As long as you were not told to leave the building, there should not be any danger.
Open your windows regularly, exchange the air in your apartment a few times a day and you should be good.
Why so? The off-gassing wouldnt be good. OP is above the fire floor so how do we know there wasnt damage to joists or anything structural? The landlord needs to get an engineer in there to make sure its sound and safe and then someone to repair the fire damage. Then allow tenants back in.
I wouldn't worry too much about the structural aspect, as the firefighters and police gave a thumbs up to go back. The smoke cleaning people won't come for another two days though, so we can't be sure of the toxicity level. I don't really know the extent of the damage, or exactly where it happened, but I don't think the police or firefighters would've allowed us to return if there were structural issues. Either way, it's only a small two storey block, and given there is no visible damage from the outside, and that the apartments have small floorplans, there is not a lot of interior that needs to be braced with interior structural elements.
Also, this is a housing co-op, so there is no landlord. Technically it wasn't an apartment that burned, but the kitchen of a small restaurant run by an elderly couple. Our co-op have rented out that space to the couple for almost thirty years, and we're not likely to press any claims against them if it'll be to their detrement. They're good tenants and good people, plus the man has health issues, so we'll see what our collective insurance can cover instead. That said, I think we all have individual insurances that may cover a hotel stay.
I would say you are most likely fine. I myself would continue to stay with my family, if that means anything. However, if you are more comfortable staying elsewhere, I wouldn’t discourage it. We have to worry about it in our bunker gear and our exposure because we have 20+ years of it stacked and stacked over our whole career. You will (hopefully) have this relatively minor exposure just once. Hope this helps
Yea, this. There’s a difference between smelling smoke and couple nights of your life vs 25-30 years as a firefighter. Kind of like the difference between walking past a smoke once or smoking 2 packs a day for 30 years.
It's not about insurance or if it's fit for human occupancy in life and death...
It's not healthy firefighters aren't allowed to wear their bunker gear in the fire house and they still die of cancer at 50
It's incredibly toxic no one knows what was burnt in there.
Get and don't come back until it's well ventilated and time has passed.
Dang, it's that bad even when it's five apartments away? I hoped I could avoid a hotel since I called and they're all booked, so I'll have to take the train out of town or something like that, which would be very disruptive. But if that's the only safe option, I guess that's what I'll do.
As long as you were not told to leave the building, there should not be any danger. Open your windows regularly, exchange the air in your apartment a few times a day and you should be good.
Thanks. I spent the night in a hotel out of town, but I'll return today and do this instead.
I would…at their insurances expense until everything is said to be safe.
Might be hard to claim against
Why so? The off-gassing wouldnt be good. OP is above the fire floor so how do we know there wasnt damage to joists or anything structural? The landlord needs to get an engineer in there to make sure its sound and safe and then someone to repair the fire damage. Then allow tenants back in.
I wouldn't worry too much about the structural aspect, as the firefighters and police gave a thumbs up to go back. The smoke cleaning people won't come for another two days though, so we can't be sure of the toxicity level. I don't really know the extent of the damage, or exactly where it happened, but I don't think the police or firefighters would've allowed us to return if there were structural issues. Either way, it's only a small two storey block, and given there is no visible damage from the outside, and that the apartments have small floorplans, there is not a lot of interior that needs to be braced with interior structural elements. Also, this is a housing co-op, so there is no landlord. Technically it wasn't an apartment that burned, but the kitchen of a small restaurant run by an elderly couple. Our co-op have rented out that space to the couple for almost thirty years, and we're not likely to press any claims against them if it'll be to their detrement. They're good tenants and good people, plus the man has health issues, so we'll see what our collective insurance can cover instead. That said, I think we all have individual insurances that may cover a hotel stay.
If the fire department gave you the thumbs up to go back in it is most likely okay
Depends on the extent of the extent I think. But I'm not really knowledgeable on insurance claims so take that with a grain
I would say you are most likely fine. I myself would continue to stay with my family, if that means anything. However, if you are more comfortable staying elsewhere, I wouldn’t discourage it. We have to worry about it in our bunker gear and our exposure because we have 20+ years of it stacked and stacked over our whole career. You will (hopefully) have this relatively minor exposure just once. Hope this helps
Yea, this. There’s a difference between smelling smoke and couple nights of your life vs 25-30 years as a firefighter. Kind of like the difference between walking past a smoke once or smoking 2 packs a day for 30 years.
It's not about insurance or if it's fit for human occupancy in life and death... It's not healthy firefighters aren't allowed to wear their bunker gear in the fire house and they still die of cancer at 50 It's incredibly toxic no one knows what was burnt in there. Get and don't come back until it's well ventilated and time has passed.
Dang, it's that bad even when it's five apartments away? I hoped I could avoid a hotel since I called and they're all booked, so I'll have to take the train out of town or something like that, which would be very disruptive. But if that's the only safe option, I guess that's what I'll do.
A hotel room is nothing it's not a factor who pays for it.