because details show up better and because black and white film doesn’t fade like color film.

But Troxell said it is his experience that people not only don’t take pictures, they rarely keep even the basic written inventory of household items that insurance companies want for documentation. In fact, few people even know the terms of their insurance coverage, he said.

“They find out when there’s an emergency,” he said.

His advice is to purchase fire insurance with a replacement clause that pays for damaged items at current prices.

“Don’t get depreciation. At 10% a year, if something is five years old, that’s 50% of the replacement cost,” he said.

Renters should buy insurance, he said, and condominium dwellers should buy extra coverage because homeowner associations’ insurance usually has a $1,000 deductible. Any deductible over $200 is unreasonable, he believes.

While the first reaction to a fire is to mourn the losses, a house fire can be an opportunity to make a fresh start, said designer Hunter.

In Deming’s case, it was an opportunity to expand a very small house and incorporate extras that the owner always wanted--a guest room with a bath, a larger entry way and a feeling of openness and space.

Hunter, who also has worked with a Los Angeles sorority that had a major fire several years ago, believes it is important to incorporate items that survived the fire, unless the client just doesn’t want to be reminded of the past.

Deming’s cabin in Mammoth Lakes was the inspiration for the rebuilt Fullerton house, which now sports a high, open ceiling of bleached oak and an abundance of wood and other natural materials.

The house still contains several reminders of the past that survived the fire: a grand piano, an antique table and chairs, a three-compartment kitchen sink and Deming’s special fireplace, which helps heat the house through a series of vents. The fireplace has become a centerpiece of the rebuilt home, with a mantle and facing sculpted for her by American clay artist Dora De Larios.

The victim of a home blaze could be expected to shy away from fireplaces and anything else that could fan new flames, but not Deming. She said she wouldn’t part with the fireplace, “but you’ll notice that I don’t have any draperies in my house.”

When Home Fires Burn

Fire broke out in Orange County homes almost three times a day in 1990. The year’s 1,007 residential blazes racked up an average of $13,500 in damages, claimed six lives and injured 91 people. RESIDENTIAL FIRES IN ORANGE COUNTY DURING 1990

Origin * Damage (thousands) Injuries/Deaths Number Structural Contents Firefighters Residents Kitchen 318 $ 823.5 $ 250.2 2/0 19/1 Garage 142 1,699.9 605.0 9/0 4/0 Roof 120 1,741.9 523.4 4/0 2/0 Bedroom 110 1,690.3 751.9 5/0 15/1 Family Room 74 1,166.9 379.1 1/0 17/3 Laundry 40 120.6 31.5 Ceiling 33 648.6 212.4 1/0 Bathroom 21 38.3 10.9 2/0 Water heater 19 13.0 2.4 1/0 Exterior Wall 16 146.8 28.4 1/0 1/0 Hall 15 309.1 181.6 0/1 Chimney 13 97.9 37.6 1/0 Closet 10 121.9 10.6 1/0 Other 76 1,477.0 518.7 2/0 4/0 TOTALS 1,007 10,095.7 3,543.7 26/0 66/6

* As reported by individual fire departments. Not all fire reports include a dollar loss.

MAJOR CAUSES OF O.C. RESIDENTIAL FIRES IN 1990

Cause Number % of Total * Unattended appliances or other heat sources 134 13.3 Electrical short circuits and failures 118 11.7 Parts failures, leaks 74 7.3 Combustible material too close to heat source 71 7.1 Cigarettes/cigars 64 6.4 Improperly maintained appliances, equipment 55 5.5 Misused heaters 45 4.5 Arson 24 2.4 Improperly stored combustibles 14 1.4 Suspicious nature/arson not proven 11 1.1 Construction deficiency 11 1.1 Children playing with matches 10 1.0 Miscellaneous 376 37.3

*Does not add up to 100% due to rounding

Source: State Fire Marshal

What Causes Damage

Flames are not the only destructive element when fires rage.

Item Flame/Heat Smoke Water Appliances * * Beams * Bedding * * * Carpets * * * Ceilings * * * Clothing * * * Draperies * * * Drywall or plaster * * * Furniture * * * Hardwood floors * * Insulation * * Joists and beams (ceiling and floor) * Linens * * * Light fixtures * * Paint * * * Plumbing * Rafters * Roof sheathing and shingles * Studs (wall) * Vinyl flooring * * Wall coverings * * * Windows * * Wiring * Wooden subflooring * *

Sources: National Fire Prevention Assn., National Fire Sprinkler Assn., State Fire Marshal.