Disaster Recovery News

 An apartment fire at the Silver Spring Apartments in Columbus, Ohio this weekend took the lives of five people: a mother and her children. 

When firefighters arrived on the scene of the disaster and entered the building in an attempt to rescue the victims, they had to turn back because of the amount of smoke and the instability of the structure. Twenty-one fire trucks were on scene to assist with the rescue efforts. However, when the firefighters attempted to put out the blazes with water, the water ended up freezing, thus hindering their efforts.

More on this story.

Experts believe the Christmas tree in the living room of the home was the cause of the fire, which took 90 minutes to extinguish.

Please take every precaution this holiday season with all of your fabulous décor to make sure your home is safe. Five minutes of taking care in favor of safety can prevent much unneeded heartache we all hear about too often.

Learn more about protecting your home during the holidays. After a fire, life can seem overwhelming. Fortunately, there are services that can help restore your personal items and your home or business quickly and cost effectively. Learn about the simple steps one can take to being the recovery process.

A 3-alarm fire broke out on Thursday evening in the coastal town of Astoria, OR. The blazes ultimately destroyed five businesses and killed one person who may have been living in one of the buildings.

Firefighters guess the fire began in a floral shop that had not been open in about a year and then spread to a Bank of America, two restaurants, and another local business. The cause of the fire is being investigated.

Read an Astoria blogger’s report of this event.

What many may not know is that there are services that can help these businesses recover after this disaster, even the bank, this is called business continuity. These disaster recovery services can help one develop a business recovery plan; restore business documents that were damaged in a fire by smoke or water; and help rebuild after a disaster.

Read more about disaster recovery services.

Photos by Tara Constantine with Astoria Fire and Rescue

A fire this weekend destroyed the historic Sanger Avenue Elementary School in Waco, Texas. Chron.com reports that this incident is under investigation as the cause of the fires in the 104-year-old school is unknown.

Two other fires had also broken out at a nearby hotel and restaurant the same night the blaze tortured the school. It is not known if the fires are related or not. Fortunately, no one was injured in these events.

The historic school, built in 1904, had been mostly unused since the 1980’s. Nonetheless, the town is mourning the loss of the familiar building that had been designed by architect, Milton Scott. There were talks around town about how to put the building, which was being renovated and improved, to good use. Now talks will be about restoration.

More on the fires.

Learn more about the restoration process for your home or business.

The U.S. Forrest Service conducted case studies on residents who live in the area of the San Bernardino National Forest. This forest is infamous for its wildfires that often cause about 70% of nearby residents to evacuate their homes.

In a focus group conducted in 2007, 94% of residents reported to have taken measures to defend their homes against fires, including changing the landscaping of homes. However, residents mention barriers that hinder precautionary measures include lack of finances, physical limitations, and not wanting to change the landscaping around their homes.

Also discussed were the preferred methods residents wished to receive information about fire prevention and warnings and the preferred agencies that gave such information.

Click here to read the full story from Science Daily.

Click on the following to learn more about prevention and recovery from fires:

• Preparing for fire damage

• Protecting your home from wildfires

• A service that help you or your business recover from fire and water damage