The Story of the Fire of September 13, 2000

The Good, Bad and Ugly for Lynda and Tom Armbruster

At the same time as our fire, there was a huge wildfire in South Orange County and another house fire about 2 miles away so the fire department branch that would ordinarily have been dispatched had been sent another fire, as were the 2nd and 3rd stations on the list. The "4th priority" Orange fire department arrived as quickly as they could, getting there about 4 minutes after they were called. Although the flames didn't start until a minute or so after Lynda called 911, the house was already engulfed in flames by the time they arrived and there was little they could do other than try to keep it from spreading throughout the neighborhood. As it was, one neighbor's house did catch fire but that was quickly put out, thank goodness.

Many people have asked questions about our fire in such a way that reveals they believe that there is time to get belongings out of a house when it is burning. Please believe us when we tell you that is definitely a myth!! If your house ever catches fire, forget the pictures and grandma's quilt, just get out! We have discovered that it only takes 2 to 4 minutes for any house (not just Eichlers) to become lethally filled with smoke and flames. Usually the best thing to do is get everybody out as quickly as you can and don't worry about material things. The time to be concerned about your things is before the fire when you make sure you have smoke alarms in EVERY room, fire sprinklers are even better, fireproof safes for valuable papers and negatives of your photos, as well as good fire insurance, etc. But if you ever experience this, just remember that we are living proof it is possible to go on and still have a happy life even when all the family memorabilia, heirlooms, pictures, plants, pets, computers and other so-called "important" things are destroyed.

The Good

Our insurance carrier, State Farm, has been extremely helpful and our agent, Rich Stevens, showed up immediately, writing checks on the spot to help us out with our immediate needs, arriving almost as quickly as the fire trucks. The Red Cross also showed up before the flames were even extinguished to offer assistance if we needed it. We were fortunate to have good insurance and didn't need their help but are extremely grateful for their presence and their representative provided extremely valuable advice for us.

The Orange Fire Department did their very best in a bad situation and kept things from getting much worse. It's scary to realize how fast the fire could have swept through the neighborhood....thank goodness someone was home to take immediate action and call 911 right away! Our friend and local realtor Stephanie Raffel rented us a lovely Eichler house she owns and which "just happens" to be very similar to the one we lost. So in spite of initial appearances, we feel that we have been very lucky in what could have been a much worse disaster.

The Bad

The Ugly

We also learned that contractors and other companies frequently raise their prices to an obscene profit level (two to five or ten times what they would normally charge) once they think an insurance company is paying for it. The 'catch' is that we ALL pay for those inflated through our insurance premiums and once insurance policy limits are reached, it comes out of the individual's pocket!! Thank goodness State Farm (and information from the State Contractor's License Board) helped us "put the brakes" on charges from the contractor that did the demolition or there might not have been enough money "left over" to actually rebuild our house!

We were also amazed at the insensitivity of some people whose curiousity drive seemed to override all common sense and decency. For instance, less than 5 minutes after the fire department left, having warned us not to go inside the structure because it was unsafe, and while we were distracted by the dozens of people who wanted to talk with us about what happened, a woman who was a complete stranger to us actually CROSSED yellow tape that clearly stated "CAUTION! DO NOT CROSS!" and entered the still-smouldering house to "look around." She indignantly replied "I just wanted to see what it looked like!" when confronted with her very foolish actions.

We were also horrified to realize that people whom we assume would never have entered our house when we were living there apparently felt that because there had been a fire, their desire to satisfy their curiousity was more important than our right of privacy or property ownership. We will probably never know how many people moved the temporary fencing to go in our yard, walk around our burned house, dig through what little was left of our belongings and in some cases even help themselves to what was there (ie, LOOTING!!). The "theft" of our right to privacy and our realization of how insensitive and intrusive some people become when something terrible happens was definitely the most 'ugly' part of the fire. We only mention these things to help prepare anyone else for what "might" occur should tragedy strike their family.

Happy Endings

• Pictures of our house immediately after the fire
• Demolition pictures one month later
• Hooray, construction FINALLY started 9 months after the fire!!
  • The first month - Cleanup and Preparation
  • The second month - A house begins to appear!
  • The third month - Details added: Electrical, plumbing & HVAC
  • The fourth month - Exterior paneling, insulation, roofing and garage doors
  • The fifth month - Drywall, fireplace, kitchen cabinets
  • The sixth month - Appliances, countertops, tile and more...busy month!
  • The seventh month - Finished hardscape and floor tile, still working on paint

  Keep checking back to see the progress on our construction project. We post updates as they occur.