Pics not that great due to taken @ night when I first got to house… new ones in morning.
https://1drv.ms/a/s!Amylpglo08Rboyj5S9sgvzHwAKgJ
photos in daylight: https://1drv.ms/a/s!Amylpglo08RbozmJWomubLbO7-nZ
What happened: My backyard doubled in size.
Neighbor had barbecue pit right next to wooden fence. Apparently used it unattended today and burned down part of the fence plus the gate to the fence on my side. Pic shows the side posts of the “gate” plus the invisible fence you can see the barbecue through. Apparently she was inside the house and a house 2 doors down (!) first noticed the fire and called it in… Guess I got lucky.
Precursor Damage Assessment: 1 pane missing from each of 2 windows (2nd pane still there, so there’s not a hole in the wall). Window screens burned up. Charring on brick. Hopefully no house damage other than the windows? Fence section on property line is now transparent. ~40+ sq ft of grass burned. Gate is completely gone. I can’t figure out the fire department must have taken some of the wood… could it possibly have all turned to ash?? The gas meter is not that far away and the grass looked burned up there, but I think the meter looked fine, will examine in morning. The house is Brick on one side and Cement siding on the other side of that corner of the house.
Other information: Both city and county Fire Code appears to be 10 feet minimum from any combustible surface for any barbecue pit or grill. Gonna make sure the HOA sends out a notice about this and that they also don’t put it right next to the fence again after repairs.
What’s next?: Get my own inspections/appraisals and go to neighbor’s insurance co directly? Go through my homeowner’s insurance company and have them deal with other insurance company? Will this result in CLUE entries and potentially raise my rates even though it’s all clearly other party’s liability? My HO Insurer is Amica and I would guess the damage may be less than the deductible (deductible is either $2.5k or $5k)… although I don’t know for sure. Do I even have an option of not going through my insurer, or would I have to sue to do so?
Service Bulletin: Make sure your neighbors don’t have any barbecues near the fences or houses (and check your fire code if they do and don’t want to move them). Avoid your house burning down.