Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Last night a now basically homeless friend was at our house for several hours. Ed was setting her up with a used laptop and old printer because they lost everything - including all her home based business records - in a house fire earlier this week. Investigators say the fire smoldered in their basement for some time before the gases built up and it flashed through the house. The actual cause has yet to be determined. It was amazing to hear about her getting out on the roof with her two dogs and throwing the puppy off the roof to safety on the ground. The big old dog got away and went back into the house. She said she very rationally figured out how much time she had to go back into the house to save the dog - and, although she could not see because of all the smoke, she covered her face with the hood of her robe, felt her way back into the house and found the other dog`s tail. She dragged the dog out of the house and hoped the cats would find their way out. By that time her husband had a ladder up the side of the house to get she and the dog down. One cat made it; one didn`t.

Our friend scolded us for not doing all the things they should have and didn`t. They lost all their ID and credit cards and had no record of everything to recreate their identities in a fireproof safe or off-site. A company is trying to salvage her home business files off what is left of her computer and her backup got fried in the fire. They had no storage of photo negatives or CDs of digital images away from their home. They had not checked all the batteries in all their smoke detectors, so only a few were working. They had not done a photo or video inventory of everything in their house - but it was always on the list of things to do. They had not ever planned an emergency escape procedure to get out of their house if necessary. Luckily they had a cell phone next to the bed - because, by the time they were aware of the fire, the house phone system was already down and they couldn`t use it to call 911.

It was an emotional evening - but an educational and "real life" lesson. All of us need to consider the things our friend did not do - and put the steps into action to make them happen. Luckily, they - and most of their pets - are alive and unharmed physically. Still, the process of putting their life back together is going to be a long and difficult one.

- J.


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Jeff Fisher | Jeff Fisher LogoMotives | Tweet! Tweet!

Thanks for the important reminder. I use an Internet based service for storage of all of my electronic files and a fire proof safe for both home and personal paperwork. I keep all of my business files electronically so that everything is backed up regularly. I`d be interested to hear what others are doing so that we can identify any gaps.

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Janice - Splash Virtual Assistance