The Ultimate Smokehouse Creek Fire Checklist
To best position yourself to obtain the maximum compensation for your Texas panhandle wildfire damages, take the following actions (and don’t take others):
- Hire the right attorney team. This is the most important task on your to do list. If you don’t get this right, getting the other nine things on this checklist right won’t matter. We are the right lawyers for the job. Check us out here.
- Don’t return to your home until the authorities say it’s safe. Take the necessary steps to protect yourself and your family. Once it’s safe to return, collect important documents, personal items, medications, and other essential items you’ll need in the short term. Reduce your exposure to wildfire smoke, which can linger in the air for days after the fire is out. Extended exposure to wildfire smoke can seriously harm children, pregnant women, and people with asthma, COPD, and heart disease. Limit your time at the burn site.
- Secure your property. Pending cleanup and repairs, you don’t want someone wandering onto your property and getting hurt. And you also don’t want break-ins and looting. So, move to secure your property as soon as it is safe to return by cutting the utilities (electric, gas, and water), boarding up windows and doors to prevent further damage, and covering larger openings with tarps.
- Call your insurance agent and report your claim. Most insurance companies require their policyholders to promptly notify them about a fire loss, so that company representatives may inspect the fire-damaged property. That said, contact your insurance agent as soon as possible after the fire. If you don’t have a copy of your policy, ask your agent for one. You’re entitled to it. Not only is it important that you understand what’s covered, what’s not covered, and the coverage amounts, the “Conditions” section of the policy most likely contains a list of specific actions you must take in the event of a fire. Make sure you follow the list precisely as your insurance coverage could hang in the balance. Be careful when talking to insurance company representatives. Finally, and most importantly, don’t sign any agreement with any insurance company about anything before your lawyer has reviewed and approved it.
- Wildfire ashes can be toxic. Ashes consist of charred wood, unburned fuel, and minerals. If structures constructed with pressure-treated lumber were burned, the ashes could very well be toxic because of the chemicals used to treat the wood. Ashes also can contain heavy metals, carcinogens, such as arsenic and lead, and other toxins that could harm you if ingested. Protect yourself against ash exposure when cleaning up after a wildfire. Wear protective clothing, such as a floppy hat, long sleeves, leather gloves, long pants, wool socks, and leather boots to protect your skin. Wear goggles to protect your eyes. Restrict how much ash you inhale by wearing an N95 respirator mask that fits tightly to your face. Because heavy duty respirators are not made to fit children, children should not perform wildfire cleanup work.
- Wildfires also contaminate private wells. Make sure to test your wells for contamination before using them again for drinking water, watering livestock, and/or other agricultural purposes.
- Document your fire losses. There are many types of injuries, damages, and losses you may have suffered due to the Texas panhandle wildfires. Property damages, logically, is the largest category—damaged or destroyed homes, furniture and fixtures, clothing and personal items, landscaping, barns, vehicles, livestock, pets, fencing, windmills and water systems, timber, grasslands, and other structures and infrastructure. Evacuation and temporary living expenses incurred because you could not stay in your home (e.g., hotels, meals, and travel expenses) are also recoverable. Businesses may recover lost profits in addition to their property damages. You and your family also may have suffered personal injuries, including substantial medical expenses, or even a wrongful death, because of the fire, smoke, and/or ash. To maximize your recovery, you must document your damages. Take detailed pictures (or better yet, video) of the buildings, contents, vehicles, livestock, fencing, and other structures damaged or destroyed by the fire. Gather your paperwork—insurance policies, appraisals, invoices, receipts, paid checks, credit card statements, mortgage statements, tax returns, business books and records, and anything else that could be used to document your losses. If you lost critical documents in the fire, remember that copies of many of your important documents are probably stored in various online accounts.
- Stay away from social media. Don’t post anything on social media about the fire, your damages, or your personal injuries if you suffered any. Anything you post can be used against you in litigation or by your insurance company to pay you less than you deserve for your claims. And don’t discuss your losses, damages, or injuries with your family, friends and/or strangers. No one needs to know your business other than you and your lawyer.
- Write a detailed catch-up narrative. As soon as possible after the fire, find a quiet place and write a detailed narrative of what you have experienced so far, including, for example: (i) a description of your injuries, damages, and losses, including lost profits from the interruption of your business, (ii) a list of everything that was lost in the fire or removed for cleaning or disposal, (iii) diagrams of your property and losses, (iv) notes of your conversations with representatives of your insurance company and restoration contractors, (v) names and contact information of potential witnesses, and (vi) other key relevant information. Be mindful of visitors to your property—whether invited or uninvited. Take pictures of their vehicles and license plates. Ask hard questions and take notes of the conversations. Don’t allow anyone—especially a utility company employee—to move, destroy, or change anything at the scene. Critical evidence should not disappear without further investigation.
- Keep a daily journal. Once you have written your catch-up narrative, keep a daily journal about your injuries, damages, and losses, and how they have affected you, your family, your business, and your everyday life. Continue to take notes of conversations with your insurance company and restoration contractor. It will help you to remember follow-up items and resolve any misunderstandings. You may want to keep your catch-up narrative and daily journal in a three-ring binder with your receipts and other key relevant documents.
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If you have suffered damages, losses, and/or personal injuries resulting from the Smokehouse Creek Fire, Windy Deuce Fire, Grape Vine Creek Fire, Magenta Fire, 687 Reamer Fire, Juliet Pass Fire, North CIG Fire, or any other Texas panhandle wildfire, we stand ready to help you and your family. Please contact us for a free case evaluation. If we take your case, we will represent you on a full contingency basis, advancing all litigation expenses and court costs on your behalf. There will not be any out-of-pocket cost to you. We don’t get paid unless you get paid.
