Why we made this compilation

First, if you're reading this, I'm so sorry you or someone you know are going through a disaster. We can only imagine how you must be feeling right now.

While the trauma of every fire is unique, there are common institutions you'll need to navigate, and there are some hard-won experiences that are transferrable. For example, you may learn (if you don't already know) that it is the smoke, ash and soot (from urban fires especially) are extremely hazardous— not just the fire itself. These can cause total loss even if the flames did not touch your house.

One of the best pieces of wisdom we heard came from a fellow fire survivor: to seek as many different sources of information and recommendations so you can and weigh it for yourself. So it is in that spirit that we offer our experiences.

There are several whole fields of knowledge which fire survivors have to learn— insurance, state and governmental regulations, remediation, interpretation of the work of industrial hygienists and chemists— just to name just a few.

There is a gauntlet to face after the trauma and loss, and that is why we wanted to compile some of the things we found helpful in navigating our own journey after a large-scale natural disaster, and we hope this will be a helpful voice among many.

What inspired this resource was our own experience as survivors— we were faced nightmare scenario wherein hundred-mile-an-hour winds drove an explosive urban wildfire through two towns and nothing could be done to stop it. When the day ended, a thousand homes and business burned down, two people had died, and thousands of pets had perished.

Our studio survived the initial blaze but was hit with the second hazard- contamination with soot, ash, and a cocktail of toxic chemicals from a thousand burning homes, garages, cars, basements, and businesses.

This experience eventually led to the founding of Paint List, as we wanted to share The Great Book of Color with fellow painters. It easily could have been lost that day.

One of the main things we've gleaned in talking with other survivors is that you're having to make so many decisions based on incomplete knowledge and some of those decisions may need to be made right now. Recovery from this kind of event is a whirlwind. Use your best judgement to make the best decision you can with the information you have and let yourself move on-- the perfect decisions do not exist. You'll have to use the best knowledge you have at the time, and that knowledge is incomplete. Some of those decisions may feel like the wrong decision in retrospect, but letting yourself go on is part of this. It's not possible to make all the right decisions, and it's more about doing the best that you can. It's an ordeal.

Every disaster is different, so with that in mind, here are some well-established resources which were useful to us in the midst of a disaster and would also apply to the 2025 California Wildfires.

Unfortunately, the insurance battle is likely to be difficult. The state Division of Insurance may be helpful. We wished we had consulted a lawyer sooner in our own process. As soon as we did, it sped the process along efficiently. Of course, every situation is different, and you'll have to assess your own needs.

Here are some suggestions based on our experiences:

Protect yourself from the air and ash near a fire environment, even if the structure itself didn't burn-- PPE is extremely important. Research the proper level of PPE even if everything looks normal, and acquire the proper gear before going back in— a mask is not enough. So many people experienced adverse symptoms in the urban wildfire we went through. That house that's still standing? Very toxic.

Buy a designated notebook to write down everything that happens. Write down any conversations with adjusters, health professionals, etc. so you have them, along with dates. Some suggest emailing these to yourself as well. This book is going to be very important.

Save every receipt. We bought a designated receipt holder to keep it all organized.

Make a designated email address for all fire-related sign-ups or correspondence (e.g. with insurance). This will save yourself a lot of hassle. Unfortunately with the many sign-ups and programs we have also heard about egregious data breaches, even from established organizations or civic sources. Consider opening a designated bank account for insurnace as well.

Educate yourself on insurance. United Policyholders has resources for every step of the insurance journey. You can find long-form webinars on YouTube and subscribe to their newsletter to tune into their webinars related to your particular disaster event.

Find out about the toxicity of smoke and ash. Many chemicals burn in an urban fire and current remediation practices do not necessarily address this. See The Most Hazardous Substance in Structure Fire Environments. Basic PPE is not enough.

Begin looking for housing- be proactive and do not wait. If you're displaced, look for a long-term rental option as soon as possible.

If your home is still standing or near a fire: contact industrial hygienists, ask what kinds of tests they do, what their rates are, and research their qualifications. Again, you'll need to be proactive and advocate for your own health. Do not rush in to move or clean anything yourself - wait to get it tested. Heavy metals and dioxin are common in structure fires and these are not included in basic soot/char/ash tests.

Buy water. The water after disasters is often contaminated for various reasons -- this happened to residents in our disaster and took months/years to really resolve. This is a common refrain from other fires as well.

Research air quality. This is obviously a very personal decision (as are most things on the fire recovery journey) but one that many survivors including ourselves opted to do was to choose a rental away from town. The air quality after a fire is affected by VOCs and compounds off-gassing as well as smoldering areas and blowing ash. However there are also longer term issues as the soil and ash are going to be continually disturbed through the rebuilding cycle. There were many days in our disaster where the ash was on the wind and there were rules that people had to cease certain building activities if winds were above a certain threshold. We opted to relocate to a new area in the aftermath due to air quality concerns. Another issue to consider are debris flows and flooding in the seasons after a disaster.

Make and Manage Your Own Basic Loss Inventory If you lost contents to the fire, make a spreadsheet of your own to detail your items. Insurance companies use their own software which can be far less user-friendly, and ultimately confusing-- and there is the risk of something going wrong. We heard horror stories from fellow survivors of insurance companies glitching out the survivor's inventory in the middle of their harrowing documentation process. Consider building your own spreadsheet (mac numbers or excel) if even for your own organization, peace of mind, and the option to keep it all together in one place. This can be exported to the insurance company or used as a reference to track what you've submitted through their portal. United Policyholders has a general how-to information and a templateto get started.

Consider consulting a lawyer early in your insurance process (united policyholders has resources on this also). There may be pro-bono consultations or services of various kinds.

Contents Can Get Lost. We have heard horror stories of contents getting lost when taken offsite for remediation. Sean Scott has some information about this in his books, and unfortunately it is something we heard from many fellow survivors. Furthermore remediation is not really designed to address the contaminants from urban wildfires and structure fires, so once again do your research.

Also, if you have had to evacuate, please be gentle with yourself. There is no way to save everything in this kind of emergency. Be so kind to yourself in the days and months to come.

We will continue to update this article with more resources.