The Great Fire of '07

Well, it's been a long few days, as you might imagine. Here are some photos of the house immediately after the fire. (We're told that one of the first policemen to reach the scene got some pictures of the house in flames, but we haven't seen these yet. We'll post them if we get them.) My folks are holding up well, all things considered. They spent most of the day yesterday with the insurance adjuster making a detailed inventory of the contents of each room in the house, and they're going to get replacement cost for most of their stuff. Sarah took notes on the meeting and helped them get organized. I spent the morning running errands for essentials--things like prescriptions, insulin, and organizational materials. My brother-in-law, Adam, and I spent the afternoon sorting through the rubble of the house for any recoverables. Amazingly, we found most of the Christmas and Easter decorations wholly intact in plastic containers under the staircase. We found piles of pictures, mostly burned/soaked, in the remains of my mom's room. Some will be saved, but most were ruined. We also got the contents of two filing cabinets, filled with important documents like birth certificates, military records, and owner's manuals (these are important for establishing ownership for insurance purposes). Today will involve more of the same--my folks working on stuff with the insurance company, and the rest of use getting things out of the house and helping them get organized. For now, my parents are staying at my mother's mom's house in Mahtomedi. The insurance company will pay for them to rent an apartment or hotel room for up to a year, however, while they rebuild or look for a new place, so they should be able to move into their own digs soon.
Here is a frontal view of the house, the least damaged side. No roof, however.

Here is one of the firemen putting out a hot spot.

Here's my dad (khaki pants, grey shirt) taking it all in.

The fire most likely started in the back. Not much left back here.

This was the living room.

This was my mom's bedroom.

This was the kitchen.

This was . . . well . . . I'm not sure.

Thanks again to everyone for your help, thoughts, and prayers. We'll keep you posted with updates as we get them.