Always worrying the apartments might go on fire

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I live in an apartment with my boyfriend, and I often find myself worrying about the building going on fire. I'm not so worried about our lives, because we have a sensitive smoke detector and we are on the bottom floor so there is plenty of chances to escape easily. No, I worry more about losing my valuable possessions that cannot be replaced. Also, to me, the thought of objects burning feels just as traumatic as the thought of people or animals burning.

The apartment building we live in is poorly maintained by the landlords, and I'm surprised the place is still standing. And the neighbours come and go, some are students and so they stay for about a year or a few months then move out again. So having different neighbours coming and going also unsettles me, as it only takes one careless person to leave a candle burning or leave a stove on or leave a magnifying glass by a window or not put a cigarette out properly, and the whole place will burn down. Fires are horrible, evil things, portals to hell, that spread quickly and destroy everything, even if you survive a fire it still changes your life. Heck, I'd rather die in a fire than to lose all of my precious possessions.

What can I do to put my mind at ease? Do all fires spread quickly? I do live in fear about this, especially when I see on the news or in a magazine about fires in homes.

Maybe keep numerous fire extinguishers throughout your apartment and practice using them. A fire would only need a few mins to get completely out of control.

Are you worried about all your stuff or just some specific important things? If these important things are some small ones that don't weight a lot, could you keep them in specific boxes when they aren't in use, boxes that you could easily chuck out of the window if needed? If all of them aren't stuff like that, then maybe at least some?

You could also put flyers in your neighbours' mail boxes (if it's allowed) that educate them about the dangers of fires.

What about moving? Would it be possible for you?

That works if the fire breaks out at her place, but if at someone elses then it's no good. If the people living in the apartment where the fire starts don't notice it in time, it is very likely that the fire will get out of control.

I like fireblossoms suggestion of a box for the most sentimental or irreplaceable items. I lost almost everything a few years ago, but it was the sentimental items that meant the most to me, those I got to keep, the rest were truly replaceable.

I am concerned for you Joe, you seem to have a lot more worries in the last year or so. Whatever is going on, I'm wishing you well.

Make sure you keep all flammable materials separate from things which can be set on fire.

I was a Red Cross disaster responder for several years (floods, hurricanes, building collapses, fires etc). One of my main jobs was to survey fire damage and assist ppl with relocation
1. Have at least a coupe small ABC extinguishers in the apt, one near the stove
2. Buy a small fire box and put it in a closet or cabinet; in it put credit cards, birth certificate, passport, license, med scripts, and money and anything that may be valuable to you. Choose carefully: most of your possessions are not as precious as you think
3. Buy renters insurance that covers temporary hotel accommodation (mine covers up to 12 months)
4. If you have time, grab as much ID from the box as you can or even the box itself if small enough. If you don't have time trust the box will protect your stuff from the fire and from the water damage that will occur.
5. Have a contingency plan for your animals if you have any, i.e. carriers to put them in and emergency food set aside

the obvious: keep your apartment uncluttered, do not smoke inside, monitor candles and do not let them burn while you sleep, do not leave your stove top burners on, have a smoke detector, do not use hot bulbs near flammable objects

Yes, fires spread fast without timely fire dept response. Some types of fires - like electrical- can spread super fast in the walls and cause incredible damage to multiple units. FD response can also cause significant damage such as busting out windows, thru a roof, and excessive water. FDNY at least is remarkable at confining their activities to
the main fire; I've seen one room utterly destroyed in an apt and the rest perfectly intact, enabling the tenant to use the other rooms until repairs are made.

Edit: enclose documents in zip lock type plastic bags before putting them in the box; this ensures that if water does get in the box those docs won't be damaged

Last edited by red_doghubb on 22 Sep 2019, 10:10 am, edited 2 times in total.

Yep. A metallic sort of box with a built-in lock is excellent for valuable papers like passports, leases, birth certificates, things like that.

boxes solely of metal can burn or melt at high temps
one should look at the UL fireproof rating; unfortunately really high rated ones are big and/or really expensive

I guess I should have specified a “safe” sort of box.

Like maybe one with material similar to that of airplane “black boxes.”

When it comes to important documents that you don't need daily, you could also rent a safe from a bank that stays there and keep the documents in it.

Sounds like you should move to a better building. Maybe you could keep valuable things at family or friends place until you move.

Remember to have renter's insurance. I don't know if you have that in the UK.

She talks about things that can't be replaced, so I think her main concern is about losing something with too much emotional value. No insurance can cover that.

Plus I can't afford to take out insurance, as I don't earn much.
But I am the type of person that prefers possessions over memories, and I get attached to things pretty easily. I have lots of things that aren't replaceable, and my tattered teddy bear is one of them. He is special to me and has always been there for me, and even with 1 eye, a nose ripped, unravelled mouth, lots of stitching where he's had holes sewn up, and hardly no fur left on his body, he is full of love to me and he must sleep next to me in bed. If I go to stay somewhere, even just for 1 night, I still have to take my teddy bear with me to keep him safe. I don't think anything else can get as valuable as my teddy bear. He's like a family member to me.

I was thinking of purchasing a safe box, to put my documents and photos in and even my teddy bear so that I don't have to take him with me whenever I sleep over someone else's house or go on vacation, but those things are rather expensive. I think they protect things from any kind of damage.

I don't think moving is as easy as it sounds. Where we live is pretty convenient, as it's right near the local supermarket and is in walking distance from where I work, as I don't drive and there isn't a bus service to my work. My boyfriend drives but he uses his car to get to and from work. There are some apartments near where I work but they are very expensive. We aren't the richest of people.

Here in expensive NYC I pay $170 for one yr, (about 136 pounds) which is pretty inexpensive. This buys protection for all items in the apt, insurance for a guest injury, and hotel for up to 12 mos. It's really worth looking into.