Eleven Months Later

As I said, I kept a chronicle of "The Fire Adventure" on my Facebook page and updated it quite often. https://www.facebook.com/susan.tobel.knight

I am still in awe that my "stuff" was all protected. I still have all my genealogy and photos--really the only thing I care about. I have made several thumb drives and I keep spares at the office, in case something happens--like a FIRE!

After three weeks of living with Zannah and Nick in January/February, I was put up in an apartment in Mill Creek on February 13. Unfortunately, the apartment was rented previously by a smoker and though they tried, the management could not get the cigarette smoke out of the apartment. I suffered for 5.5 months. My one salvation was my daily walks to the duck ponds on the property. They were the joy in my life until I was moved back into my home.

All of my belongings were taken out of my house and stored in a warehouse and ozoned. My clothes were kept in a Red Hanger Cleaners warehouse, also ozoned. I only had clothes that I picked out for work and some others to wear for over 5 months. I stored all valuables at Nick and Zannah's. I wore the same earrings and diffuser necklace every day for over 5 months.

But I was safe. My house was safe, though smoke embued for many, many months before they could start work on remediating it. They had to rebuild Burt's house first to make sure all smoke was gone before they could start on mine.  I think, perhaps, that's why it's been so hard to get the smoke smell out of my house.

Of course, ordinary people can't really smell the smoke, but I have to be special and have chemical sensitivities so that I can smell smoke--a toxic chemical. It's a blessing--and a curse.

I moved back in July 7, then took the next few days to clean the apartment. I spent the next month unpacking boxes. By August, after some painting had been done and the smell from that wore off, I smelled smoke.

UDK and the insurance company tried for the next month to prove there wasn't any smoke. But I smelled smoke in certain areas of my house--the master bathroom, master bedroom, kitchen, living room and basement. Others who visited smelled smoke, too. I had witnesses.

As I said, this is all chronicled on Facebook, and I don't want to dredge it all up again. I get hives thinking about it. Literally. I get hives!

Suffice it to say, after more remediation that is still not accomplished at this date, I am hoping and praying above all faith that the smoke smell is gone. I have even banished smoke from my house in angry commands to the "smoke spirits" that might be lingering. Call me crazy. I do what I have to do.

They took the common walls out of my master bathroom, including the shower, but the carpenter didn't put the shower door area back together correctly. Right now, I'm waiting for UDK to send another carpenter to fix the problem.

Please, Lord, let this be it. I have faith, Father in Heaven, that my house is smoke free and will remain so for the rest of my time here.