Monday after arriving home from work around 3:30, Dante said that he needed to get an order ready and run it to the post office. I told him to go ahead and I would start dinner. Cal also declined to ride along.
I started dinner and few moments later Dante appeared with a good-bye kiss and he was on his way.
The next sound I hear is the front door crashing open and Dante bursting through. I came out of the kitchen and asked him what was going on, I had no clue. He didn't answer me the first few times that I asked, because he was concentrating on calling 911. Finally he screamed that the car was on fire. I looked out and saw smoke coming from the hood of the car. It didn't look bad and it certainly didn't look on fire. I did notice a little fire underneath and assumed that is what he was talking about. I grabbed the pot of water that I had on the stove and threw it under the car. That was when I noticed the entire engine compartment was red with flames. Yep that pot of boiling water was like spitting on the fire.
Within minutes the entire engine was engulfed in flames. Both Cal and I had already changed into our PJ's for the day so I yelled to Cal to get changed and then we would need to get out because the car was parked very close to the house. By the time we changed and got back down stairs the fire was large enough that exiting through the front door was not possible.
We ran to the back door as Dante starting banging on the window for us to get out of the house - just in case. The Christmas tree blocked the back door so I grabbed it by the middle and laid it on the floor and Cal and I exited just as the police arrived.
The police officer started banging on the doors of our neighbors and made them leave their units. I guess Dante and I should have done that before but by that point no one was really in danger the cop was just being cautious.
The fire department arrived a few moments later and put the fire out. The car is obviously totaled and now the fight with the insurance begins. As I type this the car is still sitting in front of our unit, stinking to high heaven. I called the insurance company yesterday and told them that it needed to be gone by time I got home from work because the smell was making me nauseous and giving me a headache. I don't think they really gave a hoot.
Dante mentioned that they called back and said "maybe" Friday. I love being at the mercy of these people. They have no trouble collecting my premiums each month, but when I need them they suddenly have trouble with the simplest requests. If this fire had been in front of a store would they have left the car that for five days, I doubt it. I have had insurance with this company for almost my entire adult life with only one small claim over ten years ago.
Now we wait to see how little they will give us for the van. I am just praying it is enough to actually get a replacement but I worry that they will low-ball us and we will be up a creek.
I will update you when this is all over and let you know just how "on my side" the insurance company is being.
0 comments:
Post a Comment